A sad end to a sad saga. I just read on stuff of the passing of Kenny the busker. He was a friendly bloke that would busk in front of what is now Nando's Chicken on Courtenay Place, or just down the road in front of the Courtenay Place carparks, which is now Courtenay Central. For years he was a busking stalwart who came to be nick named 'Kenny' after Kenny Rogers, which I think he embraced with his beard & cowboy hat. Unfortunately with more & more people moving into the city centre his busking act was eventually complained about and his gear confiscated by the Wellington City Council. I always thought this was unfair for two reasons, 1. he was there well before the apartments on Courtenay Place & if you're going to move to the centre of the city then you should have to deal with whatever fucking noise is in there. If you don't like it then fuck off to the suburbs. & 2 Full bands set up on Courtenay with drum kits & electric guitars but they're allowed to continue while one of the original buskers is left protesting with just a placard & handing out protest pamphlets. A few years back I stopped & chatted with Kenny & let him know what I thought of the whole situation, he was grateful for my support & I took one of his pamphlets, which was a simple protest to the WCC to please return his gear & allow him to play. It was obvious even then that he was fairly broken & it was no real surprise to see the headline this morning but it still doesn't make the whole situation any less disappointing. I often thought that if I were a film maker it'd make an interesting documentary to find out a little bit more about Kenny's back story and to follow him as he tried to get his licence back. Alas, I guess it'll never happen now. R.IP Kenny, I hope wherever you are you have a guitar & amp and no motherfucker telling you what to do.
Monday, June 20, 2011
R.I.P Kenny
A sad end to a sad saga. I just read on stuff of the passing of Kenny the busker. He was a friendly bloke that would busk in front of what is now Nando's Chicken on Courtenay Place, or just down the road in front of the Courtenay Place carparks, which is now Courtenay Central. For years he was a busking stalwart who came to be nick named 'Kenny' after Kenny Rogers, which I think he embraced with his beard & cowboy hat. Unfortunately with more & more people moving into the city centre his busking act was eventually complained about and his gear confiscated by the Wellington City Council. I always thought this was unfair for two reasons, 1. he was there well before the apartments on Courtenay Place & if you're going to move to the centre of the city then you should have to deal with whatever fucking noise is in there. If you don't like it then fuck off to the suburbs. & 2 Full bands set up on Courtenay with drum kits & electric guitars but they're allowed to continue while one of the original buskers is left protesting with just a placard & handing out protest pamphlets. A few years back I stopped & chatted with Kenny & let him know what I thought of the whole situation, he was grateful for my support & I took one of his pamphlets, which was a simple protest to the WCC to please return his gear & allow him to play. It was obvious even then that he was fairly broken & it was no real surprise to see the headline this morning but it still doesn't make the whole situation any less disappointing. I often thought that if I were a film maker it'd make an interesting documentary to find out a little bit more about Kenny's back story and to follow him as he tried to get his licence back. Alas, I guess it'll never happen now. R.IP Kenny, I hope wherever you are you have a guitar & amp and no motherfucker telling you what to do.
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