Young busker bullied by locals for ''depressing'' music which made them want to ''slit their wrists''
- 9 months ago
Video shows locals ''bullying'' a young busker into stopping his performance - claiming it was ''depressing'' and made them want to ''slit their wrists''.
Footage shows traders berating Liam Alexander - a full-time singer-songwriter who travels around the UK to busk.
He was playing his first show in Cambridge on Friday July 21 when Liam was surrounded.
He says 45 minutes into his one hour set market traders and someone claiming to be a member of the council forced him to finish his set early.
A female market trader also joined the confrontation and told him his music was "too depressing" and that it was making her want to "slit her wrists".
Liam said: "Whilst packing up, the same lady who made the flippant comment regarding self-harm, came back to explain herself.
"She apologised, stating that I was a great singer, but that she did not enjoy the songs I was singing of which, are primarily love songs.
"I explained to her that what she said is not a nice thing to say to anybody, that she does not know who I may know who has suffered from self-harm.
"This is when she explains that this was her point, that she had known of people to cause harm to themselves to the exact songs I was singing."
Liam says when he first set up his equipment outside the Guildhall at 10:20am, he was approached by a council worker.
He was asked whether it was his first time busking in Cambridge and was "quizzed" on several rules of busking.
For the next 45 minutes of his set, he had "great interactions" with the public and received "many lovely comments, generous donations and the occasional crowd".
However, a market trader then approached him and told him to turn down his speaker mid-song.
Liam, who was live streaming his entire set, told the man he would turn down the volume after the song.
He was shocked to see the man inspecting his equipment and look as though he was about to touch it.
He says a 'council worker' then returned to Liam's busking spot and told him his hour slot was finished, he had received too many complaints and that he had to leave.
Liam refuted that his hour slot had finished, but when another market-worker told him his music was making her want to harm herself, Liam decided to leave.
He added: "This massively took me by surprise as every other interaction I had with members of the public was incredibly positive and endearing.
"Feeling fed up with the unjust treatment I felt I received from both market workers and the council worker, I decided that I would pack up and move elsewhere."
Thankfully, a nearby busker offered Liam his spot as he had been there for over three hours with no complaint from the council.
Liam added: "I would like to stress that besides these three individuals in the video, I had a very pleasant and encouraging interactions with everyone I spoke with.
"Almost all who stated how much they appreciated and enjoyed my performances.
"This incident has not impacted my overall view of the city, as I am aware that the actions of the few should not speak for the many, especially as the vast majority of the public were kind and complimentary.
"However, I do think that if I was to return to Cambridge to busk, that I would only do so with a friend to ensure that I had support in case similar events were to unfold again."
One person watching the stream saud: said: “I was watching his live stream and it was shocking how he was abused by these individuals.''
“He is a very popular singer songwriter.''
One said: “You handled this to the point they walked away, I know they hated themselves. Well done.”
Footage shows traders berating Liam Alexander - a full-time singer-songwriter who travels around the UK to busk.
He was playing his first show in Cambridge on Friday July 21 when Liam was surrounded.
He says 45 minutes into his one hour set market traders and someone claiming to be a member of the council forced him to finish his set early.
A female market trader also joined the confrontation and told him his music was "too depressing" and that it was making her want to "slit her wrists".
Liam said: "Whilst packing up, the same lady who made the flippant comment regarding self-harm, came back to explain herself.
"She apologised, stating that I was a great singer, but that she did not enjoy the songs I was singing of which, are primarily love songs.
"I explained to her that what she said is not a nice thing to say to anybody, that she does not know who I may know who has suffered from self-harm.
"This is when she explains that this was her point, that she had known of people to cause harm to themselves to the exact songs I was singing."
Liam says when he first set up his equipment outside the Guildhall at 10:20am, he was approached by a council worker.
He was asked whether it was his first time busking in Cambridge and was "quizzed" on several rules of busking.
For the next 45 minutes of his set, he had "great interactions" with the public and received "many lovely comments, generous donations and the occasional crowd".
However, a market trader then approached him and told him to turn down his speaker mid-song.
Liam, who was live streaming his entire set, told the man he would turn down the volume after the song.
He was shocked to see the man inspecting his equipment and look as though he was about to touch it.
He says a 'council worker' then returned to Liam's busking spot and told him his hour slot was finished, he had received too many complaints and that he had to leave.
Liam refuted that his hour slot had finished, but when another market-worker told him his music was making her want to harm herself, Liam decided to leave.
He added: "This massively took me by surprise as every other interaction I had with members of the public was incredibly positive and endearing.
"Feeling fed up with the unjust treatment I felt I received from both market workers and the council worker, I decided that I would pack up and move elsewhere."
Thankfully, a nearby busker offered Liam his spot as he had been there for over three hours with no complaint from the council.
Liam added: "I would like to stress that besides these three individuals in the video, I had a very pleasant and encouraging interactions with everyone I spoke with.
"Almost all who stated how much they appreciated and enjoyed my performances.
"This incident has not impacted my overall view of the city, as I am aware that the actions of the few should not speak for the many, especially as the vast majority of the public were kind and complimentary.
"However, I do think that if I was to return to Cambridge to busk, that I would only do so with a friend to ensure that I had support in case similar events were to unfold again."
One person watching the stream saud: said: “I was watching his live stream and it was shocking how he was abused by these individuals.''
“He is a very popular singer songwriter.''
One said: “You handled this to the point they walked away, I know they hated themselves. Well done.”