London Underground to get back in groove

London – It was a busy morning at London’s Southwark train station and the pressure was on – not just for the city’s commuters.

In an airy spot between two escalators, a small group of musicians unpacked their instruments, checked their music and calmed any last-minute nerves.

The London Underground network is holding its first auditions since the pandemic for buskers to keep the city’s 3.5 million daily travellers entertained and uplifted.

Actor and singer Peter Willoughby was one of the first to step forward.

As he belted out Alanis Morissette’s Ironic, accompanying himself on the guitar, the judges scribbled notes on their clipboards.

Passers-by rushed past. No time to stop, but the appreciative looks they threw in his direction were unmistakeable.

“I saw the auditions and thought that seems like an opportunity to get back to doing something I loved,” he said.

The 35 year old began busking when he was a teenager in his home city of Ipswich in eastern England, setting him on a path to a career in acting.

“I fully believe in the power of live performance,” he said, laughingly adding that as a professional he loved the opportunity for immediate positive feedback.

“I’m very keen on approval,” he joked.

Around 280 musicians from the 450 who applied have been shortlisted for the 10 days of auditions which have just begun.

For 62-year-old saxophonist Andrew Bruell from Essex, to the east of London, the auditions are a chance to see if he can cut it along with London’s finest – nine years after he started playing. He took up the sax along with his daughter just before he took early retirement from a high-pressure managerial job for car manufacturer Ford. “She had the lessons but I practised and that’s what made the difference,” he said.

He took to it so well, in fact, that friends quickly started suggesting he do it professionally. Now, as part of his “second life”, he busks for charity in the street and also performs at parties and gigs. The auditions, for which he played Prince’s Purple Rain and the Louis Armstrong hit What a Wonderful World, are a way of stopping “anyone who isn’t really good from performing on the Underground”, he said.

“It’s a way of getting the very best people,” he said, adding that he’d be proud to be selected.

The shortlisted performers will be put through their paces at several stations by threestrong judging panels made up professional musicians alongside station staff.

The licensed busking scheme has been running for over 20 years, with auditions held every few years for about 40 pitches.

The salary is uncertain. Bruell said he does not always get his train fare from Essex. But the important thing is to get your music heard.

One existing busker, who goes by Angie G, said many of her fellow performers never returned after the Coronavirus lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

She said she kept going, busking “anywhere I could find human beings”.

The judges selections are due to be announced towards the end of March. –

It’s a way of getting the very best people