Doublestop Magazine

More Pearls Before Breakfast

The Washington Post’s Gene Weingarten recently posted a video follow-up to his now-famous “Pearls Before Breakfast” piece, where violinist Joshua Bell performed in a subway stop, only to have commuters walk right on by.

Although the new video is rather short, there are a few fun take-aways:

• The original article was (and is?) the most viewed article on the Post’s website.
• Weingarten says that other street musicians were “jealous” of Bell by saying that he didn’t know how to “work an audience.” Hmm. I think they (the other musicians) may have a point, but then again the only busker I know centers his act on balancing a guitar on his head while twirling a hula hoop. Let’s see Josh Bell pull that off!
• Bell clearly has better chops than Weingarten!

With that, methinks the blog should take a hiatus from Joshua Bell, lest we turn into an all Bell blog.