LEILANI HERE.
I love bookstores, especially bookstores that sell used books. Let me plug my new favorite one: The Magic Door IV, in Pomona, on East 2nd Street, just a block down from the Glasshouse in Pomona, where Astra Heights performed on August 9. Mark and I visited there while we were waiting for the May Fire and Monte Negro to arrive for load-in last week.
The couple who run the Magic Door are super-nice, super-supportive of the bands who play the Glasshouse, and fans of Astra Heights. As soon as they saw Mark, they put Good Problems on the stereo system and introduced themselves:
Of course Mark ran down the block to tell the first people he could find that Astra Heights were celebrities in this town. The first two people he found were, luckily, Bernard and James, who eagerly returned with us to the Magic Door to bask in the glow of appreciation. While they were at it, they signed a poster and had their pictures taken as well.
I just want to point out here that Bernard is wearing a sun visor.
And that James seems to be comparing his build to that of the mannequin in the window.
Here are the proprietors, Dwain and JoAnn Kaiser, unflanked by Indie rockstars:
Mark exploited his fame to get a free copy of a Vonnegut novel. Shameless, he is. In any case, God bless the independent bookstore owners and indie musicians among us, all.
As we strolled back to the Glasshouse, we passed some local heroes performing on the sidewalk. Because they were performing a truly original rendition of Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” I had to take a photograph for posterity. This woman did, indeed, rock me.
Then I bought James and Mark each a big giant beer. Now we were ready for the show.
The May Fire played first. Wish I had some pictures of them, but . . . . well, it took a while for James and Mark to finish those beers. That’s how big those beers were. Then Astra Heights came on.
I find myself increasingly interested as much in photographing the audience these days as I am the performers. Here’s a shot of the fans at the Glasshouse enjoying our boys:
And while I’m at it, here’s a shot of the audience two nights earlier, at the Knitting Factory:
Look at Striking Tall Bald Man glancing away in an endearingly self-conscious fashion, once he notices that I am photographing the striking tall bald men in the audience and not the striking little hairy guys on stage. Meanwhile there's bass player Rob from the May Fire right in front wearing his customary, mysterious Mona Lisa smile. Is he amused at the band on stage? Admiring? Or simply enduring my camera flash with apparent good nature while inwardly he's fuming at my ass-backwardness? But my favorite is the guy behind them to the left, in the striped shirt, looking so interestingly serious. He’s quite stern. Is he intrigued? Pissed off? He looks a little like he’s wondering why the heck the white girl stage center is obfuscating everybody's view with her stupid flash camera pointed in the wrong direction from the performers.
Anyway, back to the Glasshouse. Here’s a picture of Bernard wondering why the heck the white girl stage right is obfuscating everybody's view with her stupid flash camera:
Here’s Annette, one of our favorite Astra Heights fans dancing in ecstasy to her favorite band:
And hey, who are these two hot mamas (literally, as in actually hot and sweaty and actually mothers to Djuna, Poppy, and Ana)?:
After the last song of the Astra Heights set, before Monte Negro headlines, Mark directs the audience to “Stay tuned for the May Fire!” Here he is explaining to El Pipe and Cat from the May Fire why it is that he thought they should have been granted the opportunity to both open and headline at the Glasshouse, Monte Negro be damned:
And . . . . . Huh?---
Darn, my flash malfunctioned just as, in a perverse game of role reversal, Bernard was getting his chest signed by an Astra Heights fans wielding a blue sharpie. Sorry, ladies.
And here are some shots I took of some wholesome Astra Heights fans, none of whom asked to sign anybody’s chest (that I know of . . . . but you never do know):
Oh, and here is Poppy Yaeko Appel-Riehle, in spirit if not in height the biggest Astra Heights fan ever—or at least drummer Joshua’s:
Well, Mrs. Morales, those Astra Heights boys are cute and all, but they ain't got nothing on my progeny.




































