[LEMONS] 5.01.2003
Stalking Jonathan Richman
Last Friday, I stalked Jonathan Richman. First, when we were eating at Golden Era, this vegetarian Vietnamese/pan Asian place, in walks JR with his coitere of, like, three other people. One of whom appeared to be his date. I said, "hey, check it out, that's Jonathan Richman." "Who?" We weren't sure about it until one of his dinner companions called him Jonathan. He actually kinda looked more like Bruce Springsteen.We paid our bill and left, and walked past the Great American Music Hall, where we were going to see Cat Power and The Dirty Three. We walked around for a bit, looking for a bar. But since the doors opened soon, we decided just to wait in line. There, standing in front of us, was Jonathan Richman. Between us stood a group of three hipster type girls. Where did they come from?
We stayed downstairs, on the floor, for a long time. One of the bartenders was sneezing, and joking about SARS. Ha-ha! That's funny, asshole. After Cat Power finished, we went upstairs, looking for a place to sit. Or at least lean. And lean we did. Right behind Jonathan Richman. He got up midway through the set and left. Just before D3's frontman, Warren Ellis, gave him a shoutout. Around this time, the upstairs area filled with the smell of marijuana smoke. Coincidence? I don't have any reason to think that it might have been Jonathan Richman smoking pot upstairs at the Great American Music Hall. But then again, this is San Francisco.
Yesterday, I walked outside and saw my mailman sitting in his truck. Oming. I walked to the market. When I came back, he was still there in his front-seat-on-the-wrong-side. "Ooooooooooooooooommmmmmm."
In any case, when I went outside, there was Jonathan Richman again. He was just standing there talking to somebody. It was too easy. There was a van, an econoliner or something like that, parked in the loading zone in front. It had been there all night, it had to be one of the bands. Inside, there was a copy of Man in Black, by Johnny Cash.
I'm guessing that was Chan Marshall's.
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