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Ok, so the background music is irritating. The visual presentation is distracting. But if you want a really excellent scene-by-scene deep-dive analysis of Andor… I highly recommend this guy. Beats most of the other video essays for me by being 100% “text-focused”. This video is a compilation of all his breakdowns of season 1, episode 1 : Kassa.
In Memoriam: UpStairs Lounge, New Orleans – June 24, 1973
On this night in 1973, an arson attack at the UpStairs Lounge claimed the lives of 32 people in what was then the deadliest massacre of LGBTQ+ individuals in U.S. history.
The bar, a refuge for New Orleans’ queer community and home to the Metropolitan Community Church, was targeted with fire during a Sunday evening service. Emergency exits were locked, windows barred, and many were trapped inside. The tragedy was met with silence from the media, churches, and government officials—reflecting the deep stigma faced by LGBTQ+ people at the time.
Most of the victims' names went unspoken for decades. But today, we say their names. We remember them. And we honor their memory not with silence, but with Pride.
1970s San Francisco and New Orleans Unsolved Gay Bar and Arson Mysteries
There's this:
Crime show reenactment about five seconds from Robert Stack mysteriously intoning, "And Daniel Molloy was last seen alive leaving Polynesian Mary's at 9:00 pm.
Daniel Molloy took his life into his own hands every night. Sure, you might think it was just a freak accident he ran into two vampires who wanted to eat him make him their third. Or he just liked drugs and adventure. Or you, know, being gendered male helped a lot.
But consider that 1973 Daniel Molloy exists in a world without cell phones. Without milk carton pictures. Without Amber (or Silver) Alerts. When hitchhiking was a thing people did for adventure and to save on gas, instead of something you avoided so a serial killer wouldn't take you to a second location.
Polynesian Mary's
There was so much arson in general in the 1970s, and a lot of it happened or was directed at gay bars.
In the 1970s, the San Francisco gay bar Toad Hall suffered four fires within a short period of time (article), one in 1971 and three? in 1974.
daytime crowd Toad Hall
As far as we can tell, Louis lives in San Francisco in the Interview With the Vampire (1973 in the novels' time; 1976 published) and until at least the end of The Vampire Lestat (both:1985).
Also during that same period there was a serial killer called the Doodler who operated in San Francisco who'd hit on gay men, ask to sketch them and then murder them. He seems to have been active from January 1974-1976. The Doodler has never been caught.
2019 news conference with age updated FBI poster.
Louis also visits New Orleans in 1973 where he says he spent spring and summer of that year looking for Lestat, finding him, and then moping about it and breaking up with Armand before he's in San Francisco in the "winter" or "fall" where he meets Daniel Molloy.
During that time period in which Louis says he visited New Orleans, there was a major arson attack on a gay bar. On June 24, 1973, the Upstairs Lounge, in New Orleans, was destroyed in an arson attack. The Upstairs Lounge's upper level also served as a temporary? meeting place for the New Orleans MCC branch, a LGBTQ friendly congregation. Previous MCC branches also suffered arson attacks: on January 27, 1973 the Los Angeles MCC church was burnt; followed by the Nashville one in March 1973.
It still is classified as "unsolved," probably due to the New Orleans police department's negligence.
Saturday, June 24, 2023, marked the 50-year anniversary of the UpStairs Lounge Fire, the second largest mass killing of LGBTQIA2S+ people in United States history.
Around 7:53 PM on June 24, 1973, an unidentified arsonist (believed to be Roger Dale Nunez), emptied a seven-ounce can of Ronsonol on the front stairs of the UpStairs Lounge and produced a spark. At 7:56 PM, a downstairs buzzer rang repeatedly within the bar’s main room, leading bartender Buddy Rasmussen to ask a patron to investigate. When the staircase door was opened, fire met oxygen, and flames exploded in a backdraft. Decor in the space ignited instantly. Rasmussen, an Air Force veteran with fire experience, led approximately forty patrons through an unmarked rear emergency exit that led them to safety. Other patrons, trapped in a far corner of the main room, attempted to break through the windows, but the windows were barred by iron bars, preventing their escape. Those who could not slide through the fourteen-inch gap between the bars perished in a pile of bodies that New Orleans Parish Coroner Carl Rabin later called a “mass of death.” The fire, extinguished by 8:12 PM burned for less than twenty minutes but claimed thirty-two lives and injured at least fifteen others.
In the aftermath of the fire, some victims could only be identified from their dentist's dental records. One man was identified by his watch. Ferris LeBlanc was identified by his ring. Three men were never identified, most likely, author Johnny Townsend concluded, because "Their closest friends died with them. There was no one left who knew who they were."
In the closet of 1973, the fire outed its victims and survivors alike. The story, front-page national news on Monday, June 25, receded to interior pages by that Wednesday when the UpStairs Lounge was confirmed to be a “gay bar. ” An abundance of locals, including first responders, made crass jokes about "flaming queens" alongside chatter that all attendees of the bar were "hoodlums" and "sinners." Several fire victims were denied religious funerals and burials.
With the indifference of the community around them, the queer community of New Orleans came together: at the conclusion of the July 1st memorial service, everyone was offered the option of exiting through a back door of the church in order to avoid the potential stigma and harassment of attending the memorial. But no one chose this option; instead, everyone decided to face the media and present a unified front to honor those who had died in the fire. Even still today, however, despite being the worst fire in New Orleans history in terms of loss of life, and the second largest mass killing of LGBTQIA2S+ people in United States history, most people are not aware the fire even occurred.
The creator of a new musical about New Orleans's UpStairs Lounge fire says gay tragedies too easily fade from our collective memory.
Unknown Victim of Deadly 1973 Arson in Gay Bar Finally Identified
Legendary Beyons: Now on LP!
It is a fine day when three outstanding musicians walk into a record shop to see their album on the wall. After fifty years together, this band finally sees their music on vinyl. I present to you the next release from Albina Music Trust, The Legendary Beyons! This record made possible by The Regional Arts & Culture Council.
This has been a journey years in the making & it all started w/ World Arts Foundation's annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. With Ken Berry's blessing, Thurtis Channel from the band visited AMT's booth, sharing polaroids of The Beyons & a recording of their music from 1977. I later sat w/ Thurtis & eventually all members of the group at XRAY FM, listening to their stories & seeking to better understand their musical legacy in Albina.
As we've gotten to know each other, we've had some really great experiences. I've had the joy of listening to the Beyons at rehearsal, supporting them in performing their music live at the Albina Soul Revue & The Portland Black Music Expo. James Tims & I were able to watch the reel of this recording spinning around & around on the machine as our engineer Gus Elg transferred it to vinyl. These experiences I am so grateful for; the grace & love this band has shown me is remarkable.
As we did with our last release in 2018 by The Gangsters, we gathered the group together in a private ceremony where they shared their oral history among friends & family. Calvin Walker facilitated the discussion & I was there to listen & for support. We owe Aaron Hall & Dig A Pony a huge thank you for hosting us as well as Chase Spross & XRAY FM for recording the session. The session was later transcribed to around two hundred pages of dialog. This was whittled down to twelve pages of oral history & photography which can be found in a 12"x12" booklet inside the record jacket. This booklet was carefully constructed over the past year w/ support from the band, design by Brian Mumford, & art direction by myself.
So here it is! Please consider purchasing a copy from the band directly: James Tims, Jeddy Beasley, Ira Hammon, & Thurtis Channel. I want to thank Jared White for extra special support in helping get this record into the world. You can also find the album at his wonderful sonic museum, Clinton St. Record & Stereo. A deeper description of the album project can be found at www.albinamusictrust.com.
Much love, everyone. Thank you for supporting us & these amazing musicians!
anyone who has seen The View Upstairs, could you please tell me a detailed description of the plot and explain the characters to me as well ?(and why Patrick is mildly manipulative ?) the plot is moreso for a relation to a story idea and the characters bc im intrigued by their stories but feel like i‘m missing out on who they are
