To the queer neighborhood on L.A.’s Eastside, Clint Yeager was not simply one other bartender — he was a rock star.
A longtime bartender on the Eagle LA, the queer leather-based bar on the border of Silver Lake and East Hollywood, Yeager was beloved by patrons and workers alike.
“He was an incredible mild, an incredible particular person,” stated Eagle LA co-founder Charlie Matula. “He was my fundamental lead frontman; if I wasn’t round, he was the go-to.”
Yeager, 53, died Aug. 15 on account of issues from an emergency process for a respiratory an infection, in keeping with a Fb post written by his sister-in-law, Bryn Yeager. Yeager himself had written about his struggles battling the an infection in his final Instagram put up.
The 2 posts generated tons of of replies by individuals who had crossed paths with Yeager and spurred tributes throughout social media. One such tribute was written by Tom Walker, who described the evening he first met Yeager. The pair would go on so far for 5 years and remained shut buddies till Yeager’s loss of life.
“I feel working at Eagle LA made his mild shine brighter,” Walker stated in an interview with The Instances.
Matías Gomez Constenla, a fellow bartender at Eagle LA, referred to as Yeager a “rock star” who drew his personal following to the bar, the place crowds would usually congregate round the place he was working.
“Even when he was so busy,” Gomez Constenla stated, “he’d make the 2 to 3 seconds he interacted with you depend.”
The bartender recalled a time when he was transferring to a brand new house proper after receiving his driver’s license; he was nervous to drive the big transferring van, so Yeager provided to drive for him.
“He was such an awesome huge power to be round,” Gomez Constenla stated.
Yeager grew up in Lubbock, Texas, the place his mom labored as an expert clown, in keeping with Walker. He moved to Los Angeles within the early ’90s and commenced performing in a wide range of rock acts amid the burgeoning alt scene. Daisy Face, Bitter, Pace Queen, Superfiends and BC had been among the many bands he carried out in over the past 30 years.
Most lately, Yeager performed rhythm guitar with the touring band GAYC/DC, an all-queer AC/DC cowl act.
“You might fully loosen up round him and really feel like you may say something,” stated Chris Freeman, who sings lead vocals for GAYC/DC.
Freeman first met Yeager once they had been a part of separate rock acts within the Nineties and had a lingering want to work collectively. The chance got here when GAYC/DC’s guitarist stop in the course of the pandemic, offering a gap for Yeager to hitch the group. He went on to carry out with them on tour this 12 months.
Freeman by no means anticipated that will be the final time he noticed Yeager.
“The whole lot occurred so shortly,” Freeman stated. “By the point we came upon, it was like — wait a minute, he was going to be at rehearsal.”
When information of Yeager’s loss of life broke Wednesday, Gomez Constenla helped manage a tribute occasion that evening on the Eagle. Lots of of individuals confirmed as much as grieve collectively.
“As queer folks, now we have to look out for one another. We’ve to make our personal households more often than not,” Gomez Constenla stated. “Instances like this, we lean on one another. We actually confirmed up for one another.”
