It was pure luck that I got to talk briefly to Thurston Moore. I had volunteered to be a stage crew flunkie once a friend of mine asked me if I was interested. I gave my friend a tentative yes.
Fast forward to the final day of the festival, after myriad priceless memories and pictures, I showed up to Main Stage Two, and was reminded that NO ONE was to talk to Thurston Moore. No one. I inquired as to why, and was told that that's just what it was.
See also: -The Best from 35 Denton Night One: The Dancing, The Technological Advances and The Artisanal Jello Shots -The Best from 35 Denton Night Two: Metal Wrestling and Fence Repair -The Best of 35 Denton Night Three: Thunder and Other Noises -Interviews with Vendors, Bands, Policemen and Fans about What Makes Denton Great -The Stage Crew Diaries: A Tribute to the Volunteers of 35 Denton
We loaded and unloaded equipment, drank our water and smoked our cigarettes, and we caught all the bands and wrestling that we could when we had a few minutes of free time. The whole time, I anticipated being mere feet from Thurston Moore, someone I'd looked up to for many years. I wondered why he didn't want to talk to anyone.
It was explained to me by many of the volunteers who had worked with him in the past, however briefly, that he was an incredibly nice guy, and that it was probably just one of his quirks as an artist, and I totally accepted that. It really did make sense.
After the set of Chelsea Light Moving (Moore's newest band and the final Main Stage artist of the weekend), it was time for all of the volunteers to remove the remaining equipment from the stage. As we did so, Moore remained onstage. He had dropped his guitar pick. A volunteer noticed, picked it up, and gave it to me telling me to ask him if he wanted it back. I took it and tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey Thurston, do you want this back?"
He took it. "Oh yeah. Thanks man," he said and smiled at me.
I suddenly realized that I would probably never have this opportunity again and I went for it.
"Listen," I said to him, "I'm sorry to bug you, but is it OK if I take a picture with you real quick?"
"Oh, of course!" he told me. I snapped the picture of the two of us, and for a couple of seconds after that, I completely forgot about all the work left for us volunteers to do.
