I caught Thurston "more personally naked" once, doing a poetry reading at a book store in Oak Park, MI.  As any geeky SY lover knows (I'm 20 albums deep and not done collecting), his lyrics are poetic, so you can imagine it was a treat to see up close.  The event was circa Murray Street days, and SY had a gig at the Royal Oak Music Theatre that night. The whole band (including J O'Rourke) hung out in the store during his readings, perusing random pages and looking inconspicuous, despite the huge tour bus in the middle of the parking lot.   

Anyhow, like any good fanboy, I was able to mutter "Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style rules" (a track from Murray St.) when he walked by.  I think he responded "awesome".  And then I knew.. He was awesome and I was awesome!  The 30 or so people in the bookstore were awesome; the few thousand at the ROMT, not so cool.

Now that I'm totally having an SY reflux, I suppose I might shell out the big bucks tonight to see an American legend still in the making.
~Woons