Flashback Friday

I’ve been working on my next post for a while, but it’s taking longer than I expected so it’s not ready to share yet. Also, I’ve been so distracted by planning for X-Fest that not much else is getting done! Since I don’t have anything new I thought I’d share a reflection I wrote a couple of years ago about the first time I met David Duchovny. It’s not about The X-Files, but I figure anything about David Duchovny is X-Files adjacent. This reflection was included in Bulletproof Iconic, a collection of blogs, letters, and pictures by fans thanking David for his music, fan contact, and inspiration in his 2017 US tour.

Since writing this reflection I’ve been lucky enough to attend another concert (Vancouver in October 2017) and see both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson at a convention (Spooky Empire in October 2018). But my first time was such a wonderfully memorable experience, and revisiting it still makes me unbelievably happy.

Reflections on My Day with David Duchovny

First a note about the title.  I attended David Duchovny’s book discussion at Town Hall Seattle and his concert at The Crocodile on February 19, 2017.  And while it’s true that I actually spent more time waiting in line to see the man than in his actual presence, there wasn’t a moment of my day that wasn’t spent thinking about him, talking about him, listening to him, and best yet conversing with him (that may be overstating the nature of our interactions, but I’m going with it).  So as silly as it seems, I will always remember the day as the one I spent with David Duchovny.

Also, I’m only going to include my thoughts on two memories from the day.  There are many more, which my friends and family are by now tired of hearing about, but these two mean the most to me. 

My friend and I were early enough to the book discussion that we were able to get seats in the front row.  So when the discussion was opened to audience questions, I hopped right up and was first in line at the microphone on our side of the room.  I got to ask a question, and David answered it, and it was an incredible experience to have him talking right to me, looking right at me, responding to something I had asked. 

But it gets better!  After the Q&A David was signing autographs.  There were 600 people in attendance, and we were told that David would sign books and CDs, but it would be just signatures, nothing personalized.  As we were waiting in line I could see that David was doing his best to look up and smile at each person before signing his autograph…and that smile…it was breathtaking….  Anyway, as I got to the front of the line someone took my book, opened it to the right page, and handed it to David to sign.  He looked up at me, gave me that smile, and then with a look of recognition said, “Oh, good question.”  I can’t even describe how thrilling that was!  Is that silly?  I don’t care.  David Duchovny smiled at me, recognized me, and complimented me!!! 

But what really struck me about the whole thing was that this could have felt like an impersonal assembly line, but David was being so gracious and doing his best to make it meaningful for the people standing in line, that I (and many others too I’m sure) left feeling like I’d had a personal interaction with this talented, beautiful man. 

There was a lot more waiting in line before the concert, but again we were front row for the big event.  I don’t have a lot of experience attending live music performances other than the symphony, and this was my first time at a club show.  It was … different… and I can’t honestly say I’d go to another…unless it was David Duchovny.  I love his music, and his high-energy performance didn’t disappoint. 

But again, what I was most struck by was his generosity.  It seemed that David was doing his best to make a personal connection with everyone in the crowd.  I had a moment which I feel was just for me, as I’m sure almost everyone in attendance did (even if it was the same moment). 

For the second encore of the night, David and his band performed The Weight.  The song was an opportunity for David to show his appreciation to his amazingly talented band, and he did so in such a beautiful way that I’m getting teary again as I think and write about it.  Each band member sang a verse of the song, and as they did, David danced over to them and stood behind them as they sang, so the audience would focus on them.  David swayed behind them, rested his head on their shoulders, played with their hats, and it was so incredibly sweet.  Keaton Simons, who had opened for David, came on stage and joined David for the choruses.  They were really enjoying themselves, and again, it was incredibly sweet.  David’s moves across the stage were positively goofy and adorable, and he wasn’t trying to be the cool rock star, just the lovely man showing appreciation to his band and the audience.  Reliving this special moment makes me unbelievably happy.