Meeting Viggo (from vfb)

[wowie]

Meeting Viggo

posted on vfb by aramor here but found @ tokyo.cool.ne.jp

（In San Francisco／Summer, 1987）
by r.x. beckstrom

When my favorite band X was performing at the Fillmore West in San Francisco around mid-1987, my boyfriend, some friends, and I were milling around the club after the opening band finished their set. There wasn't a lot of people in the back concession area, so I walked over to see what kind of T-shirts and buttons and stuff they had for sale. The guy selling the items was so F@#$ing beautiful- he had this huge aura, this incandescense that was startling. he had that sort of bohemian-artist/surfer-with-a-phd-in-philosophy look/thing going that can be weakening to me. I was just awestruck for a moment, so I bought a tee that Exene had drawn "X"s and zigzags and coils on that I still wear. I don't remember what I said to the dude, but it took effort to be cool, when I feel someone next to me, and it's Exene herself! my idol. It was doubleplusgood (to quote Orwell's "1984"). It was an overwhelming moment. I didn't want to be a geek to her (and in front of him), so I just smiled and said, "hi," and she smiled and said, "hi" back. I said "thanks, dude" to the devastating man at the booth, he smiled and said, "Sure thing" and I walked back over to my boyfriend & friends. I was, like, "Don't be obvious, you guys, but there's Exene right there...and look at that guy she's talking to." Exene and the concession guy were talking intimately together. It was very interesting to observe. I remember thinking how it looked like they were a couple, how sweet that her beautiful boyfriend would work the booth for the band, and what a lucky woman she was to have been with john doe, and now this babe. I remember he had several types of necklaces- some metal, some leather or twine, with a carved animal or somethang. I also remember rings, bracelets (guatemalan, leather, maybe others). There was paint splatter on his pants- olive or tan or sand colored- I'm not sure which, but the paint stuck out in my head. And I definitely recall he had a tee on- old, pale yellow, with an indigenous brown print (Native American?, Aztec? But you get what I mean). That I remember his clothing after 17 years should clue you into the impact Viggo had (has) in person. He didn't seem "punk" per se, more bohemian. At this point, X's sound was expanding to more American roots type stuff. Their new album was "See how we are" which had a Dylan influence. The single, "4th of July" had Exene singing "Positively 4th st" on the flip side. The Rhino re-release of this CD also has a cover of "Highway 61" (Bob Dylan classix, in case you guys are young). Also, this was the only show I ever heard Exene sing, "You", which is obviously about Viggo, so she was probably singing to him "You" is on the album "See how we are". It's a wistful song about the loneliness of a long distance relationship. Anyhow, of the maybe 70 times I've seen X, that was the only time she sang it. I can imagine the pangs of missing him while he's acting in NY. Of course, in time I realized he was an actor/artist named Viggo Mortensen and they were married. Later that year, at shows, Exene was obviously pregnant. I would see every show they did in the bay area and it seemed like she was pregnant for years. She had her baby, Henry (after Rollins) Blake on the same day John Doe's new wife, Gigi, had their baby, Veronica! We rented "Salvation!" when it came out on video and there was Viggo Mortensen's name in the credits. the movie wasn't very good, but Exene was funny, and Viggo definitely showed presence. This was around 1988. After that, I was always happy to see Viggo get better roles in A-pictures. My friends and I would say, "Oh good, Viggo's in 'Portrait of a lady'" or whatever. It took a long time for the press to catch on to him, though. I think it was "Perfect Murder" and his own artwork used in the film that articles first started showing up, like "Vanity Fair" dubbing him, "the scene stealer" in one of their Hollywood issues. Of course, everyone knows the rest, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. but, for me, it was inevitable that others would connect to him eventually. I just wonder why it took so long.