Prior to Friday night, I used to think the hardest of the hard-core Riverbenders were those who endured hours of heat and rain to protect their spot on the Coke Lawn.
Then, I met Sherry Gordon.
As I was coming back from one of many trips to rehydrate at the medical emergency tents, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of Ms. Gordon toting around a 9-foot-tall black guitar covered in a message written in silver glitter and studded with rhinestones. As it turns out, Ms. Gordon had made the colossal six-string herself, one in a long line of elaborate homebrew banners she’s constructed for artists over the years.
“This is one thing people have always done to express what they want at events like this, and I’m trying to keep it going,” Ms. Gordon said. “I get more than I can possibly express out of it. If I can just get one smile, it’s worth it all to me.”
The Rock Springs, Ga.-native started making banners in 2005 for headliner Kid Rock. As time wore on, they’ve become increasingly elaborate and tailored to something specific about the artist. She’s made a giant train for 2008 headliner Josh Turner (in honor of his first studio album “Long Black Train”), a red eliminator hot rod to mirror that owned by another 2008 headliner, ZZ Top. This year, she put together a giant 45 rpm record for Saturday night’s headliner, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and has others prepared for Darius Rucker (a guitar) and The Charlie Daniels Band (a fiddle).
Every night she’s not working, you can find Ms. Gordon parked in the middle of the blanket seating section, front and center so as not to impede anybody’s view (which an enormous guitar is obviously more than capable of accomplishing). That, to me, is pretty hard-core.
Clearly, if there were nominations for super fans at Riverbend, I’d put Ms. Gordon’s name up for consideration. But just to see whether she was going overboard in her exhibition of fandom, I decided to ask some of Saturday’s artists what was the most extreme thing they would do for their musical idol. Some of their answers were admirable, and others were, well, a little more … extreme.
Angel Snow and Viktor Krauss (yes, he’s Alison’s brother) both told me they would love to meet members of Led Zeppelin.
Mr. Krauss actually met his idol, bassist John Paul Jones, but he said the worst thing Mr. Jones had to worry about was that he would, in his state of excitement, end up flubbing his lines.
“You end up just feeling like you’re an idiot when you want to say something eloquent about how they’ve touched you, musically,” he said, laughing.
Ms. Snow, on the other hand, suggested something that might encourage former Zeppelin front man Robert Plant to beef up his security, especially considering how deadpan her delivery was.
“I would stalk the hotel room where he was staying,” she said. “I’d be willing to put on a hotel clerk’s uniform and act like I worked there just to have an excuse to talk to him.”
Ms. Snow’s wasn’t the most extreme. Honestly, the less said about what Rick Bowers, the front man of Rick Bowers and the Majors, told me he would do to show his appreciation of The Replacements’ lead singer Paul Westerberg, the better. Let’s just say that, based on what he said, he’s a much better fan than I am.
Still, even if you never get close enough to your idol to warrant wearing a disguise or do any of the things Mr. Bowers suggested, it’s nice to know Ms. Gordon has found a way to show her appreciation without risking personal hygiene or a potential restraining order.
Admirable that.