Review: Henry Rollins, Oxford O2 Academy, January 18
When they make a film of Henry Rollin’s life there will be an eight-hour director's cut somewhere. For a man 50 years of age he has certainly led a full and interesting life.
The current spoken word tour Rollins is taking around the UK is his life story. A life story told at breakneck speak for nearly three hours without an interval or a few seconds for him to draw breath and take a drink. The ability to talk for this long without any liquid refreshment is probably a leftover from his career as one of punk rock's seminal vocalists.
Originally booked for the Regal before it was sold to a religious community, the O2 was slightly unprepared and the audience had to sit on wooden fold-up garden chairs, which did not help the comfort levels. What was blaring out from the stage, however, made it all worthwhile.
The world Rollins lives in is an amazing one. His story starts with his parents and his home in Washington DC, before describing his move to Los Angeles and his career with Black Flag as a powerful singer and dynamic live performer. All of which are littered with stories of hippies, glittery tube tops and injuries sustained at gigs.
He talks about the people he met along the way, including a young Metallica. He tries not to swear but can be forgiven when telling his story of how he scared Dennis Hooper. He speaks less fondly of his assistant The Demon, and describes over the course of 20 minutes a trip to a Costco in which he turned into George Bush.
An accomplished writer, comedian, publisher, actor and DJ, later in his set Rollins talks about backpacking to North Korea and filming for National Geographic. Judging by the applause and general comments around us, if the audience were not big Rollins fans before, they certainly are now.
