Henry Rollins
Vicar Street
March 26 2023
Henry Rollins is like a well 62 year old regularly serviced oiled machine that can operate for hours without a break. The reliable machine that never breaks down in a factory producing items 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is a man who escaped from an abusive home environment as soon as he could and found comfort and solace in music, most pointedly punk rock. He left his hometown in Washington DC to go to La and sing with Black Flag and tonight’s show dips its toes into some tales from those times. It’s a 150 minute monologue with a few stories and plenty of humour. It is humour in situations where one wouldn’t normally seek it at first count but the man who “barely graduated from high school” finds a way to entertain us with stories about finding the intruder who broke into his house and the absurd situation while waiting for the cops to arrive. We laugh whole heartedly as he rattles along at high speed talking about the death of his mother and the saga around the distribution of her ashes. Life is straightforward for Henry Rollins as he states the fact that you live and then die. No big deal. Tonight’s mantra though as he walks off the stage without pause for water is let’s make the century end better than it began, so I’m in. Anyone else?
