Henry Rollins
Date: March 2, 2008 Smile, You're Traveling Five years after Henry Rollins started an Ottawa spoken word show with a claim that he would try to return to the city more frequently, I finally saw him perform again . . . in Montreal. Considering that the unofficial theme of his three-hour show was the benefits of world travel, though, it's hard to complain too strongly about the hardships of a two-hour road trip. As with past shows that I have seen from Rollins, he started with a few quick stories, including a summary of his latest acting gig, playing a priest guarding the gates of hell. Rollins often mentioned his dislike of downtime, which lead to a comical aside about his agent demanding that he read the script for that movie before agreeing to take on the work, so that he at least knew that he wasn't committing to making goat porn. When filming wrapped on that project, just before Christmas, and the actors "congratulated each other for adding another notch to their IMDb pages," Henry found himself with more dreaded downtime, leading him to his ideal vacation spot: Islamabad, Pakistan. His tales from Pakistan marked the first lengthy section of the night; and were perhaps the most interesting. He first explained that he chose Pakistan as a destination at the start of 2007, during one of his USO tours, by asking people familiar with the region what was the one spot they wouldn't recommend that people visit. To set the scene, he recounted how he chose between two hotels by opting for the one that hadn't been bombed yet. His pattern of wandering the streets at random to see the city past the guarded confines of his hotel took a turn for the interesting when his stay in Pakistan coincided with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. He first recounted coming across a mass display of public grief, with men burning tires while the police watched idly. He then explained that when a group of men came by chanting and pumping their fists, he decided his best idea was to join their march, which unfortunately led him to morning prayers, where he tried to shrink against the barbed wire barrier and look inoffensive. Apart from travel stories, Rollins also had a few musical tales, starting with him filling another day off (from 50 shows in 58 days) by securing passes to see the Van Halen reunion tour in Chicago. Any chance for Hank to deliver his David Lee Roth impression is gold; and the back-story of his early Van Halen encounters was hilarious. His next music story was more emotionally conflicted, as he described his involvement with a one-off reunion show from English punk outfit The Ruts, in which he sang in place of deceased original singer Malcolm Owen. Henry's love for the group was apparent in the way that he mockingly paraphrased himself asking a band member a seemingly endless question about the obscure details of various vinyl pressings of an album. ("I have every international version of every album, triple-sealed in acid-free Mylar sleeves," he informed the audience.) He brought the same intensity to the concert, agreeing to perform only after the rhythm section assured him of their seriousness and desire to not tarnish the legacy of the music. Rollins put increased pressure on himself after finding out that UK Subs and The Damned would also be on the gig. The reason for the reunion was a desire to perform one last show with guitarist Paul Fox, who was dying of cancer, which led to a wide range of emotions in the story. The balance of the night was consumed with additional travel stories, with Rollins relating his adventures in Syria, Beiruit, and South Africa. On the whole, Rollins was less overtly political and less preachy than I have heard him be in past shows. He did constantly refer to "the Internets," à la George W. Bush, but he was not as focused on politicians as he was when he passed through on the eve of the Iraq war. He also seemed to avoid telling people how they should be living, one time half-apologizing for being so forceful with a particular point, joking that he has to come on strong because he passes through so infrequently. In the end, though, the politics were evident in the stories of traveling to countries that are considered dangerous enemies and finding common ground, while his take on life was all the more inspirational without the sermonizing. This was another great evening from Henry Rollins. Even if he couldn't make it back to Ottawa again on this leg of the tour, he easily justified a trip down the highway. <--Prev (Xavier Rudd) | Next (Ladyhawk)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |