An Evening With Henry

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of spending the evening with one of my personal heroes, Mr. Henry Rollins. Henry Rollins is a punk rock icon & oh so much more. He'll always be known as the lead singer of the seminal Los Angeles punk rock group Black Flag & then his later solo work in The Rollins Band. He's an actor, author, philanthropist, tour guide, & my personal favorite; a raconteur. This man travels, everywhere & has seen & experienced some extremely cool shit! He's quite literally been all over the world doing his 'Spoken Word Performances.' Thankfully the man usually makes 1-2 stops in Southern California around my neck of the hood each year. The show was after work down in Solana Beach @ The Belly-Up Tavern(Is that the best name for a bar or what!?) & I arrived early. Well extremely fucking early(About 3hrs before showtime.) because I wasn't about to fight the rush hour traffic going home & then turn around in two hours & do the same fucking thing. I strolled up to the box-office, picked up my ticket(Shockingly I was the first patron there!) & noticed that the merch guy was already setting up the t-shirt stand. I perused the fine choices of shirts & settled on a black long-sleeve one w/Henry on the front that said, 'The Frequent Flyer Tour-Knowledge Without Mileage Equals Bullshit(And yes I wore this shirt to work on Friday because it was 'Casual Friday. Natch!).'

Once the doors opened, I settled into a middle seat right in the front row. The Stooges song 'Down On The Street' from their classic 'Funhouse' album(If you don't own this album, you suck & must rectify this situation immediatedly! Seriously, It's Iggy & The Stooges! Buy &/or download it now!!!) blared over the intercom & as we all patiently waited for Henry to make his entrance & start the show, my thoughts drifted back to the Fall of '91 when I first discovered punk rock. I was smack dab in the middle of pledging Phi Kapa Theta(Ooh Raah Fuck!) Fraternity & having the time of my life. I did notice that I was starting to get some grief about my choice of music from one particular fraternity brother though, Sluggo.

'Biff, seriously dude! How many Public Enemy & RUN D.M.C. t-shirts do you own?'

'Alot of 'em.'

'Is that all you fucking listen to?'

'Well, yeah.'

This was true, Somewhere around the ninth & tenth grade I discovered N.W.A. & I listened to rap non-stop for over three years, so I rolled into my college years being extremely, 'Down With O.P.P.'

'Dude! There's nothing wrong with listening to rap, but you're in college man! Broaden your muscial fucking horizons! Have you ever heard of Black Flag or Social Distortion???'

'No who are they?'

With the look of sheer disgust, that Sluggo threw me, you'd have thought that I anally raped his mother while puring sugar into his car's gas tank!

'Biff! You grew up in the suburbs! The boonies actually! Think about it! If you were ever dropped off in any form of ghetto, you'd get your ass kicked!' 'Even though some of that music's good, how can you really relate to it???'

'Well, you do have a point there.'

'No fucking shit I have a point! Now I'm gonna play a song for your stupid rap-ass & I want you to reeallly listen to it? Can you handle that Mr. Public Enemy???'

'Sure thing Slugs.'

Sluggo popped in a cd. The musiC started & I was immediately hooked. The song was Social Distortion's, 'Ball & Chain.' The lead singer Mike Ness nasally drawled out the lyrics,

'Well it's been ten years & a thousand tears

And look at the mess I'm in

A broken nose & a broken heart,

An empty bottle of gin

Well I set & I pray

In my broken down Chevrolet

While I'm singing to myself

There's got to be another way

Take away, take away

Take away this ball & chain.'

Thus began my love-affair with punk rock. It was like I finally found an outlet to express myself. I soaked in as much classic punk rock as my brain would take, much like a a sponge filling up with water. Thankfully Sluggo & the rest of my Phi Kap brethren were fucking punk rock oracles! They supplied me with a crash-course education in Punk Rock 101 & Black Flag was at the top of the curriculum. Black Flag was like my gateway drug into the world of loud, catchy three-string anthems. I started with their album, 'The First Four Years' & then moved on to 'Damaged.' 'Damaged' Henry Rollin's first album with Black Flag & from there I discoved some of his recorded Spoken Word Performances, most notably, 'The Boxed Life.' It felt like he was speaking to me & had a direct line into my thought-process. Then I discovered that he had written books as well(I highly recommend starting out with the first book in his 'Black Coffee Blues series, 'Smile You're Traveling.') & I tore into those as well with intensified glee. Needless to say, Henry's music, spoken word performances, books & movies have been a mainstay in my life. I've been hooked ever since. So as Henry came bounding out onto the stage @ The Belly-Up Tavern & lit into the crowd telling stories & opinions as only he can, I couldn't help but laugh & crack a warm smile. I will always support Henry & as long as he keeps coming to San Diego, I'll never miss a show!

'Don't try to justify your complacency with me. That's not adventure. That's a job!' -Henry Rollins