An Evening with Henry

Last night I enjoyed an evening with Henry Rollins in downtown Sacramento. Going into this, I wasn't really sure what to expect. While I was well aware of who Henry was, my knowledge of him was fairly limited and I didn't quite know what a "spoken word" performance was going to deliver. I knew he was in a punk band called Black Flag, although I didn't recall any of their work. I knew he had a solo career, which produced a music video that scared me. I knew that he'd pop up for a cameo in movies every now and again. So basically, I knew that he was a buff, angry dude that was probably going to yell at me for an hour or two. Hey, I'm game.

After delivering a 3 hour one-man show, I left the Crest Theater having been very impressed. Basically, he's a storyteller. Not really standup, although it's pretty damn funny... Not really a lecture, although his political commentary was surprisingly intelligent. He just got up there and talked for 3 hours, analyzing President Bush, homosexuality, world travels and David Lee Roth ("Hey baby, beemp boop bop wow!"). One-man shows are often difficult to pull off, even with standup comedians, but he managed to captivate my attention for the full 3+ hours, leaving me in shock when I checked my watch as I left and realized how long I'd been listening to him rant.

I think a lot of his political commentary may have been lost on much of the crowd, which primarily consisted of big fat guys wearing studded jackets. Any time he passively mentioned Dee Dee Ramone or some random punk rocker, some of these guys would stand up cheering, giving each other high-fives and shouting "Yeah, I know who he's talking about!" But I suppose this guy is a god to them, so I shouldn't be upset. My ears perked up the same way when he talked about his recent wandering visits to Iran and Syria, so I suppose everyone's got their own interests.

So at the end of the evening, it turned out to be a funny, captivating and surprisingly intelligent performance. He wasn't as angry as I had been led to believe, which was a relief, because I was worried he'd hurt my feelings. If you get a chance, check this guy out.

Official Opinion of Henry Rollins: One righteous dude.