HENRY ROLLINS - Live in Brisbane 2023
Written by: Tom Wilson - Sense Music Media | Thursday 15th June 2023
Press Shot by: Ross Halfin
Another Round of Sermons from the Punk Rock Legend
Trying to stop Henry Rollins once he gets started is like trying to un-fire a gun. It simply isn’t possible, and the velocities of both are comparable.
Sprinting out from behind the curtain like he’s just done a cardio warmup backstage, he grasps the mic and unleashes a barrage of dialogue that does not let up for the next two-and-a-half hours, without so much as a sip of water. Within minutes, sweat is dripping off his tattooed arms as he takes us through his solutions for the world’s problems, such as preventing rape by giving every woman in America a Glock 19. This tour is called Good To See You for a reason. After years of COVID, the journeyman motormouth is back doing what he loves, and, as always, he’s got a lot to say.
At sixty-two, he shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. The famous muscles are still there, and he’s in admirable shape for a bloke of his vintage. His sense of humour is as brutally dark as ever, particularly when telling a story about hijinks involving his late mother’s ashes, though it’s interesting to see that his revelation on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he gave up cursing is still true. Throughout the whole night, he doesn’t swear once. Making many self-depreciating references to his habit of telling long-winded stories, he takes us on several journeys tonight. He goes into detail about his parents, and how his personality was forged in the crucible of childhood trauma, bouncing back and forth between two households of abusive alcoholics. It’s little wonder that he was so determined to break free and forge his own path in life. Later, he takes us through his experiences with a disturbed young man from Finland who travelled all the way to Los Angeles to break into Henry’s house. He also reveals that he’s that bastard who keeps outbidding people for punk memorabilia on eBay, which he follows up with a cheeky smile and a flip of the bird.
Throughout all of this, the audience is transfixed, despite sitting in seats so uncomfortable I’m positive they were once used in police interrogation. But maybe that is part of the experience. It’s not supposed to be comfortable – it’s a test of endurance. A night with Henry takes you places. You’ll laugh, you’ll get mad, you might even change your perspective on a thing or two. This was the first of a three-night run in Brisbane, and as I was walking home from a punk show the following night, I ran into a woman who recognised my Henry Rollins shirt and told me that she’d just come from his gig. She looked glassy-eyed and a bit bewildered, like she’d just been sprayed in the face with an intellectual firehose for almost three hours. When I told her as much, she just smiled.
“Well,” she said, “that’s Henry.”
Henry’s Australian tour continues into July. Get tickets here.
