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Henry Rollins Norwood Town Hall, Sat 21 May  Somewhere
in New York City is a Pakistani cab driver named Ijaz. Ijaz has broken
Henry Rollins’ heart. He hasn’t called. He shouldn’t really even have
Henry’s number. Rollins knows full well that it was ridiculous to
give Ijaz his number (after all, it was to arrange for the pair to
relocate to Pakistan together) but his genetic imperative to satisfy
wouldn’t allow him not to.And that is the Rollins conundrum wrapped up. In the same breath as telling us that he exists to satisfy; he tells us that satisfaction is nothing to him. A fleeting, guilt-ridden emotion that brings with it the fear of softening through contentment. Why is it so important for him to make us happy when he holds the notion in such disregard himself? Tonight’s show is the fourth time I’ve seen Rollins in spoken word mode, and by far the most revealing. There are moments when he takes on a Denis Leary-esque quality - ranting and raving and whipped into a self-induced frenzy - and becomes an exaggeration of himself. Which, of course, is exactly what tonight is about: Rollins will never tell an ordinary story: he’ll always twist it and make it as interesting as possible. His tales tonight range from the aforementioned Ijaz to his take on Australian news to his trip on the Trans-Siberian Express to touring with the USO to parties at William Shatner’s house. As always, he throws himself into these stories, with the occasional animated movement, vocal mimicry and a keen eye for observation. The highlight was his train trip from Moscow to Vladivostok and the never-ending war of wills with his carriage matron, dubbed The Sturdy-Legged Lady of the People’s Hallway. If you’ve ever had that fantasy involving Henry Rollins impersonating a stern female Russian train attendant impersonating a chicken, it was your night, baby. After two and a half hours of stories ranging from very funny to pretty sobering, it was another entertaining night in the company of Rollins. While it’s not entirely clear why he does these shows (I don’t know that I totally buy the "I gotta do something, so why not this" explanation) he’s a natural storyteller and possesses an unlikely charm; just not enough for Ijaz.  |
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