By rock and roll standards, at the age of 41, Henry Rollins is an old man. By the age of 40, any rocker who manages to survive the industry usually cuts back on the noise and the power chords, and mellows out.
But judging by last Wednesday's packed Rollins Band - Rollins, guitarist Jim Wilson, bassist Marcus Blake, and Jason Mackenroth on drums - concert at the Showplace Theater, the revered punk metal veteran is entering middle age kicking and screaming. He's still clad in the same black Nike gym shorts he's worn at all of his shows, he still has the physique of a body builder, and his voice is as loud and aggressive as it ever was.
Opening with "Disconnect," it's also apparent Rollins still makes it his mission to enlighten his audience by preaching against ignorance and apathy, using his own, in-your-face way:
"Too damn bad at the end of the day, the only thoughts in your brain are the things that they say. What a waste," he intoned.
But the contrast between his age and the way he acts should come as no surprise. Throughout his 21-year career, Rollins has always been an anomaly in the hard rock world - he's a musician with brain cells.
Just check out his eclectic r?(c)sum?(c). It's quite apparent that he has a mind to match the size of his muscles. Rollins is the former lead singer of the legendary punk band Black Flag, a novelist, a spoken-word artist, a cameo movie actor, and an influence on musicians like Kurt Cobain and Ice-T.
Of course there's no indication that he's ready to rest on his laurels. The Showplace gig came just a week after his long European tour. Speaking to the audience in the middle of his set, Rollins recounted,
"We were suffering in the snow and the rain and the foggy-ass weather all over. Ireland, and England, and Scotland, and Holland, and Russia ... and Italy ..."
During this brief anecdote, several crowd members began to chant "USA! USA!" Rollins was quick to reply, "Aw no, not that, 'USA,' s- with me. Italy's good, too. It'd do all the world a whole lot good if you pulled your head out of you're a- and put a smile on your face and be polite to everybody else. The world will smile back at you!"
But Rollins, a rocker with a socially conscious reputation, was more interested in making the audience's ears ring. His voice and his band spared no one.
Most of Rollins Band's hardcore set emphasized material on their last two albums, Get Some, Go Again and Nice. Rollins sang and moved like a hungry animal. Gripping the mic at the edge of the stage, spitting out water, and fixing his eyes on the audience, he appeared as though he were about to pounce.
Perhaps he got a little too close. There was very little space between the audience and the stage, which let an enthusiastic crowd surfer almost kick Rollins in the head while he was singing his fifth song, "Tear Me Apart."
But nothing seemed capable of stopping Rollins Band. There were surprisingly few pauses between any of the songs. Since the Showplace is not known for being sizeable, the mosh pit was unusually more active with energetic songs like "Hotter and Hotter" and "What's the Matter, Man."
Rollins' more visceral moments came while singing "One Shot." Speaking to the audience before performing, he remarked, "This song will hopefully cut in on all the bull- you've been hearing on Grammy's and the FM radio day in, day out." An all-out heavy song, the band incited the crowd to the point where everyone was screaming when Rollins belted out the last line of the song.
"Take one shot! Don't you miss me, motherf-er!" he challenged the crowd.
It was easy to get lost in the loud fervor of Rollins and the intensity of the band's music. But Rollins' voice is surprisingly musical and often has a bluesy quality to it, which could be heard most on "Side By Side," a song dedicated to his deceased friend Joe Cole.
And although Rollins' mere presence tends to attract the most attention, the other members have talent of their own. Wilson, who looked like a Pantera roadie with his black hair, Jack Daniels T-shirt, and curled Stetson, played very complicated guitar sets definitely more metal than punk, occasionally resembling Black Sabbath riffs.
But even though the night was mostly about the music, Rollins, being the man he is, couldn't help adding in some social commentary. Toward the end of the performance, with a brooding bass line and a drumbeat accompanying him, Rollins spoke trance-like to the audience:
"I think these days, aside from the obvious downer, there's no better time to be alive. But now the push has come to shove. ... You can wave your flag, be ignorant, relax, and have a good time. But in the end, you know you're wrong, you know you're weak, and that that's the way it is man."
As the audience clapped to the beats, Rollins growled, "Because underneath the paperwork, they got the whole country going. It's cool like a Ramones song. It's a rock 'n' roll country."
Dirty Mary, an all-girl punk band from New York, opened the show. Although they were no comparison against Rollins Band, they did amuse the audience with catchy lyrics like "I'm a Pedophile" and "Little Girls, Big Titties."
