Henry Rollins
Narrows Center For The Arts
September 26, 2023
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| PRE FLAG HENRY |
Henry Rollins has had one hell of a life and career. From fan to frontman to author and sometimes actor. Rollins has many stories to tell and his spoken word shows are the perfect vehicle. Several years back when I started this blog, interviewing Henry was one of my main goals. I'm grateful to say I was able to check that off my list. Henry was gracious enough to answer some of my questions for an article on Hardcore and Punk music a few years back. It's still one of the coolest moments I've had doing this blog. SO you can tell I'm a fan boy. Henry is Saint Henry in my book. I've pasted this famed photo(see attached) of Henry working at Haagen-Dazs back in the early 80's, in almost every office I've worked in. It's become a totem. How can you not be inspired to take career chances when you hear how Henry auditioned for his favorite band and changed Punk Rock history? (read Get In The Van)
So cut to this past Tuesday (Sept. 26), the Narrows Center for the Arts is a stone's throw away from my work place. The Narrows is an old textile factory that was renovated into several art studios and a concert hall on it's top floor. Fall River is known primarily for a few things, textile mills, Lizzie Borden and that one time Aerosmith came to town to film a video in a former church. The Narrows is the city's only true concert venue with a calendar of mostly adult contemporary acts that travel the states. Rollins coming to town (err city) is a big deal to the folks of my generation and the back in the day gang that show up for these things. It was no surprise that this was a "SOLD OUT" show.
Given that I worked fairly close to the venue, I drove by a tour bus sitting promptly 7 AM outside the Narrows. I've seen several tour buses come through over the past few years, none this early. It had to be ROLLINS! A few hours later, I would find myself standing on the same side walk as Henry as I took my lunch by the waterfront. I quickly said "Hello" and shouted "I'll see you tonight Henry!". Henry replied "Why thank you!" as he stared up at the looming factory building.
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Having a close friend who has a studio at the Narrows comes with it's benefits. Great local artist and author, Chuck Boucher, gave me the low down on what to expect for the night's entertainment. Sold out shows required planning. "Get there early and grab a table" were some of the notes my pal gave me. I got in line an hour prior to doors opening. I was met with a handful of concert goers from a wide range of age groups. A scraggly hippie dude was conversing with a 20 something punk rocker near the door over how many times he'd come to watch shows since his retirement. Some other folks showed up carrying coolers (the venue is BYOB) garbed into something akin to a hipster duck dynasty uniform. Henry Rollins fans are clearly diverse.
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| Henry at the Narrows |
Most of the crowd at the door were VIP and entered the venue a half hour early for the meet and greet. I was happy to move up to second position. As luck would have it, the first person in line was a regular at this venue and a friend of a friend (Chuck). When doors opened, she quickly grabbed a table and invited me to sit with her. Tables are the best view in the venue. A smattering of round tables that sit four are situated in front of a stage that's "comedy club" height. The seats are a mish mash of hard, soft, church pews and bleachers. The room is wide and unlike many clubs doesn't feel boxed in. Snacks and non alcoholic drinks were sold off in the corner.
Henry promptly hit the stage at scheduled event time and proceeded to speak without a sip of water for almost 2 and a half hours. Without spoiling his spoken word set, I'll paraphrase. After a quick nod to Lizzie Borden, many jokes about how he's much shorter than people expect and a concise retelling of his origin story, he branched out to tales of his life from the past few years. Henry contorts as he speaks, with the microphone wire firmly wrapped around his fist and sweat pouring down his face he lives out those stories. His presence is compelling. I found myself in tunnel vision, laughing and focusing on every word that sprung from his mouth. If he had only told one of his epic stories, it would've been worth the price of admission alone. Thankfully, we received the gift of a dozen stories and full night of laughter.
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| Henry at the Narrows |
Henry is always on. He's a machine. After listening to his 2 and half hours of stories, nothing is trivial. He's traveled the world, he's unapologetic about his political takes and he's come so near to death on several occasions that he understands how important time is.
"No such thing as spare time, no such thing as free time, no such thing as down time. All you got is life time. Go."
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