Preview
HENRY ROLLINS
Sunday, March 9
MacEwan Hall (U of C)
Over the past two decades, punk icon Henry Rollins has amassed an impressive body of work, and I am not just referring to his career.
Rollins is perhaps as well-recognized for his hulking muscular physique and abundant tattoos as he is for his 21 musical albums, nine spoken word discs, 12 books and multiple television appearances (he even hosts Full Metal Challenge, currently airing on The Learning Channel). In addition, Rollins has repeatedly ventured on to the big screen, appearing in movies such as The Chase, Johnny Mnemonic, Jackass and the forthcoming Bad Boys 2.
Today, at the young age of 41, Henry Rollins is still calling the shots and kicking ass. Currently midway through a gruelling 83-show tour, the self-professed workaholic is showing no signs of relenting. Fans of his music – who are accustomed to seeing him bent at the waist, half-naked, growling into a microphone over the raucous post-punk noise of the Rollins Band – might not know it, but this highly articulate individual is a poet in punk’s clothing. Politics may not be his calling, but his keen and often hilarious observations of the human condition still ring true.
"I don’t know if I’m liberal. I don’t really go down any party line. I don’t disagree with every thing that President Bush says – I’m more pro-human. I’m anti-dead-Iraqi, and I’m anti-dead-American-coming-home-in-a-steaming-bucket. I am also anti-Saddam Hussein – I’d love to see his head on a fucking platter."
Strong words, but Rollins’s hatred of tyrants is not limited to those in foreign countries. He often turns a wary eye upon his own government and doesn’t hesitate to voice his disapproval of the Bush administration and its foreign policy. Having travelled to Israel and Turkey, Rollins professes a love for Middle Eastern music and food, as well as a rabid curiosity about the region’s ancient cultures. But he regrets that he may not have another opportunity to visit these places due to current disputes.
"My fear is that we will go into Iraq and vaporize swatches of the population who don’t deserve to be vaporized," he says. "I don’t want to run into any conflict that you can walk up to. And I think that if you have an agency like the UN, I don’t think it’s a good idea to destabilize it.
"I find it really offensive that our president says, ‘OK, the UN is losing credibility – here’s your last chance to be cool.’ How arrogant. And that really bugs me that he would destabilize something that has been around so much longer than he has, headed by people who are far more articulate. And I don’t think that makes me a liberal at all.
"Here you are running into a conflict like it’s a wrestling match. Hans Blix wants four months – why don’t you give it to the guy? Unless you have your soldiers in place and you have such a hard-on to go do this that your machismo is obscuring the real task at hand. I figure you’re going to be blowing up a lot of bakers and dentists.
"And that to me is not the American way – it’s not the America I want to live in."
In truth, Rollins devotes as much of his time to defending his nation as he does to maligning it. Treating his compatriots with compassion and respect, this pragmatic punk poet believes that the best way to understand the world around us is not by reading a book or following popular media, but through examining our own genuine observations and experiences.
"These days, as an American, you struggle to feel good about living in this place. You do – if you’re a conscientious American. And, trust me, do not think that all Americans are like Bush, or these blow-hard guys you see on MSNBC or Fox News. You will find that a vast swatch of Americans, the predominant majority, are incredibly switched-on people, very cool, very likeable. They not all overweight, over-paid and under-worked." |
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