Review: Henry Rollins Good To See You Tour, Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Victoria
Summary: It was Amazing to See YOU Henry Rollins.
4.9
For those lucky enough to witness Mr Henry Rollins speak himself into a literal lather last night at Hamer Hall; consider yourself blessed. The rest of you living vicariously through this review, sadly, you missed out on an absolutely engaging night, filled with laughter, sadness, and everything in between.
Just in case you have no idea who I am talking about. Henry Rollins is possibly best known as being the front man of the punk rock group Black Flag, and in later times the lead singer of Rollins Band. He is engaging, affable and speaks 1,000,000 miles an hour. I have heard him speak before. In fact, I’ve been a fan of the man for at least 30 years and this was truly an opportunity to take that bucket list to see him perform, he spoken Word in front of me.
I was not at all disappointed.
From the minute Henry takes the stage his speech is staccato and rapid fire. I literally watched him soak through his shirt with the intensity of his performance and of course the stage lights shining down upon him. This is the Good to See You tour, and Henry has not performed in our country for quite some time due to of course the COVID-19 pandemic. In that time though, he has lived a very full life and has quite the amount of stories to share with us.
His humour is self deprecating, which endears himself to us the audience. He is philosophical and eloquent, but with an intensity that makes you hang onto every word. I lost track of time, listening to him both from the standpoint of a fan, unabashed at that, but also having to take in just that little bit extra detail in order to write this review.
Henry covered a plethora of topics, including the, how should I say this, hilarious death of his mother and stepfather, and the scattering of said parents ashes. His approach to work and life are intense and his work ethic makes him a force to be reckoned with, although he unabashedly refers to himself as a dried up old lizard repeatedly to great comedic affect.
The quality of the sound at the Hall was fantastic, and worked well with Henry’s delivery style, mixing conversational with upfront and in your face microphone techniques. These produce a lot of funny sounds and it work very well considering. He has lived a very full life and made certain sacrifices to have the particular type of lifestyle which he spoke to us about. A life filled with music and travel. Then some more travel, then some more travel and maybe some more music as well as his grim determination to make sure that he wins every single eBay auction that he bids on. I loved how he ruminated for our enjoyment and his speech was well thought out and punctuated with witty commentary the entire time. I was fascinated by him and would’ve love the opportunity to actually speak to him.
Henry is the author of multiple books, many of which I own, and I am sure that you would have the chance to listen to his spoken word online, either on YouTube or through a streaming service.
Rollins is no longer a young man but his way of thinking certainly is; he actually gives me hope for the future and the decisions being made by young people. His speech is a message of discovery and acceptance and faith in our younger generations. doing the right thing by themselves, and each other all things said and done. He certainly has the right attitude.
Henry Rollins most certainly gave his all on this performance, and I do think wears his heart on his tattooed sleeve. From the beginning to the end, the entire audience was entranced, and to be honest, I think everyone there would’ve willingly attended the following night for the very same material, it was just that good. I feel terrible saying this, but I would make sure that if you’re even vaguely interested, make sure you do see Henry. As he tells us he may not be around by November this year!
This is a wonderful storyteller that actually has opinions worth listening to.
For me personally, seeing Henry Rollins live was a bucket list moment and one that most certainly did not disappoint. I cannot do full justice to how much I enjoyed the evening with Rollins at Hamer Hall.
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