Thick-Necked Politics: A Conversation with Henry Rollins

The state of the nation isn’t looking so good:Americans have watched Wall Street crumble to ashesbringing our economy to a dangerous low, gas priceshave skyrocketed to a point where soccer moms haveto take out a loan to get the kids to school, an electionis parading forward with a lot of talk about everything,but solutions and two wars that have cost three trilliondollars and more than 5,000 lives. To take a catchphrase from the current campaign rhetoric: "It’s timefor some tough talk." The RecountdownTour is the latest spoken word outingfor hardcore orator and master of toughtalk Henry Rollins and will be comingto the Murray Theater on November10th. This newest engagement is notonly a chance for Rollins to addressthe madness plaguing our country, butalso, in his words, "to celebrate the endof the Bush era."

Rollins, a native of Washington, DC,began this tour in September and willbe venting his disapproval to fansacross the United States and Canada.Though Rollins could speak for days onthe follies of the Bush administration,The Recountdown Tour focuses on thecurrent battle for the Oval Office."Theshow will be about where I have beenand what I have seen over the last severalmonths," Rollins said. "The electiondrama has been depressing as far asthe attack ads and Palin and all thehate," he said. "Ultimately, the issuesget glossed over in favor of lipstick onpigs and whatnot. As usual, the peoplelose."

Rollins’ opinion on the outcome of theelection has changed in light of therecent activity by both parties. Whathe once believed to be the obviousoutcome is no longer what he thinks willtruly happen come November. "I usedto think McCain was going to win," hesaid. "Now, I am not so sure." He attributesthe change of heart not only toMcCain’s choice of a running mate, butthe repetition of the same platforms andpromises Americans have been hearingfor the past eight years. "I think thePalin thing will eventually bite him andseeing the two debates, it’s apparentto me that he has nothing new to saybesides the same ‘Bush-ite’ stuff. Notall that ‘mavericky.’ Perhaps enough Americans will want something else that they will voteaccordingly."

Rollins began his spoken word career during the finaldays of the Black Flag era, some 20 years ago. Now,with numerous tours under his belt and a catalog ofspoken word audio and video releases, he says beingon tour is where he is at his best and this year hasbeen no different. "That is what I do, so all is fine," hesaid. "I would rather be on the road than anywhereelse, so it has been a good year for me," Rollins said."Being off the road holds little appeal for me—less andless as time goes on."

With the current economy, escalatingfuel costs have hit hard on touring actsin all avenues of the entertainmentindustry, as well as poor attendance byfans. Luckily, Rollins says those factorshaven’t affected his performances thispast year. "I have been spared and theshows are doing very well," he said."Some places are better than ever.The other expenses, you have to paythem and you do and get on to the nextshow."

Though Rollins is still better known asthe sweaty, tattooed "hot animal machine"that decimated audiences withBlack Flag and the Rollins Band, Rollinswould rather share his stories andopinions with spoken word audiences."I don’t miss [musical performance] allthat much," he said. "Sometimes I do. Ijust don’t see what I could do with it thatI have not done in the past. When I seesomeone singing the same old songsover and over again, year after year,I wonder why they don’t want to dosomething more with their lives," saidRollins. "I am trying to push myself inother directions and keep myself a littleoff-balance in an attempt to keep it real.I like the idea of making new music, butI’m not so hot on doing old material,even though I miss it."

Though The Recountdown Tour wrapsshortly after the election, Rollins doesn’tplan on slowing down. "I have somecompany stuff to do as we are makingsome changes and preparing stufffor 2009," he said. "After that, I wantto get some traveling done and seesome places. I have some destinationsplanned, but it’s all the early stages."After all, even though the future’s stillscary, the world’s toughest talker coulduse a break.

Check out an exclusive review of Henry's performance here!

 

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