Rollins Band with Skunk Anansie A Concert Review	June 24, 1997 The Vic Theatre Chicago, IL A Review by Stu Gotz & The Dude on the Right Photos by The Dude on the Right

Henry Rollins

Before Henry's tattooed body stomped on stage, the audience was thoroughly wound up by the night's opening act "Skunk Anansie." In my opinion, S.A.'s industrial punk sound was a perfect match for the nights headliner. S.A'.s bald-headed, lady-lead singer initially bounced on stage like a hip-hop nightmare and actually didn't do a thing for the crowd gathered. But, well into her 6th song, S.A.'s lead singer had not only bitten her lead guitar players nipple but also found a way to get the audience off their asses and out moshing. It would have appeared that the crowd had come around, but as for me? Well... I'm an Industrial/Punk fan but I just couldn't totally immerse myself into the band's offerings. I dare say S.A. is not a "Radio Friendly" band, but they could find their way onto the play list of a late night industrial radio show. I give Skunk Anansie ONE THUMB UP and hope to have the opportunity to see them again.

Well it took the roadies about 35 minutes to set the stage for Henry to make his way. This being the 3rd time I was seeing Henry performing his music, I've learned the following:

1. Know your mosh etiquette. A miss landed elbow can land you an ass-kicking from some very scary characters.
2. Not a lot of chicks show up to Henry's shows, and those that do usually do the black vamp thing , are with hulking ass-kicking boyfriends, or are ass-kickers themselves.
3 . Henry Rollins is no musical genius. That's not a slam. Hell I say the same thing about my favorite musical dude Jimmy Buffett. Henry may not be a musical genius but he does have crowd appeal.

Musical genius or not I will say that Henry knows how to whip up an audience into a moshing frenzy. From his 1st song to his last, every sweaty brow was totally focused on that huge bulbous neck of Henry.

  I've always enjoyed the high energy show that Henry brings to town and this night was no exception. Be it his books, spoken word performances, or musical CD's, Henry always entertains the repressed punk inside of me. So, I give Henry Rollins latest Chicago performance TWO THUMBS UP, but hey, I'm a fan, what else would you expect? This night was the first time the DOTR had experienced Henry's anger first hand and I'd like to hear what he thought. Dude?

The Dude on the Right's Turn:
Well, well, well. First off, I should say that I have two previous experiences of Rollins Band, Henry Rollins, or, well, however anyone seems to call him and his buddies on stage these days. None of these experiences were seeing Henry and his boys live, and maybe that's too bad because up to this show I wasn't really a big fan. One of those experiences was hanging in the office with Stu and him popping in "Liar" while doing his best imitation of Mr. Rollins (Stu's popping veins began to frighten me). The other experience was listening to Rollins Band's latest release, "Come In and Burn," which at first listen frightened me more than Stu's imitation. But I was intrigued, so I traded my Dockers for some torn jeans, threw on a t-shirt in place of my golf shirt, and followed Stu through the doors of The Vic.

The opening band, Stu told you about them, so I'll leave it at that. Then came Henry and his buddies. First impression, I was still frightened. Dressed in boxer-looking shorts, and only boxer-looking shorts, I saw a guy who probably spent more time in the gym in one day than I have in most of my life. Mike cord rapped around his hand, a look of total intensity on his face, it was time for hard driving punk that had the crowd pounding their fists in the air while bouncing off each other for an entire show. As I sat in the safety of the balcony, something began to ease the fear that was racing through my body - as scary as Henry and his band began, I started to listen to him, to the driving bass, the searing guitar, and realized that through this "bad-ass" image there was a message, and I wasn't so frightened after all.

 

Rollins Band and the crowd.

It's kinda funny, Henry comes off as an angry man, and does his best to spread his inspiration (as well as a lot of perspiration) to everyone who will take it, and this night it seemed everyone, even me, took it. Sure, I heard tones of you have to fight for yourself, I heard messages of a system that sucks, but mostly I heard that in the end, you are what you make it. And Rollins Band is making it. I expected just typical, hard-driving punk but instead I heard an excellent band who varied just enough from the norm to be different, I heard messages to make even the most down on their luck person take notice, and although Rollins Band won't be in heavy rotation in my CD player, I will always respect a band that gives 110% for an entire show.

Henry Rollins rarely, if ever, cracked a smile during this show, although his band-mates seemed to have a little bit of fun. I don't know, maybe Henry just needs a hug, but it might be a shame if he got one. Most of those strong, sensitive types rarely show the passion, energy, and fire that Henry Rollins throws out, so even with his success, let's hope he stays just a little bit angry. A Rollins Band show would probably suck if Henry hung out on stage in Dockers and a golf shirt, gently rapping out a message of how to change the world.

So, my first experience of Rollins Band live and I'm giving them TWO BIG THUMBS UP! Very cool, and I'm not as frightened anymore.

That's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!