What does Henry Rollins do? The former punk frontman is nowadays described as a spoken-word artist, but really he is just a force of personality. He uses this 75-minute show to relate some recent adventures and encourage us to join him in "sticking it to The Man".
But it can feel like a confidence trick. His politics are predictable, and not all of his stories, on paper, justify the telling. It's just that his febrile delivery, combined with an expressivity as exaggerated as a Loony Toons cartoon, bulldozes these tales into your head before your reservations can register.
The motor of this tirade is Rollins' rage. It drives him to action, he says: "People benefit when I get angry." As that remark suggests, Rollins doesn't suffer from a low opinion of himself. He describes how, when the US government advises against visiting countries, he boards the plane. ("I'm not a tough guy, but I am pretty fucking nuts.") He does, however, have a low opinion of his fellow Americans: his proposal to send lumpen, gluttonous Van Halen fans to Iraq betrays an unattractive attitude towards the proles.
But Rollins has the charm, and the performing chops, to elevate his material and reveal the humanity beneath the sloganeering. I prefer his self-mockery to his self-promotion, as when he recounts his emotionally constipated relationship with demonstrative co-stars on a recent straight-to-DVD movie. And he sends up his own fury appealingly. So, by the time he makes his plea for us all to fear less and take more responsibility, you are ready to listen.
It may not always be clear what claim Rollins has on our attention. But at least, once he's got it, he tries to use it.
