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Sitting in a darkened theatre, I consider that many of the people in this room may have never seen Henry Rollins as a lead singer of a band, the last time I did was in 1992…more than half a lifetime ago.

Boom !

Suddenly Rollins is on stage and the talking begins…fast and furious…kicking off with how is Cairns pronounced and reflecting on his previous visit where he sweated more than performed in a “Tank” referring to the local music venue Tanks Arts Centre, I remember seeing him there in 2011 and 2016.

Tonite seems a bit different, normally Rollins speaks about his adventures…where he has travelled to, the music he has listened to and the people he has met, but 3 years of covid lockdowns has crimped his ability to do that and as such reduced the stories he normally has to offer up.

The theme of the evening seemed to be one that reflects on mortality, his own and others as well as what life may be really about.

Rollins regaled the audience with stories of his upbringing and there is no love lost when he describes his family life with…alcoholic parents and a racist, homophobic father, and eventually his step father, Les and his mother Iris’ married life. Where, they would see him as he visited the city in which they lived whilst on tour….seeing them age in “chunks” rather than gradually.

This seemed a sad story to an observer but families and peoples relationships are often fraught with difficult.

Rollins says he prefers to be alone…and that he would rather be a great friend to just two people rather than being a shitty friend to a lot of people.

The talk rolled on. The death of his mother, emails, conversations, selfies with people who say “their grandfather loved his band” , the role of older generations to get out of the way of young people, his powerplays on ebay of buying records and his own demise now that he is a man in his 60s who “will be gone by September”, we hope that was a metaphor.

It is a harsher show than Nick Cave's conversation shows where Cave allows the audience in, to particpate by asking questions. Rollins show pummels the audience with a tirade of words exploring one mand experiences walking on earth.

Henry Rollins is a long time visitor to our Australian shores but as a man in his 60s I am left wondering if we will see him again…we have to revel in what we have when have it.

What was the message, the take away for the night…it seemed to be “lets all be kinder” and “finish the century better than it began”... certainly a worthhile one.

Speaking to others after the show it was interesting the spectrum of takes on the show, but one things was clear everyone loved it.

If you want to hear more of Henry Rollins and what music he is digging at any given moment you can always check out his show on KCRW HERE