I knew Henry Rollins as the singer for Black Flag and Rollins Band but was also aware of the spoken word he had been doing for many years. I had never seen him in any capacity so it was a no brainer to grab tickets for when he decided to roll through San Diego on a Friday night. This was the first time I had been to the Observatory where seats were set up but it was also a rare instance that a presale actually yielded excellent tickets so Wayne and I had seats in the sixth row.

At 8 o’clock Rollins promptly trotted onto the stage that was bare save for a microphone stand. No backdrop, no notes, no water, no opener; just Henry Rollins. For roughly the next two hours and 15 minutes he never stopped talking. At 61 years of age he spoke of not having a moment to waste and based on the quick pace of his delivery and the fact that he never let up made you believe him. As he put it he was “rounding third base coming into home on the existential flatline.” He looked to be in great shape despite saying he only slept three to four hours a night and ate 1.5 meals a day with the .5 usually being a Power Bar but he did say he does not drink so that certainly helps. His topics ranged from Black Flag to Iggy Pop and the Stooges to traveling to a centerpiece story about a guy from Finland who breached his property and then broke into his house. All of his stories tied into the idea of leaving this century better than we came into it and I know I am definitely better off having seen Mr. Henry Rollins.