Last Night ... The Rollins

Talking about the Googles and the Internets. It was classic Henry in Saskatoon (which as far as he knows is the first time he's ever performed here), a great Christmas gift for Jason from his parents.

I've seen Henry in Calgary twice before, so this was the 3rd time for me (5th time for the Hubby, as far as we can figure it), and of course, Henry never fails to deliver an awesome good time. There were periods where I was laughing pretty freakin' loud, I tell you.

Since it was my 3rd time, I opted to finally buy a t-shirt, just to keep up with Jason:




I love it.

The last time we saw Henry was in October in Calgary, so not that long ago. There were a few bits that were the same, but a lot of bits that weren't. Henry's performances are usually around the 3 hour mark, a little over. The guy literally gets on stage and talks for 3 hours straight ... so to have tons of new material was pretty cool. I love hearing about his travels, his political observations, and of course, his experiences in the punk rock world.

Different kind of crowd, here in Saskatoon.

First time I saw Henry in Calgary was at Mac Hall (left), so ... very much a university kind of crew with a feeling like you're attending a school assembly.

2nd time was at the Jack Singer (right), same KIND of crowd, but different dynamic (tickets were much more expensive), with assigned seating in a huge concert hall.

Here ... the venue was the Odeon Event Centre (couldn't find a great pic, but it's one of those older theatres that has levels, and a mezzanine, and no rhyme or reason it seems). It was general seating, so we made sure that we got in line a little early. Our seats were fabulous, and the venue really lent itself to that awesome intimate atmosphere that makes the experience that much more. There was a bar right inside the theatre, and places where people had tables to sit at (but we were near the front ... chairs only there).

The dynamic in Saskatoon, with the much more intimate environment and bar RIGHT inside the theatre, was a bit more on the heckler side of audience participation. People definitely added their two cents to the Rollins spiel as Henry motored along ... was great from the perspective that it made it that much more intimate, but not sure that I loved hearing people heckle. We were there to hear Henry, not some drunk dude down the aisle from us ... but ... I guess he paid for his ticket just like everyone else. The other times I've seen Rollins, the audience was in a much more adoring, reverential place ... maybe it was just different to see another type of dynamic going on.

Either way, we loved it. When we got home, the Henry Rollins show was on TV too ... so it was like Henry followed us home! Ahhahahaaha.

And so, in closing, here are a few videos for your viewing pleasure:

Henry on the Hour, with my George - safe for work:


AND ... here's the most PC video I could find of his spoken word from a few years ago ... gives you a real taste of what it's like (I think it's swear-word free - safe for work), but I urge you to youtube the Rollins yourself and find some of his really funny bits.