"We don't live here, so I don't know where your headspace is at right now," Henry Rollins told the packed audience as he walked onstage and delivered an opening monologue, "I was on East Side last night, when I was approached by an old man who thanked me for being alive. He thought I live here. Well, we're thankful that you're also still here."

With these words, Rollins Band 2001 slammed into "You Didn't Need" from The End of Silence (1992), an album whose title references the obscurity of alternative punk labels. Backed by Jim Wilson (guitar), Marcus Blake (bass), and Jason Mackenroth (drums), who are Los Angeles band Mother Superior, Henry Rollins' blistering rock captured the savage undercurrents of post-WTC New York. In another spoken word monologue, Rollins distinguished between Sunday afternoon patriotism--streets that competed for the largest American flag, candle-lit vigils on every corner, and street conveners pushing incense to the side to sell overpriced T-shirts--and what he believed was real patriotism: helping the homeless, preventing the Queer couple from being bashed up. "Forget the rest of the country, New Yorkers are the real patriots," Rollins told the crowd, who erupted into cheers and applause.

The band played "Obscene" and "Starve" from Come In And Burn (1997), but mainly concentrated on material from Get Some Go Again (2000) and about half of their latest album Nice (2001). Standout tracks included "Are You Ready", "Hotter and Hotter", "Thinking Cap". The new material revealed the influence of jams from Black Sabbath and The Stooges, and the visceral rock of MC5 and Thin Lizzy: "Going Out Strange", "Stop Look & Listen" (delivered with self-mocking commentary), "Your Number Is One" and "What's The Matter Man".

What resonated with me the most was comparing this show to a 1991 bootleg of Slayer on tour during the Persian Gulf War: during "War Ensemble" bassist Tom Araya screamed out, "We've got some friends in the Gulf who want to slaughter people!"

The jingoism and war hysteria was missing from this show - the real targets of Rollins' cynicism was the music trade press and manufactured bands. During the introduction to "One Shot", Rollins talked about his favorite targets: "You have two decks, a microphone, and probably stamp 'Musician' on your passport when you travel to Europe - and I'd like to break you into pieces." Later when the band was jamming on Thin Lizzy standards, Rollins returned to exploring what makes a great rock band. "The great bands have a great rhythm section, and the bad ones . . . don't." And when Rollins said, "I know there are a few music critics in the audience tonight," Preston and I looked at each-other and just laughed.

Just before Rollins began, and during Mother Superior's opening support, Preston Peet and I traded war stories about horror gigs: the crushing Faith No More concert in a university gymnasium, getting crushed on the first Jane's Addiction reunion tour, and an awful Violent Femmes show where the drummer was too slow. This was definately not one of those shows.

For three hours, Henry Rollins and his team took our minds off the lingering tragedy. "My ears are still blocked," Peet told me afterwards, as we made our way along First Avenue. "When I saw Rollins Band in 1992," I replied, "my ears rang for two days."

Rollins Band
La Trobe University (Australia), 10 October 2001

"Going to the moshpit tonight?"

"No, I don't think so. I'll be standing outside the door for the first hour or so. I think this will be the last big international act we see out here for awhile," I overheard Union Activities organizer Colin Macklin explain to a colleague, the morning of the gig. "He usually comes out here every year around this time. We've only sold 160 tickets so far, and I'll be happy if a thousand people turn up."

This second Melbourne gig was a late addition between Canberra and Sydney gigs. Rollins has booked a quick Australian tour over a week, in between US and German tour dates. The reasons why became clear during their performance, held in a large hall used for exams. Rollins is pushing his new band (members of Mother Superior) to the limit, giving them every chance to perform that he can. The two huge PA speakers are overloaded, distorting his vocals.

Unlike the older audience at his New York City performance, tonight's audience is younger, and unfamiliar with most of his material. The crowd swells from 60 people at the beginning to about 400 people in total. Rollins keeps the dialogue to a minimum, blazing through "Change It Up", "Go Day Glo" and "Are You Ready?" from Get Some Go Again (1999). The audience's applause is reserved for "Starve" and "All I Want" from Come In And Burn (1998).

"School's back in," Rollins told the crowd, before giving them a quick monologue on dating, stereotypes, and school politics. "You may be half my age, but I can still fuck you over." Later he says: "I come from a country where everyone is overweight and fake." The songs "One Shot", "Gone Inside The Zero", "Hello", and "What's The Matter Man" are fired off in quick succession, becoming stamina work-outs for the band. There are no solos or improvs, whereas in New York City, Rollins had turned the guitar changes into mini-spoken word performances. "Your Number Is One" and "Going Out Strange" are the set's highlights, giving space to the band to showcase their tight musicianship. The feeling tonight is: get on, play as many songs as possible, then get off-stage.

When the band returns for an encore, Rollins jokes that they had been debating what to play. Suddenly an audience member asks him to play some Black Flag. Looking in the direction of the audience member, Rollins says: "They don't know the older material." He pauses. And then the impromptu revelation: "That was 20 years ago. I don't live in the past. All my achievements are very dubious. We keep moving forward." And then the band launches into "Too Much Rock 'n' Roll", rumored to be a shot at Dreamworks SKG, his former label.

Tonight's gig was good, but not as memorable as Rollins' earlier New York City performance. Yet the gig also showed why Rollins has survived despite criticism that his talent is limited: he focuses on his strengths, strips away the rest, develops endurance to outlast others, and rejuvenates himself through taking new risks.