An Evening with Henry Rollins @ O2 Academy, 13 Jan

“I’m a maniac. And the older I get, the more pissed off I am,” growls Henry Rollins. With his fevered tones, and his bulky frame poised like he’s still fronting Black Flag, it’s easy enough to believe him. But, paying closer attention, you realise Hank’s a liar – much like the Rollins Band single indicates. The man’s passionate for sure, but it’s the delight he takes in personal interactions that makes him so engaging to the audience.

His performance – centred mainly around his travels – he gives life through anecdotes, ranging from jamming with teenagers to Sri Lankan death metal and trading music in Tehran (quote of the night: “I will bring down the Ayatollah with Al Green”) to racing up the streets of Riyadh with a multimillionaire stranger.

In all of these stories, Rollins – a born troubadour whose rambling style never wears on patience – shows love for his fellow man, which he in turn imparts to his audience. While his one-man show could easily benefit from a few bells and whistles – the number of times he references photographs he’d taken begged for some visual reinforcement – Hank, despite his age, still commands the stage as well as if he were screaming Six Pack to a sweaty crowd. [Jason Morton]