Standing in line outside The State Theatre, anyone would have thought he or she was in line for a normal Henry Rollins show.
The waiting crowd had the usual studded clothing and an array of tattoos and piercings, but mixed is among the typical punks were pre-teens and the elderly, all ready to see Henry Rollins’ Frequent Flyer Tour.
This was the first time that The State Theatre held any kind of spoken word, said Executive Director Mike Negra.
“Henry is a storyteller,” Negra said. “No one is coming to see a Black Flag show. People will know who Henry Rollins really is [when the show is over.]”
Craig Boyd, a Penn State sophomore studying geography, said he did not expect there to be that many people in State College who would like to see Rollins, as he looked around to the crowd that was filling up The State Theatre at a brisk pace.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Boyd stated. “It is exciting to see him because he is one of the few punks from the ’80s that is not burned out or gone completely crazy.”
As the lights dimmed, the crowd went silent, no one made a sound until Rollins came on stage. Speaking at a very fast pace the entire time, he caught everyone’s attention.
“I am up here to tell you things not because I’m a professor and I know more than you,” Rollins shouted to the packed audience. “But because I am a ham.”
The mood was set for the rest of the night; Rollins was serious but also there to make the crowd laugh. He started with discussing a time he and Ann Coulter were on tour at the same time in Canada. Rollins said “she outdrew me at her speech” not because she out sold tickets, but because there were more people outside the venue protesting against her.
Rollins was big on letting the crowd know on how greatly he felt about America, but also felt “If there were smarter people in America we could do much better things with this country.”
He touched on all the issues surrounding this country, putting his two punk-rock cents into it.
The three hours spent in The State Theatre were not spent on politics alone. Rollins told stories about teaching kids how to “stick it to the man,” (how to annoy your parents until you can make real change).
Rollins explained his trip around the world and how each trip makes him a better person. Claiming, “everyone is prejudiced, and by each trip to another country I am becoming a better person.”
Henry Rollins was very well spoken and had a lot to say. He not once took a sip of water or stopped to catch his breath.
“Enough of what came before and of homophobia and of racism,” Rollins said with conviction to his fans. “Time to leave everything behind, it’s time to conspire together [to make change] and this is our century to do it”
