The force of nature that scientists and fans alike refer to as Henry Rollins will be descending upon RecordBar on April 2. As a valiant champion of hard work and DIY ethics, a voracious asshole to people who deserve it, a prolific individual who draws no distinction between artist and activist, Rollins stands as one of the more fascinating figures in the last quarter century. In an entry from his collection of Black Flag tour diaries, Get In The Van, Rollins recounts an incident in Kansas City.
After a solo show at the Foolkiller Theatre (a long-defunct punk venue near 39th and Main), on Saturday, October 12, 1985, Henry strolled through the parking lot where he saw a guy and a girl engaged in a dispute. After being confronted by Rollins, the guy started to drive away but very foolishly decided to mess with him instead.
"He got out and started talking shit. I listened to him for a minute or so, but all the time I am sizing him up and seeing the first place to hit him. I wanted him to fuck with me. I wanted it. He kept talking, so I finally just spat in his face. He came at me. I wanted him to ... I didn't remember what happened as it happened. But now, I can see the whole thing very clearly, blow by blow ... my left hand coming forward, smashing him in the eyes. I punched him in the face several times. I remember taking his head and smashing it into the trunk of his car over and over ... I put him in a headlock and worked on his face. I felt his nose break under my fist ... I felt his cheekbone cave in. I kept beating his face in ... I beat the man until he crawled into his car and balled up into the fetal position ... I spit on the man and left before the pigs came. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. I almost wanted to thank him. I wanted it and he let me have it." (Pages 205-6.)
We at The Pitch want to know: Were you the guy who was completely wrecked by Rollins? Did you have it coming? Ladies, was it your boyfriend smeared across the parking lot on that October night? Does anyone remember this show or the beat-down after the show? If you answered yes to any of those questions, we want to hear your story!
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ask him about white power types beating his ass in Tulsa OK, conveniently omitted from "Get In the Van" .
I remember the VFW hall show, Curt had green hair then.
If I'm not mistaken, the cops ended the show during BF, I forget the reason.
Those were the days....
Right on. That would've been the spring of '84---Tuesday April 24th, to be exact. Check it out here: http://www.hardcoreshowflyers....
Back then I looked upon Rollins as a real scary guy--didnt realize how intelligent he was until years later!!
Black Flag, Meat Puppets, Nig Heist, (a band made up of Flag Roadies, ) played the VFW Hall in 83 or 84-----What a great show---very confrontational !!!
The guy and the girl were "engaged in a dispute"? No indication that the dispute was physical, in which case Rollins is a psycho.
Sadly wasn't even born..... Either way, unless your the guy "who got effed up" then this is somewhat awesome.
I think Rollins spins the yarn a lot and in response to Christian's encounter isn't Rollins strictly a coffee drinker not a midnight toker?
I work at a liquor store here in the city. Last week a guy (in his forties) came in and somehow we got to talking about Flag. He accounted of a local show ("in the eighties, when Rollins had long hair"), or perhaps in Lawrence, where Henry clotheslined him for getting on the stage, then put his naked feet on the guy's chest and berated him on the mic for a pick before letting him go, to chase down another stage diver. Ultimately, Rollins allegedly spent the night at this guy's house and got high with him. I wanted to call shenanigans but I didn't really care either way. He entertained me for a few minutes on a rather dead night.
Yep, that was me, but here's what really happened: Henry Rollins stole my ice cream and called me stinky. True story.
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