Black Flag is a loud, pissed of paradox.

They were both the face and

enigma of California punk, a band that blasted barely two minutes of music
about watching TV on one album and recorded ten minutes of jazz inspired
instrumentals for the next. They rejected mystique and meaning in art, only
to become a symbol for a second wave of LA punks (and one particularly
tragic grunge star) who found meaning and mystique in that rejection. They
were also a band with an insane number of incarnations, an amount that I
can spare myself the pain of counting, as the one member tying them
together guitarist Greg Ginn isnt really that interesting to me (call it
ignorance). Instead, I wanna look at Henry Rollins, the jacked 21-year-old
kid in jean shorts screaming the vocals on Black Flag: Live At the On
Broadway 1982 (heres the DL). In particular, I want to talk about the
aspects of Rollins that made him such a legendary performer, and, in
tandem, what it means to play a punk concert. As I mentioned, its the
paradoxical nature of Black Flag that I feel defnes the band, and their
shows are no exception performances following a formula that, on paper,
seems insane and self-sabotaging, but in practice creates a uniquely
energetic and powerful experience. Rollins aggressive, needlessly profane
exchanges with audience members and inane ramblings come together
with the dissonant, formless feedback of the band to create a chaotic and
unpredictable atmosphere centered around a vague notion of confict
between Black Flag and its audience: Its Stockholm Syndrome, and the
more Henry Rollins hates you the more you love him.
The concert begins with a venue employee announcing the band, as well
as, (somewhat cheekily) Building suspense. When the crowd returns with
a quick Get of the stage asshole! the announcer happily obliges, and the
evening tone is set. As a cult punk rock band, its easy to imagine that most
people at the show took the aggressive motifs of Black Flags music
somewhat seriously (or at least related to the bands antagonistic
mentality), allowing us to view the audiences initial behavior as refective of
the band, a foreshadowing of the shows general attitude. In this regard, our
anonymous pissed of concert go-er does not disappoint: he doesnt like
you, and neither does Henry. The singer goes toe-to-toe with audience
members on the tracks Jealous Again and No Values, but my favorite
example of his blatant disrespect for audience members is on Rise Above,
post-encore. In a momentary lull, a fan shouting Henry gets singled out of
the crowd by Rollins and responds by requesting an autograph. Without
pause, Rollins fres back in a near-disgusted tone a simple No, prompting
audience feedback both along the lines of (and including), Fuckin prick!
Completely unfazed, Rollins mocks the crowd by impersonating them in a
ridiculous voice that I can only think to describe as vaguely fat and childlike,
rambling on as the audience continues to scream at him. Like I said, not
looking very good on paper, is it? At least I dont think so, until without
warning the band launches full speed into TV Party, and suddenly the
power behind the aggressive dialogue clicks: Black Flag doesnt want to
make you happy: they want to piss you of, they want to fre you up. Had
Rollins smiled and said, Sure dude, I always carry a spare pen in my polo
pocket had he satiated his audience, what tension would there be to
release when the furious music starts slamming again? However, a ticked
of, riled up audience can relate directly to Rollins angst flled screaming;
they can join Rollins in his cathartic shouting and manic dancing: even if
hes the one that pissed them of in the frst place. The mutual aggression
Rollins establishes between the band and the audience not only aligns the
emotions of the listeners with the feeling of the music, but acts as a vital
source of energy for the performance.
Now that its clear Henry Rollins doesnt like you, we can move on to the
worse news: the dude fat out does not care about you either. The presence
of a fan, or, on a larger scale, the presence of an audience, has no efect
on Rollins: he doesnt act fattered, he doesnt act nervous; in fact, he acts
downright nonchalant. His songs are often separated by wholly unmusical
speech, though certainly not conversational in tone. Instead, Henry fres
choppy sentences in a disinterested voice separated by long periods of
complete silence, save the feedback from Ginns guitar. Take his opening
statement as an example: Oh yeah. We got ourselves a new drummer.
Thats him. Thats Chuck Biscuits. He used to be in a band called DOA from
Canada. Following this (as far as I can tell), someone throws an object on
stage that Rollins spends a portion of time looking at and asking about. He
then bums around for a few more seconds (the recording doesnt make it
clear but Im pretty sure hes just kickin the shit) before fnally launching into
the concerts opening track. So the question stands: Was Black Flags front
man completely unaware of the fact that thousands of people were
gathered to watch him alone, waiting for the band to play? Of course not.
The obvious truth is that its a component of his stage persona; a tool he
uses to build tension in his shows. Though this particular component of his
speech lacks musical quality, it serves a musical purpose: to create tension
before a release. Rollins keeps you waiting like a kid on Christmas morning
(probably a tatted, 20-something kid with liberty spikes and a nose piercing,
but even punks love free shit), acting disinterested in his concert as though
he has no intention to play at all. The band hints at a song, the amp
feedback and occasional drum loops fade in and out, but Rollins holds it
hostage in order to build the anticipation in the audience. When he fnally
lets loose a vocal tone, often without warning, the release has been
intensifed by the wait, providing the listeners a sense of a wild catharsis at
the sudden formation of something both intensely angry and musical.
A lot more can be said about what separates Rollins from the other front
men of his genre, but if you wanted a book about it you wouldnt be reading
a post on WordPress. Though he had the stage presence of a loose
cannon fring blind, it was his carefully cultivated persona that set the tone
for Black Flags legendary-as-fuck performances. The aggression and
disinterest he directed at the audience created moments of both extreme
anticipation and frenzy, and his confict with the crowd served to trigger
within them the raw emotion at the core of Black Flags work. Henry Rollins
probably doesnt like you, but thats what you really love about Henry
Rollins.