June 07, 2003
Rollins proves he still has “IT” Thursday 6/5 at the Masquerade Henry Rollins pulled off a feat no one ever thought he would do, and he did it with balls and sweat.
I’ve been a fan of Black Flag for a long time. My first purchase was “Who’s got the 10 1/2 inch?” on cassette. I played that tape over and over and over and still to this day listen to it. Black Flag was the prototype punk band for me. Pure energy, pure rage, pure punk. I never got the chance to see the band play live but the moons aligned just right for a reunion of sorts with the Rollins band going on tour to support the West Memphis Three and playing all Black Flag songs and also to support the CD “Rise Above” which is one of the best Cd’s to come out for a long time. It ranks in the top 5 CD’s of all time for me. Keith Morris made a guest appearance singing about 5 songs from the early days when he was the singer for Black Flag. He didn’t disappoint at all. Then out walks Henry like a lion that had been caged forever and suddenly released to a room full of raw meat. He attacked the stage, the audience, and the songs with a force that was beyond powerful. His famous stance before the song ripped into a the verses was menacing, his voice better than ever and his intensity just as intense as any one of his first gigs back in the day….from what I have read anyway…..
EVERY song was ON, EVERY nuance was HIT HARD, every stage diver met with a look like, “go ahead PUNK make my day”. The sweat poured off of Henry soaking anyone in the first 3 rows of the pit. I braved the very front row for about 10 songs. WOW. INFUCKINGTENSE. I still hurt from it but it hurt so good. So awesome. I can’t even get the words to flow right about this show it was so good. The Pistols are number one at what they do forever. Black Flag will forever be number one at what they do. In your face, gut wrenching punk that you feel deep inside. If anyone out there gets a chance to see this show…DO IT….you won’t be sorry. I see now why Henry named one of his first solo albums after he left Black Flag “HOT ANIMAL MACHINE”…he is EXACTLY that and more. And I guess Henry decided since he was doing this tour in the first place he may as well go all the way and do an encore(something he once made fun of)…so he came out and did “Damaged 1&2” that was the perfect last song.
