I was reading an article this morning about Henry Rollins and his
talk show on IFC, when I remembered that Henry and I are friends. Did I tell you
he sent me an email once? I wrote to him first, after seeing his spoken word
performance in Nebraska, to thank
him for coming to the Midwest. I was still upset by the
Red Hot Chili Peppers show the year before where Anthony yelled at everyone at
the venue because we booed off their opening act, Bicycle Thief. Just so you know, I didn’t boo Bicycle Thief,
I was too busy trying to get as close to the stage as I could without getting
my ass grabbed off my body to pay attention to Bicycle Thief. I’m sure they
were fine. But there were a lot of young kids at the show dying to see the
chilis perform Under the Bridge and I’m sure they were just being impatient.
But Tony was furious when he came out and he told us something to the effect of
You live in Nebraska and you have no idea what is good. So you
should shut up and be happy that we’re even here, and that we are exposing you
to the great new bands like Bicycle Thief. I didn’t really pay too much attention since having grown up in Boston, I didn't really consider myself a Nebraskan. I was just hoping he’d spray sweat on
me.
Anyway, Henry was great, the show was great, and he didn’t
insult anyone about living in the Midwest. So I wrote
him an email after to tell him I enjoyed the show and that I licked his tour
bus. He wrote back to me but that was two computers ago and I don’t remember
exactly what he said. It was obviously nothing flirty or we would be married now and
the sexual exhaustion would have sucked his performance rage dry. I went to see
him again a couple of years ago at a show he did in Boston and he’s still angry
as ever, so I guess it all worked out for the best. I would have ruined him.
But to celebrate the sweet memory of our relationship, I named my mountain bike Henry and I think of him every time I ride.
