Dogmatic

Having been a fan of Rollins’ books, spoken word CD’s and his amazing spoken word shows for many years, I was eagerly awaiting a chance to view his new venture - The Henry Rollins Show.

The TV show promises to deliver “uncensored conversations with musicians, filmmakers and artists who have a lot more to talk about than what awards show they are going to or who they are currently dating.” And the debut show certainly delivers all that in spades.

On the debut show which aired on April 1 on IFC (Independent Film Channel), Henry kicked things off with an interview with outspoken director Oliver Stone who is in the midst of developing his new movie ‘World Trade Center’ - based on the events of 9/11. Alt band Sleater-Kinney also performed their song ‘Entertain’ which I thoroughly enjoyed. I hadn’t heard of this band before and was pretty impressed with their energy and aggresive, melodic tune. One to look out for.

Slickly produced with some fabulous title credits and a gorgeous grungy as hell set, the show moves at a snappy pace and is the perfect vehicle for Rollins to express his views. Let’s face it, I could sit and listen to Hank sprout about this, that and everything for hours, my only gripe with the show is that it is far too brief. The interview with Stone ended just as things were beginning to get juicy but rather than challenge Stone on some of his views, Rollins pretty much agrees with the man so we end up with a rather cozy and friendly chat rather than really explore some of the views and ideologies at hand.

A good start but I am looking forward to seeing the show develop over time and and be a little harder-edged in places.

The Henry Rollins Show airs Saturday nights at 10pm on IFC.