He may be getting older, but that doesn't mean he's any less angry. And hey, if Henry Rollins stays in the business long enough, he can add incontinence and erectile dysfunction to his list of things to rail against.
The former Black Flag front man, sometimes known as "the most opinionated man in rock 'n' roll," is returning to Edmonton for a spoken-word show at the Winspear Centre. The "25 Years of Bulls--t" tour hits town Nov. 15 - minus the family-friendly dashes in the title, of course.
You can bet Rollins will have a thing or two to say about politics, pop culture and (gulp!) the media when he strains those tattooed neck muscles and holds the crowd in his sway. Tickets are $22.50 and $27.50 plus service charges and go on sale this Friday at the Winspear box office, 428-1414.
It so happens that Rollins is the subject of the song Henry on Bif Naked's latest album, Superbeautifulmonster.
"Henry is about letting the guy off the hook, a song about being unworthy," the buff and beautiful Bif told Sun music guru Mike Ross recently. "It's common knowledge that I had the biggest crush on Henry Rollins."
Why do we bring that up, you ask? Because segues aren't just goofy motorized scooters, y'know. Bif Naked is part of the NAIT Ookfest 2005 lineup, and one of the acts we didn't know about yesterday when we spilled the beans on the show.
Put on by the NAIT Students' Association, this year's Ookfest, running all afternoon and evening on Sept. 10, will see Theory of a Deadman, Default, Bif Naked and Vanilla Ice (yep, for real) headlining a roster that also includes Tupelo Honey, Grady, Social Code, Aaron Pritchett, Drive By Punch, Deep Fine Grind, Long Way Down, Chysuga and Everett.
Organizers are expecting this year's crowd at the NAIT soccer field to top last year's attendance of nearly 7,000. That is one sizable party, folks. Ookfest tickets are $29.50 a pop and go on sale at Ticketmaster outlets this Friday.
If thousands of beer-guzzling students throwing devil-horn salutes to Theory of a Deadman isn't your idea of a good time, then you'll likely be in the tiny Alberta ghost town of Wayne that day for WayneFest 2005, one of the best-kept secrets among the province's many summer music festivals.
Running Sept. 9-11, WayneFest 2005 features Ontario singer-songwriter Danny Michel (one of our favourite acts from this year's folk fest), along with the likes of Australia's Emaline Delapaix, our hometown Painting Daisies, Canadian Idol's Kyla Sandulak and the magenta-haired Wendy McNeill, though she may have dyed her locks another colour by then.
Many more acts are on tap for the three-day fest, located about 10 minutes outside Drumheller, but there are only 500 weekend passes up for grabs at $95 a pop (kids' passes are $25). Get yours quick at Megatunes on Whyte Avenue or by calling Tix On the Square at 420-1757. No devil horns, please.
