Henry Rollins returning to Margaret River for first spoken word show since 2016

Seminal American punk rock grandmaster Henry Rollins is heading to Margaret River later this year as part of his latest spoken word tour of the nation.

Rollins, who has been the frontman of US punk band Black Flag and the Rollins Band and is known as Hank to his friends, has put music behind him to focus on his storytelling sessions.

Rollins first started talking in the mid-1990s about his background, experiences in the punk scene and hilarious anecdotes from life on the road and rubbing shoulders with fellow musicians such as Australia’s Nick Cave.

The critical acclaim for his spoken performances led to Rollins producing dozens of books and spoken word albums, as well as hosting a regular podcast.

But despite the rise of social media through these years, Rollins said he remained pretty old school and didn’t see platforms such as Instagram or TikTok as relevant to his success.

“Punk music and attitude is a variant of rock ‘n’ roll, so it will always be around,” he said.

“I think it’s a youth/hormonal expression, so I think the human race will be stuck with it for some time.

“Now it’s such a familiar form of music, it might have lost some of its power to surprise, but it’s still a worthwhile vehicle to express emotion and get a message across.”

The increasing mainstream acceptance of the once-deplorable punk scene underscored the growth of Rollins’ reach, with promoters noting the icon’s spoken word tours were widely welcomed by a range of punters.

The visit to the Margaret River Heart on June 6 is already seeing strong ticket sales and punters were urged to “get in the van” ASAP.

This won’t be Rollins’ first visit to the region.

“I always enjoy the drive to and from Perth,” he said.

“Margaret River is a beautiful place as far as I’ve seen and the audience is great too.

“As I do with any non-USA audience, I try my best to spare the audience too much USA-oriented material, at least with ‘inside’ political references.

“All that’s boring enough, but to a country these scoundrels aren’t even in, for an audience I think it would be really boring so I leave it out. Otherwise, I think the material hits anywhere, that’s how I aim it.”

Rollins’ Good To See You tour marks the performer’s comeback since 2016, though he has kept busy with his recently-released works Sic and Stay Fanatic!!! Vol.3 coming out late last year.

As well as TV and voiceover work, Rollins continues hosting his Los Angeles-based radio show airing weekly and online via station KCRW 89.9.