Henry Rollins did what he wanted at the State Theatre on Tuesday night.
Talking to a sold-out crowd, Rollins yielded a near three-hour set of stories and thoughts with rapid speed and precision. Topics included Sarah Palin, Tea Parties, marijuana, the Constitution, sticking it to The Man, the Bad Brains, the varying tans and self-righteousness of House Republican Leader John Boehner.
Travis Bices, a fan from Williamsport who drove more than an hour to see Rollins, said he was ecstatic when he heard he was coming.
"I saw him one time before," Bices said. "When I heard he was comin' here, I wasn't gonna miss it."
Bices proudly showed his Black Flag tattoo and said Rollins has an uproarious live show.
"He's hilarious," Bices said. "If you don't laugh, you're not paying attention."
Dalton Kendrick (freshman-art education) heard Rollins was playing, and decided to volunteer at the State Theatre in order to see him.
"I grew up listening to hardcore," Kendrick said, who asked for flyers prior to the event, which he put up at the Forum and in North Halls. "I was interested to see what he had to say."
Rollins -- wearing all back, with a pair of vans -- concentrated on politics for a large portion of his set, opening with a talk about Ann Coulter, who he recently toured near while performing his show in Canada.
"I wanted to bask in that glow," Rollins said, referring to how his manager and him rushed to see Coulter speak. "The same way you like to watch a squirrel get run over."
Rollins said he carries a copy of the Constitution around with him at all times.
Sometimes he said he reads it casually on airplanes, it was in
his backpack at the time of the show.
Rollins also told a story about how he and fellow D.C. punk legend and longtime best friend Ian Mackaye shared a private tour of the National Archives.
"It's better than meeting Elvis," he exclaimed -- where he got to see letters written by George Washington and a rough draft of the Eighth Amendment.
Another topic was George W. Bush's -- whom Rollins said he didn't hate, but only disagreed with -- struggle with the English language, comparing it to a man struggling with a live eel.
Sarah Palin also yielded some conversation -- with Rollins calling her children "Palin Products."
He said she and her husband only reproduce in order to create more white people, which they hope will push minorities off the edge of the Earth and into a bottomless abyss, Rollins said.
"Name it something stupid and don't teach it anything," Rollins said.
Rollins said he wishes everyone would proudly flaunt their "big ass opinions."
"I think everyone should come factory installed with thirty gagillion opinions," Rollins said.
