Get In The Van - Henry Rollins

...it, life was out to get him, and so lived only for those few hours onstage when it was all about the music, man.
if this was a rockstar today, they'd probably only be able to whine about having to endure volvic instead of evian. but as we go through the almost daily entries, we find black flag having to endure police closing down shows, beatings (again from the police, as well as fellow punks), and pretty much a constant struggle just to get ...
...stagediving onto jello biafra), you get dragged into the daily grind that was black flag's existence. and despite their legacy, you don't envy them one bit.
EXTRAS - in the updated re-release, rollins has been able to include some of the original CD and flyer artwork that raymond pettibon did for black flag. try to get hold of this version, since everyone should try to see the warped visions that this guy created.  ... more

NOTE - this is a review of the book (although i believe it has been done as spoken word also.)

henry rollins was the vocalist in black flag, possibly the most influential LA hardcore band, from 1981 until their dissolution in 1986. totally at odds with his warped stage persona, he was a fairly insular character, and so chose to keep a journal rather than interact with those around him, and what we have here are his collected entries from about 1983 onwards, along with whatever he can recall about the time prior to that.
much like kurt cobain's journals, he didn't originally think this would be published, so nothing is held back (which does mean that there are a few passages which can pretty much just be ignored). he pisses and moans about his bandmates, fans, pretty much everyone he meets apart from ian mackaye (of fugazi, who was a high school friend of his) and nick cave (of the birthday party, and the badseeds. i wouldn't have pictured them as friends either). death is wished upon the posers, cops, politicians, sometimes entire towns if it was a bad show. as henry saw it, life was out to get him, and so lived only for those few hours onstage when it was all about the music, man.
if this was a rockstar today, they'd probably only be able to whine about having to endure volvic instead of evian. but as we go through the almost daily entries, we find black flag having to endure police closing down shows, beatings (again from the police, as well as fellow punks), and pretty much a constant struggle just to get by. apart from a few moments of relative happiness, and some amusing tour stories (such as accidentally stagediving onto jello biafra), you get dragged into the daily grind that was black flag's existence. and despite their legacy, you don't envy them one bit.
EXTRAS - in the updated re-release, rollins has been able to include some of the original CD and flyer artwork that raymond pettibon did for black flag. try to get hold of this version, since everyone should try to see the warped visions that this guy created. 

...less