Rollins Epic Adventure Eric The Pilot
Written: Dec 18 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Another great journey with the spoken word guru – Henry Rollins.
Cons: Hard to find in mainstream stores.
The Bottom Line: One of Henry’s best spoken word releases. Come fly the somewhat friendly skies with Eric The Pilot.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Henry Rollins in Eric The Pilot - Henry Rollins Mo... |
Henry Rollins has become one of the most entertaining and thought provoking performers in the spectrum of ‘spoken word’ performances. For those who aren’t familiar with spoken word – it’s part comedy, part personal experiences and part ‘think tank’. Most of Rollins spoken word material is taken from his on the road experiences, the people he has met and the strange places he’s visited. Eric The Pilot is a little different from most of this material since the entire CD chronicles one single event in his life – more to the point – a sixteen hour time frame. From that description you might think that this CD would get boring after the first twenty minutes but I can almost guarantee that if you are a fan of Henry’s spoken word stuff – you’ll love this release.
I was introduced to this CD before one of Henry’s spoken word events when fans were waiting in line to get the best seats. There were about twenty of us waiting outside, munching on pizza and swapping photos, tapes and discussing assorted Black Flag events when someone asked me if I ever heard Henry’s Eric The Pilot CD. I’d only heard of it but never had the chance to hear any of the performance. Lucky for me there was a very generous soul there that let me listen to part of the CD while waiting on line and after hearing the first ten minutes of it – I knew that I had to have a copy. If a CD can reel you in and get you hooked during the first ten minutes – then it’s usually a very safe bet that the entire thing is going to be great. And lets not forget, its Henry Rollins we are dealing with … so its gotta be good.
St. Louis to Carbondale
The First 160 Miles
As usual Henry encounters some type of air travel interlude – this time the flight from New York is late leaving the gate so he can’t make his connecting flight from St. Louis to Carbondale for a show at the university. In his usual style and dedication to his fans – he uses his last avenue of transportation and hails a cab. Henry never mentions the total amount of the bill but he does say that it was about half the amount of the nights take [profit]. If I had to guess I’d have to say it would be about $500.00, give or take a few hundred. This was the first of a series of bizarre events that Henry endured to make it from one show to another and it serves to show that he isn’t all about money. For him it’s making it to a show – keeping a promise – and after you hear this CD you’ll know exactly how committed he is to his fans.
Carbondale to St. Louis to Tulsa
…Well, In A Round About Way….
Once again plane troubles plague Henry as he tries to make it from Carbondale to Tulsa but thanks to a small charter company called Millionaire – Henry is once again in the air an on his way to the show. Instead of the jumbo jets or even mid sized planes – Henry is now facing one of his worst fears – the single propeller plane. Hearing him go on about his first impression about Eric [hence the title of the CD] is hysterical – but the events that unfold during the flight are what really makes the first part of the CD shine. Eric, as we learn from the CD, plays drums in a cover-band with his father. True to form Henry goes into blistering detail about Eric, his fears of flying in small planes and his determination to make it to the show – regardless of the consequences.
He looks down at his control panels, looks back up and looks at me and says “Uh ho”. That’s like – you can’t believe how much that’s the last thing I want to hear from this guy. I go ‘What do you mean?’ He goes ‘We’re low on fuel’.
The bulk of the first part of the CD covers Eric and his obvious lack of knowledge of the aircraft he is captain of. Of course, none of this can be proven but Henry has his sneaking suspicion about the deal. Finding themselves low on gas, in the air two hours longer than expected and basically in the middle of nowhere – Henry’s initial notions about Eric are validated when they finally touch down at a small airstrip about 60 miles outside of Tulsa. Convinced that Eric is a complete psychopath that is panning on killing him – he keeps his distance from him and freaks out. The middle portion of the performance deals with wrapping up the Eric story, learning that he isn’t really a pilot for Millionaire but rather a maintenance and refueling technician who went and rented a plane and never registered it with the FAA. Hearing Henry recount his ‘in the air’ ordeal is both hysterical and comical – something this bizarre could only happen to the aging alternative icon!
Mr. B’s 24 Hour Liquor & Convenience Store
The AT&T Police Have Arrived
For me, this was the best part of the CD but probably the worst for Henry. First he’s harassed by the local cops when he matches the description of someone who pulled an armed robbery at a liquor store. You can get a little bit of a feel of his feelings towards cops in general and he briefly touches on some of his part events regarding the men in blue. This sets the stage for his grand entrance to Mr. B’s – not even five minutes earlier he’s at gunpoint being questioned about an armed robbery and now he’s inside the store. Needless to say, Henry lays it on thick when describing the locals but one of the best parts is when he picks out his beverage of choice – V8 Juice – and everyone gives him a strange look and questions his sexual orientation.
The ending of the CD is probably the best because it shows another layer of Henry and how much he really loves his fans. It all starts when a lady approaches him and asks him if he is Henry Rollins because her son swore that it was him. Before you know it there’s a store full of kids and everyone wants to know the answer to one question What is he doing in Mr. B’s in Grove?. Now, I’ve met Henry so I know the thrill of meeting someone that you have a lot of respect for – so when he started describing how the teens were acting and how they couldn’t believe that he was in their small town. Hank, as I affectionately call him, loves to be on the road and meet his fans. For him it isn’t about money or popularity – it’s all about making it to the gig and putting on a great show no matter what you have to do to get there.
Finally one of them shoves another one ahead of them – like penguins – like lets see if the water’s cold so they kick one in the water - “nope, the bears are snappin’ today”
Sound Quality
When compared to other spoken word CD’s this one is definitely in high end where sound quality is concerned. When compared to Henry’s releases – this is par for the course since almost off of his are as close to perfect as you can get. 99% of the show is recorded clearly, easy to listen to and unmuffled. I highly suggest picking this up on CD rather than on cassette since the cassette copies are most likely knock offs that will have poor quality. Overall this is well above average for spoken word recordings so you won’t have to worry about back tracking to try and understand words or sentences or deal with bothersome feedback or static.
Parental Advisory
This doesn’t come with a parental advisory warning – but as much as I hate to say it – it should. The “F” word is used about 10 – 15 times through the show but it isn’t used excessively or to the point where it overshadows the performance. There’s no sexual references or descriptive violence but there is some colorful language used to describe people that are mentioned on this release. If I had to give this a rating I’d have to say that this is for the 18 and older crowd since younger teens just won’t get most of the humor.
The Bottom Line
If you are a fan of Rollins spoken word performances chances are you’ll really like Eric The Pilot. Unlike his other releases that cover a tremendous amount of information – this takes a look at a small window of Henry’s life while he’s on the road. The story of Eric and the events that unfolded are all true and Henry has told the story many times during his show – however never in this much detail. Recorded in Australia and first released in late 1999, this is a must have CD for anyone that calls themselves a Rollins fan.
This CD is a little hard to find in mainstream stores like Sam Goody and Tower Records but it’s out there so don’t give up if you can’t find it right away. If all else fails you can go to Henry’s site and order it direct from him for ten bucks. Where on earth can you pick up a new CD for that price? If you call yourself a fan of Henry’s spoken word events then this is something that you simply have to have in your collection.
For more information on Eric The Pilot or any of Henry’s other releases, feel free to visit his site at http://21361.com or www.henryrollins.com.
As always, thanks for the visit …
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2002 Freak369
Other reviews of interest …
Henry Rollins: Talking from the Box/Henry Rollins Goes to London
http://www.epinions.com/content_37429546628
Smile, You're Traveling: Black Coffee Blues
http://www.epinions.com/content_17089465988
Eye Scream
http://www.epinions.com/content_37376003716
Recommended:
Yes
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