Henry Rollins

8 p.m. Thursday, July 1. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard.

Jun 30, 2010 at 4:00 am

It's been years since author-actor-activist-DJ-punk pundit Henry Rollins toured the land prowling stages like a sweaty, swaggering beast. His live shows are still hardcore, though. Rollins talks about his adventures — appearing in the FX biker drama Sons of Anarchy, traveling to Israel or giving a college commencement speech — in marathon spoken-word sets that average well over two rapid-fire hours — without taking so much as a sip of water. As he closes in on 50, Rollins is funnier and less acerbic, even when he's ripping Ann Coulter or recent gay-couple bans at high school proms. This tour's stories have included tales of judging a drag contest with RuPaul and spending Election Day 2008 with lifelong friend Ian MacKaye. And between the BP disaster and the death of Ronnie James Dio (whom Rollins reveres), Hank should have plenty more fresh fodder.