The story begins on December 19, 1991 at the Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.
The Smashing Pumpkins were headlining the storied venue, touring in support of their debut album Gish. Hole, who'd just released their own debut Pretty on the Inside, were supporting.
Among the 500-capacity crowd, Henry Rollins and his roommate Joe Cole were in attendance. In Talking from the Box, a spoken word show which was filmed at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles on May 28, 1992, the former Black Flag vocalist calmly describes in detail the beginnings of his friendship with Cole – recounting the story in third person for devastating narrative impact – and the events which unfolded that day.
"It could have been Black Sabbath in 1972, their common favourite band, and they still would have bagged on Ozzy because everything was funny when they were together," he said. "So the two of them are watching a band at the Whisky, laughing until they urinate their pants at how funny the band is, when actually the band is kicking ass. They’re making it into the worst gig on Earth and having the greatest time."
After the show, the two friends make their way back to their home on Brooks Avenue in Venice "with their middle fingers out the window flipping off all of West Hollywood and Westwood. Very immature, but they thought they were the funniest fuckers on Earth – and they were", he continued.
