You know what? Unlike the person above, I am not a Joan Jett fan. But Erika was, so she dragged me along to Joan Jett and The Blackhearts’ headlining show Sunday night at the Summerfest grounds.
No, it’s not 1987 anymore, but Joan Jett die-hards weren’t hard to come by. Now I understand why; Jett is one of the last true female rock ‘n’ rollers in the truest, “I make music, not sexy-time” sense of the word (sorry, I just saw Borat five times yesterday).
And sure, the black leather, dark eyeliner and tattoos on buff arms date Jett and make her music seem irrelevant to girls of today. But it’s also proof that she never capitulated to the call of boob jobs and sexual imagery that distracts listeners from actual musical skill. (Um, Courtney Love or Gwen Stefani, anyone?)
Plus, her music is catchy and empowering — I realized I knew more than half her repertoire, from “Bad Reputation” to “Crimson and Clover” to “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” just by chick rock osmosis, through the years.
She still definitely knows how to bring it on. According to Wikipedia she was born in 1958. Which makes her 49. Which means she’s been performing for about 30 years or more. Which means that she is a pro performer. Just look at how she plays to the crowd:
The photo above shows that she’s perfected the punk rock sneer. But she also makes devil horns …
Headbangs while playing guitar solos …
Grabs her crotch …
Moons the crowd … more than once.
An American sign language interpreter was at the left side of the stage. She was dancing too.
P.S. Here is a photo of Erika taking photos of Joan Jett.
Posted on June 12, 2007 by lillitot
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