.jpg&w=140&h=140&f=jpg "Joan Jett")
Irving Plaza, New York, NY
December 2, 2006
From fans of classic rock to riot girls, Joan Jett is an icon. Her career has created the perfect soundtrack for ditching school to smoke cigarettes in a parking lot, and none of her edge has been dulled with time or evolving influences. While the more pedestrian fan might be quick to dismiss her as “that chick who sings ‘I Love Rock n’ Roll’,” Jett has continued to record and perform, still providing some tough competition for the artists who have followed in her footsteps. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts returned to NYC in support of their latest release, Sinner, and it was obvious from the crowd gathered outside of Irving Plaza which was desperately trying to score tickets, that Jett’s fan base is dedicated.
The band kicked off the night with The Runaways’ classic “Cherry Bomb” followed by “Bad Reputation” and the audience was immediately taken back to the early days of the hard-rock scene. From her bandmates’ liberty spikes to Jett’s enigmatic delivery, the crowd knew it was getting a performance with the same passion for rock ‘n’ roll that Jett brought to stages like CBGB’s decades before. The band then moved the set to some new material from Sinner, with the song “Androgynous,” which had an upbeat almost 311-ish feel to it. “Androgynous” was followed by another new song, “Five,” that sounded like it could have been written in the late ‘70s and which fits perfectly into Jett’s catalogue. The audience reacted to “Five” like it was already one of her classics. And for anyone who thought that Jett would do the formulaic save of “I Love Rock n’ Roll” for the encore, they were wrong, and she threw it in right in the middle.
The set ended with more memorable hits such as “Crimson and Clover,” “Do You Want to Touch Me,” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” While Joan Jett’s performance may have seemed like a hit parade, that is only because she has the ability to consistently write songs with an anthem-like quality and play them all with so much enthusiasm the urge to raise your beer and shout is hard to suppress.
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