Last Sunday night, I had the immense privilege of seeing Joan Jett and the Blackhearts perform at Irving Plaza. When I heard confirmation that I was on the Blackhearts list I jumped up from my chair with glee. Now this was something exciting. Joan Jett has been a favourite of mine since high school when I first saw her perform at the Vanderbilt in Plainview, Long Island. It was the first concert I had ever been to and I just couldn't believe how awesome the experience was. I went with my younger sister and we both jumped into the crowd, pumped our fists in the air and screamed along to 'Cherry Bomb' amongst a sea of black leather and tattoos.
Now eight years later, there I was at Irving Plaza with a pass stuck on my jeans allowing me access to the after show party where I could meet the legendary woman who first drew me into the world of music.
Before I get ahead of myself though, first up were opening acts Valient Thorr and Eagles of Death Metal. We aren't all indie rock here at The Music Slut. Every once in a while, we like to thrash our heads to a little punk metal. Valient Thorr's music was good, fun and well done but the presentation was a bit off. What ran through my head was: this is exactly what Jack Black's metal band would be like. I couldn't tell whether the leader singer was taking the piss or was actually earnest in the way he was acting.
Next up was Eagles of Death Metal. I've been a fan of their brand of music since the summer of 2005 when they played T in the Park. After a confusing performance by Valient Thorr, EODM got the crowd back on track with a rousing set. The charismatic Jesse Hughes may just be the perfect front man with an impeccable combination of male bravado and humility. He made the girls swoon and the guys shout. Their latest single, 'I want you so hard' from the album Death by Sexy, was the highlight of their set.
And now the amazing Joan Jett. While waiting upstairs for the the Eagles to go on, the crowd suddenly parted as space was made for Ms. Jett, accompanied by Carmen Electra, as she made her way to the VIP section. Electra is very pretty in person and was wearing a lovely cream dress with black polka dots. She's shorter than you would imagine as well. Earlier this year, Electra admitted that since the age of eight, she's had a lesbian crush on Jett and is featured in the video for the first single, a cover of Sweet's 'A.C.D.C.', from Jett's new album, Sinner. The term ACDC is used in place of bisexual.
When I first saw Jett 8 years ago, she barely filled the small Vanderbilt. I was surprised to see the house completely packed for Sunday's performance. The show was such a successful book, that Jett is set to perform again on December 2nd.
Jett is undeniably a great front woman, performer and is the all time queen of covers. When you buy a ticket to her show, you know you are in for an amazing night. She performed a lot of songs from her new album. 'Fetish' and 'Riddles' were the stand out tracks. Though not the typical all out rock songs, they have a bit of a quirky pop beat. Like many entertainment folks out there, Jett too has her opinion on the war and 'Riddles' is her anthem, it samples the infamous speech by President Bush in which he fumbles the age old adage, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
When the show ended and the venue emptied, I was left on my own in the balcony watching the Blackhearts come out. Jett was taking a long time to emerge and time was slowly creeping into the early morning hours. I'm not much of a star fucker anyway, so I didn't stick around to take a picture with her. Too bad, it was going to my new MySpace photo.
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