Saturday, August 21, 2010

review: Joan Jett at KSF 8/19

who doesn't love Joan Jett? as a child i had a big ol' crush on her. even then my taste for brunettes was in full swing; cat woman, agent 99, Uhura...
but anyway, about 10 years ago my love for Joan Jett was solidified. and here is why: i was dating a nice, beautiful brunette named Soda Pop (no relation to the Outsiders) who was an airline stewardess. one trip Joan Jett was in the 1st class area, and the 1st class stewardess came running back crying saying that Joan had grabbed her ass. So Soda Pop, switched with the girl and decided to flirt with Joan that heeded no results, so she decided to bend over in front of her, giving Joan ample squeezable ass, and was very shocked that Joan Jett shrugged and just asked if the little blond girl was ever coming back..
Even in her shaved head phase, Joan Jett has that allure.
honestly Joan Jett has a reputation for being incredibly nice, and is a very outspoken Vegetarian, health nut, and PETA member. at 52, she has a body and enthusiasm of a 20 year old. when she played thursday night at the Kentucky State Fair, she came running out in tight jeans and skate shoes, and that precocious smile and jumped right into "bad reputation". she is a performer, indeed, by talking to the crowd, proclaiming love for the city she's playing for, and getting the audience to sing along. this especially present for the fourth song in her set, "Do You Wanna Touch Me (oh yeah)", by having the audience start the song singing the chorus "Yeah, oh yeah, oh Yeah" and building the song up from there. it was pretty awesome, and usually audience participation makes me nervous. she sang the song, and several others, in a higher sweeter voice than her normal deep voice, which cought me off guard, but was very enjoyable.
i traditionally record the 3rd song in the set only, which was "Light Of Day", and is a great song, but wished i had recorded this very different version of Do You Wanna Touch Me..
but it actually doesn't matter, because i do all my recording, photos, and notes on my iphone, and it freaked out and died, erasing everything i had done on it during the show. and i even took a photo, purely for your enjoyment, of the guy sitting in front of me, and his shirt that said TWO PUMP CHUMP.
i don't know if my mother understood that, she probably did, but didn't say anything about it. I had asked my mother what she wanted for her birthday, and she wanted to see Joan Jett; my mother is probably cooler than yours.
my mother, in her mid 60's, has a very good taste in music, and she even enjoys new music as well. my father told me once that, at a certain age a person looses taste for new music, and that age is usually around 35. if so, i only have a few years left, and i do believe this can be true, but not for everybody.. my mother is not this way, she loves all types of music; new music, old music, country music, and even 80's pop punk.
My mother is also a nurse. and 3 songs in my mother leans over and says she thinks Joan Jett is suffering from some type of health issue. which i didn't believe, Joan Jett's physic shows absolute discipline. but then she sat down for a moment, and then by the 7th song she had a stool to sit on. and then it became very noticeable that something was wrong. she played and sang like a trooper, but after awhile wasn't able to stand. two men helped her off stage, and back again, where she made an announcement that she was fine, but that her legs were not working too well, but she was gonna keep playing. and she did, and if there was anyone there that wasn't totally impressed by her until then, they were now.
she played for an hour and half with full on rock enthusiasm, even sitting down. she told stories, as much as a Joan Jett story can be; she keeps her personal life close to her chest.. and sang about sex mostly; about boys (i love rock and roll), about girls(Crimson and Clover), about the in-between (androgynous)..
she said in an interview once that she doesn't want to make public her exact sexual desires and preferences because she doesn't want anyone to feel excluded when they listen to her music. she even mused that maybe that was a cop-out, but she really wanted for everyone to be able to relate to her music. and she was right, that stadium was packed, and with all types of people, from young punk girls holding hands with each other to old bikers, and everyone was loving her.

some of John's favorite pop culture brunettes:


Agent 99



Catwoman Eartha Kitt



Miss Joan Jett




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was there and was also concerned for her health. I actually had to restrain myself because some young boys kept calling her a crackhead. I love her...She rocks!!

johnking said...

i was really worried too. i looked around for articles on her health and couldn't find much.
-those boys need a good smacking...