And it’s off to another new venue in London, prestigiously located at Olympia in one of those surprisingly hard to get to parts of London. Few are the venues that feel the need to post outlying staff with signs indicating the way to the venue, which is a large room located at the end of a plaza of restaurants and bars. Surprisingly it’s stalls standing focused, with probably only a few hundred of the 3,800 capacity catered for by the balcony seating. And it’s a big stage, but it’s worth reflecting that a couple of days after this gig the Blackhearts would be off to Wembley to open for My Chemical Romance, so by comparison this was an intimate gig. And, on yet another hot day in London, it’s also worth noting that the BA ARC was also comfortably air conditioned – rock and indeed roll.
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts were playing one of the first gigs here, and it also marked their first headlining tour return to the UK in sixteen years. And on top of that the gig was part of the 45 years celebration for I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll, Jett’s second album and the first release as Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. Naturally, then, that album would feature pretty heavily in the set list, but anyone (and, you know, there was surely at least one person) holding out hopes for Little Drummer Boy would be disappointed. The UK, as Jett explained during the gig, was one of the first places that her bands found a receptive audience – hitting the stage with rock and roll drawn through the same first generation punk filter that informed The Ramones at exactly the right time. It was a hectic time when the debate would rage – is this punk, is this New Wave, is this rock? Is this something that will corrupt the youth? Measured against the on-going and rather dismally depressing “rock and roll revival” whatever this was, it was a breath of fresh air – songs of rebellion played at a thousand miles an hour – a rapid punch, punch, punch of under three minute songs imbued with the true passion of rock and roll – what are you rebelling against? What have you got?
And…remarkably nothing has really changed. From the time the leather clad Jett led the Blackhearts onto the stage, and with a video reel playing behind them throughout, it’s that same hammering through of songs at full speed and taking no prisoners. Loud, and fast guitars, express train pounding drums, a driving bass and keyboard flourishes rounding out the sound.
Victim of Circumstance set the agenda with “The police were waitin’ when the sun came up / You better move your ass or we’ll really get rough / I never wanted trouble / But I sure got enough” and the explanation that “You know I never meant to cause anybody harm.” And to follow that manifesto there’s what for anyone else would be a potential set closer – Cherry Bomb. Big powerful song follows big powerful song, and for all that thought this would be just a nostalgia trip well there’s two songs – (Make the Music Go) Boom and If You’re Blue – from the most recent release, 2023’s Mindsets. And there will doubtless be some who might ask whether Joan Jett really counts as americana – which we can counter with Light Of Day, written by one rock and roller, in this case Bruce Springsteen, for another rock and roller.
Joan Jett kept between song banter to the minimum – but did share that Fake Friends drew on the experience of having lots of friends after a hit album and a complete where’d everyone go? after a less successful release. One friend who has endured though is Kenny Laguna, longtime producer and keyboard player – he also played keyboards with Tommy James and the Shondells which explains the nicely psychedelic Crimson & Clover towards the end of the set. That song was bookended by a riotous I Love Rock & Roll, a sentiment the widely mixed audience appeared to be in favour of, and the bullish I Hate Myself For Loving You. The closer? Well, in a nice call back to the opening song where there’s a declaration that “Wherever I go / Just a victim of bad reputation” any lingering concerns over that were dispelled by the robust statement “A girl can do what she wants to do and that’s what I’m gonna do / An’ I don’t give a damn ’bout my bad reputation.” Right and On.
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts are: Joan Jett – lead vocals, guitar, Dougie Needles – lead guitar, backing vocals, Kenny Laguna – keyboards, backing vocals, Hal B. Selzer – bass, backing vocals and Michael McDermott – drums. And they play rock and roll.
