Joan Jett is the hardest working woman in rock ‘n’ roll. Last night she and her longstanding buddies the Blackhearts performed for a Sundance Film Festival crowd at a packed Harry O’s, playing those songs she’s played thousands of times — “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah),” “Crimson and Clover,” “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” etc. — but never sounding tired. There was a lot of buzz about some film and the young actresses who star in it, but Joan, looking lithe and lean in a black and gold catsuit, owned the night. She’s been doing this for decades, interest in her comes and goes, but she is always Joan Jett.
She did bring out Cherie Currie, Kristen Stewart, and Dakota Fanning. Cherie looked almost as hot as Joan, a pretty impressive accomplishment. Unfortunately, she didn’t sing. But Joan did sprinkle her standard set list with a few unexpected old Runaways gems: “I Love Playin’ With Fire,” “You Drive Me Wild,” “School Days.” Worth the price of admission, which for me was a plane ticket and a car rental, i.e. not cheap.
I’ve seen Joan a dozen times in two decades, and while this was definitely one of the best shows I’ve seen her do, I’ve never seen her just phone a performance in either. Last night she was particularly fierce, winking those big eyes at every hot body in the crowd (or so it seemed to me). The girl (I know she’s 50, but she’s so Peter Pan youthful looking, I call her girl out of respect) really does love rock’n’roll.
Set List:
Bad Reputation
Cherry Bomb
Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)
Change the World
Androgynous
You Drive Me Wild
Love Is Pain
I Love Playin’ With Fire
School Days
I Love Rock’n’Roll
Crimson and Clover
I Hate Myself for Loving You
ACDC
Everyday People
Populism 