Page updated on May 14, 2025
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Have Joan Jett news to report? Email us at jettfc@aol.com, and please include the source of the information so it can be validated. Billy Idol and JOAN JETT at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre from: flagpole.com
By Gordon Lamb
Looking back over the live reviews I've done across the past year or so, a pattern emerged where there's a whole lot of resume parsing and legacy analyses. Much like trying to squeeze a square peg in a round hole, it's unreasonable to hold live performing artists to the same exacting standards as a solid up-and-comer. It's similarly unreasonable to allow legacy artists a free pass for simply standing upright and walking out onstage. It's a right task, though, to split this difference and retain any semblance of honest reporting.
That said, JOAN JETT is someone I'd wanted to see for decades. I've never been a gigantic huge fan, but have always enjoyed her records, remember well her MTV heyday, and her place in the rock-and-roll canon is unimpeachable. The overwhelming majority of her work is centered on pop-hooked guitar riffage, and her current incarnation of her band, The BLACKHEARTS, carried the weight of this legacy easily. But they didn't have to carry it very far because Jett is more than capable of making her own musical case. She set the mood before even walking out by having both Wanda Jackson and Bikini Kill playing over the PA as her band readied itself. And then, through a tight 15-song set, she proceeded to demonstrate her staying power in an industry that has both raised and lowered her at least three times in the past 50 years. Steadily plowing through her a rock-solid set that included The RUNAWAYS' "Cherry Bomb" as well as her popular covers, including "I Love Rock-n-Roll," "Crimson and Clover" and "Everyday People." She closed with "Bad Reputation," and it's still pretty clear that, even after all these years in and out of the spotlight, she still doesn't give a damn.
Now, Billy Idol, even in his punkiest of punk days, has always bent more toward entertainer than true rebel. And guitar hero Steve Stevens is still in his band, which was one of the coolest things to see this night. After Jett had capably warmed everything up, Idol didn't exactly set it all on fire, but he did keep the heat up and played his expected hits as well as a couple of surprises. For example, I really wasn't expecting him to pull out his cover of "Love Don't Live Here Anymore." He did explain, however, that he'd recorded it decades ago for 1983's Rebel Yell album, but then found out Madonna had also recorded it and was planning on putting it on her 1984 Like A Virgin album, so he dropped it. It's understandable, too, because it wasn't all that great when he did it. A similarly dead spot in his set came much later when he pulled out "Hot In The City," which is just a poorly written song that should have been thrown away before it was ever stood up in front of a microphone. But those are exactly the only moments in his show I'd have jettisoned.
Billy Idol
Pretty much every expected hit was performed exactly how the crowd wanted it. Recognizably with clear audio and each song introduced. I could have done without the introductionsâ€"I prefer for bands to just rip through it and not pause all the timeâ€"but I understand the breather for which they allow. Even so, the only major pause in Idol's show was the guitar-medley performed by Stevens where he played the familiar passages from Led Zeppelin's "Over The Hills and Far Away" and "Stairway To Heaven" (which he abandoned after a few bars and waved his hand as if to say, "Nah, I'm not playing that") and Van Halen's "Eruption." This kind of thing is totally unnecessary, and was this night as well, but for some reason didn't bother me as much in person as it does on paper. I'd been wondering if Idol was going to pull out any old Generation X songs, and I'd anticipated he'd play "Dancing With Myself," which he'd turned into a nice solo hit, but was quite pleased to hear him trot out 'Ready, Steady, Go" as well. Of course, he dutifully delivered on "Rebel Yell," his cover of "Mony, Mony"â€"complete with the audience performing the now-legendary (yet completely unofficial) response lyricsâ€""Flesh For Fantasy," "Eyes Without A Face" and "Cradle Of Love." He closed it all out with "White Wedding" which, honestly, was only one of two songs he could have possibly ended with, the other being "Rebel Yell," but he'd already done that. [more] Review: Billy Idol and JOAN JETT bring hits to Tampa, but getting into the venue was tough from: cltampa.com
By Gabe Echazabal
Last Saturday night proved to be an evening with plenty of hits and misses at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre. The hits came in abundance, thanks to the heavyweight acts on the bill; the always solid and reliable JOAN JETT and the King of Pop Punk, Billy Idol.
The misses came in the way of the many gaffes the outdoor venue committed in expediting the admittance of the thousands of patrons who showed up on the rainy night to relive their Gen X glory days, and revel in the sounds of Jett's ragged brand of rock 'n roll and Idol's pop-rock swagger.
Granted, the weather didn't cooperate with the night's proceedings; heavy rains and threats of lightning kept the previously scheduled gate-opening time at the venue from occurring as planned, and the venue deserves kudos for keeping concertgoers abreast of the proceedings via its social media pages. However, as the venue has recently decided to charge a hefty price tag for parking on its grounds (after several years of offering complimentary parking), the lines of cars waiting to enter the venue caused severe traffic snags and extremely long wait times for those attempting to get in to catch the evening's dynamic double-bill. After the long wait, patrons were then faced with the extra headache of waiting in a line that seemed to be a mile long to get screened and scanned before entering the amphitheater. In total, the entire ordeal of just getting into the venue took roughly 90 minutes for me. Had the night's lineup been one of a lesser caliber, I might have turned around and headed back home. But, having seen both acts multiple times in the past, I knew that once the first electric guitar was cranked from the stage, it would be all worth the hassles.
Kudos to the venue for pushing back Jett's start time by 30 minutes, allowing many who were faced with the multiple delays of getting in to find their seats and get a chance to catch her energetic 55-minute set.
Beaming a retrospective montage video on the venue's screens that traced Jett's earliest days as an up-and-coming rocker through her rise as a superstar, musical accompaniment came from two other equally-important female artists who Jett fancies; rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson and esteemed riot grrrl pioneer band, Bikini Kill.
Soon after, Jett emerged, donning a black sleeveless vest and tight black pants, alongside her current, four-piece incarnation of her band, The BLACKHEARTS. Kicking off with "Change the World," a song from her 2006 album SINNER, seemed like a deliberate statement by Jett regarding the current state of affairs. In strong voice, Jett's trademark raspy snarls and growls were as ferocious as ever and gave hints of the type of rock steady set she's always known for providing.
Giving props to her former group, the groundbreaking all-girl hard rock-protopunk outfit The RUNAWAYS, Jett revisited the band's signature song "Cherry Bomb," as well as "You Drive Me Wild," another album cut from the band's legendary 1976 debut album which Jett described as the first song she'd ever written. [more] Billy Idol brings JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS to Tampa this weekend from: cltampa.com
By Josh Bradley
Get your hydrogen peroxide, hair gel, and leather ready.
At 69 years old, Billy Idol is still very cool.
The new wave legend's first album in over a decade Dream Into It was just released on George Harrison's Dark Horse Records (on it, he collaborates with Avril Lavigne, for a song about simpletons and needing Jesus).
JOAN JETT-who co-headlines this '80s snarlfest at the old Gary amphitheater-also appears on the album, and if you remember her performance of "Bad Karma" with Miley Cyrus before the Tampa Super Bowl in 2021, you know that anything Jett joins in on turns to gold.
While Idol's first show in the area since an electrifying 2023 set at Ruth Eckerd Hall will still include all the hits, if Joan comes out for a duet, don't expect it to take you back to your childhood. JOAN JETT setlist: Every song at her Phoenix tour launch with Billy Idol from: azcentral.com
By Ed Masley, Arizona Republic
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS welcomed fans to the opening night of her and Billy Idol's It's a Nice Day to ... Tour Again! at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre in Phoenix on Wednesday, April 30, with a hit-filled explosion that more than lived up to their reputation (which isn't as bad as the chorus of their final song suggests).
The singer reached back to her earliest days in the RUNAWAYS for "Cherry Bomb" and "You Drive Me Wild" in a set that rocked its way through such career-defining staples as "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," "I Love Rock 'n Roll," "Crimson & Clover" and "Bad Reputation."
And she brought us up to date with "If You're Blue" from a 2023 EP called "Mindsets," a song that would've sounded right at home on the albums that rocked the airwaves in the early ‘80s, when "I Love Rock 'n Roll" spent seven weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Jett and the BLACKHEARTS took their rightful place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and they're still delivering the songs that paved the way to that induction with the punkish abandon and rock 'n' roll swagger you'd expect.
JOAN JETT setlist 2025: Songs from the Billy Idol tour launch
These songs made the setlist when JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS played the launch of It's a Nice Day to ... Tour Again! with Billy Idol:
"Rebel Girl" (recording played during video montage)
"Change the World"
"Cherry Bomb" (RUNAWAYS)
"Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)"
"You Drive Me Wild" (RUNAWAYS)
"If You're Blue"
"Different"
"Fake Friends"
"Lie to Me"
"Androgynous"
"Everyday People"
"Love Is Pain"
"I Love Rock 'n Roll"
"Crimson & Clover"
"I Hate Myself for Loving You"
"Bad Reputation"
