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'Rock and Roll will stand': JOAN JETT, Smithereens play Festival Park
from: obsentinel.womacknewspapers.com
By Peter Hummers, Sentinel Staff
Photo courtesy of Caulfield Photography
Red Pearl Productions brought a rare treat to the Outer Banks with its presentation of Rock 'n' Roll Relief 2005 featuring national recording artists JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, also the Smithereens and Red Metric at Roanoke Island Festival Park Saturday.
Walking over the bridge to Festival Park on the Manteo waterfront, I heard a few bluesy guitar riffs coming from the direction of the amphitheater, then a chorus of the Beatles' song "Magical Mystery Tour."
The next number from the sound check was another classic, but from a few years later -- the Smithereens were running through "Only a Memory." The bass and guitar volumes changed as the sound man checked his board.
The security presence at the gate was intense. As I approached to take a peek toward the stage, a burly fellow in a white security shirt bellowed, "Can I help you!"
"Er, four-thirty?" I asked, regarding the opening of the gates.
"That's right; go hang out over there."
I found a picnic table under an evergreen and settled down to enjoy the ongoing sound check.
Smithereens pinch-hitter Severo Jornacion was giving his bass a workout, feeding tunes through it that included the "Blood and Roses" bass line.
The band tried that one on and ran through it tightly. (Guitarist Jim Babjak hollered "solo!" instead of playing one.)
Vocalist Pat DiNizio's voice could then be heard: "We're done; thank you, everybody." Somebody fell to playing CDs on the public address system as people came and went, not a few in New York Yankees hats. (JOAN JETT is from New York City and the Smithereens are from across the Hudson in Hoboken, N.J.)
At 4:35 I joined the throng of pilgrims gaining entrance, where security ripped tickets, applied wristbands and looked through bags.
Hampton Roads band Red Metric began their sound check while the audience staked out land and began unfolding their chairs and blankets.
It was several orders of magnitude louder in front of the stage than out by the parking lot.
When they had finished, the public address system was flushed out with some Van Halen sides.
There wasn't a lick of shade on the field, but a nice breeze blew off the sound. Red Metric began their set at 5:25, the bulk of the audience having just trickled in. The cover of humanity on the great lawn was still a little piebald in places.
The show, Rock 'n' Roll Relief, benefitted a Disaster Relief Fund held in trust at First South Bank by the Kitty Hawk, First Flight and North Banks Rotary clubs to assist residents of Dare, Currituck and Hyde counties in event of future disasters, vis. hurricanes.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Irene was approaching the Outer Banks, although several computer models predicted she would veer to the north and west.
Onstage, Red Metric began with a pretty good imitation of a hurricane, with thundering drums and bass and distorted power chords from the guitarist.
Bass player Adam Powers and drummer Michael "Moey" Gaylor worked together closely to maintain an interesting foundation for singer John Tingley's lead vocals. Tingley also played guitar, mostly chords and rhythm figures with a few single-string leads as the music allowed.
The numbers featured discreet sections, and while mostly thundering, were varied and memorable. The crowd seemed as enthusiastic as the band.
A few brave VIPs ventured into the onslaught to their seats down front like mariners making their way across-deck into a gale.
The Smithereens' minions set up their equipment as the audience refreshed itself. Out came the accoutrements of your typical classic rock band -- Pearl drums, Marshall amps and Fender guitars, and the Smithereens were ready for a false start at 6:40.
Jim Babjak had completed the introduction to "Only a Memory" and the rest of the band joined in when the performance veered off the runway and came to rest in the dirt.
"All right; we'll try that again. Give us a minute...," said Pat DiNizio. The band and their crew peered and poked at the equipment, and finally Babjak played his introduction again. This time the band took flight.
DiNizio has gained some mass and some grey in his famous goatee over the last 20 years. The rest of the band showed their age less, and while they were trim, you could see that their glory days were almost a generation ago.
But the fans, those who danced and sang along, ranged in age from teenagers to pensioners.
The band ran through numbers like "House We Used to Live In," "Drowned in My Own Tears" and "Top of the Pops" with enthusiasm and the panache that comes from lots of practice.
DiNizio doffed his guitar and waved a cigarette for "Especially for You." At the bass introduction for their first big hit and second-most famous song, "Blood and Roses," the audience back on the fringes of the field, which was now filled up, snapped to attention.
The crowd couldn't restrain themselves at all during the Smithereens' last number and biggest hit, the incredibly catchy "A Girl Like You." They were on their feet for the whole song, where they stayed to deliver a well-deserved ovation.
JOAN JETT had her work cut out for her.
Dusk had fallen when Joan and her band mounted the dark stage at 8:15. Her first chords sounded in the dark and almost immediately the lights came up and the BLACKHEARTS stood revealed in their glory.
The band was all studded leather and spiky hair, but the spotlight stayed mostly on the charismatic Ms. Jett. Dressed in black leather jeans and an abbreviated black muscle shirt, she held her white Gibson down by her thighs.
Her voice wasn't as rough as one might surmise given the vocals she has recorded over the years; rather she stood revealed as a professional entertainer who took care of herself and her band, in the service of rock 'n' roll.
And the rock rolled, including songs from her new CD, Naked. These included songs like "Androgynous," dedicated to a certain segment of her fans, "Naked" and "Fetish," complex songs that were a far cry from her simple but unfortunately catchy anthem "I Love Rock and Roll."
She played a long set, including Sonny Curtis' "Love Is All Around," which she had performed for the 2000 television reunion of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary and Rhoda.
The Smithereens had seemed at times like an enthusiastic garage band and the BLACKHEARTS were consummate professionals, but they, and Red Metric, all delivered the rock. As Pat DiNizio said after his set, "Rock and roll will stand."
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