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Rock's original independent woman takes on new challenges
from: fresnobee.com
by Dave Childers
There it was.
It was just a list -- alphabetical in organization -- of the seemingly millions of bands that had signed on to play some or all of this summer's Van's Warped Tour. There, on some random Web page, it was sandwiched in between "Inamere" and "Jealousy Curve."
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS.
Even better, though, was a four-word reaction posted just a few lines below from a user known on this little slice of cyberspace as simply "Amber."
The post read "JOAN JETT? Holy Crap."
That kind of reaction probably isn't much of a surprise to anyone familiar with both JOAN JETT and the Van's Warped Tour. The Warped Tour, coming to Fresno July 9, generally caters to a teenage audience each summer by stockpiling the hottest bands of that particular millisecond.
Jett, however, started playing rock music in the mid 1970s. She fronted her first successful band -- The RUNAWAYS -- in the late '70s. Then, with the aforementioned BLACKHEARTS, she created the larger-than-life anthem "I Love Rock and Roll" in 1982.
That -- as Inamere and Jealousy Curve would no doubt agree -- was a lot of milliseconds ago.
"I think this is a great way for her to come back," says Warped Tour creator Kevin Lyman. "She plays great live and her new album is getting great reviews. I think it helps to round out the lineup by going back in the history of the music, the history of the scene."
And, even though most of the mid-teen Volcom generationers that will be in the audience will probably need a free timeline from one of the tour's many corporate sponsors to follow her career, Jett remains unfazed.
"I think it's the perfect age," says Jett, who is 47 herself -- though the youngsters won't guess it just looking at her. "It's the age when kids still think their dreams are attainable. I can't wait."
If the massive age difference between her and her summer audience doesn't intimidate her, perhaps traveling and playing alongside hordes of bands that are too young to appreciate her place on the punk rock hierarchy might.
Take, for example, the band Aiden. After a lot of recent success, this summer they will graduate from local dates only to the full Warped Tour experience.
How do they feel about sharing the bill with an artist that boasts nine top 40 hits and eight platinum or gold records?
"I'm not too familiar with JOAN JETT, no," says Aiden lead singer Will Franco.
Consider, though, that Aiden was formed way back in 2003 and that the band name comes from a character in the "classic" horror film "The Ring" and it makes a lot of sense. Jett won't find many contemporaries on this particular tour.
"I'm looking forward to immersing myself in the music like the fan that I am," Jett says. "I'm sure I'm going to have my favorites. I'm intending on having fun with everybody."
While the bands around her won't relate with what it means to have a career that spans decades, Jett will be able to relate to some of their struggles starting out in the music industry.
For instance, she can tell them what it feels like to have 28 record labels turn you away at the outset of your career and force you to take your career into your own hands -- and pocketbook.
"We don't even have distribution, we're as indie as it gets," says Jett's longtime BLACKHEART RECORDS partner KENNY LAGUNA. "You can't get any more indie than this. We weren't like these rap guys nowadays who start their own labels for fun, we started our own label because we had no choice."
What started as a tragedy-in-the-making eventually became a windfall. BLACKHEART RECORDS enabled Jett and Laguna to retain all of the ownership rights to the massive collection of hits that would come through the years.
Again...the kind of story that might peak the interest of even the hottest of overnight sensations on the tour.
"I don't know if anybody will be interested, but I will be more than willing to sit down and talk about my experiences and their experiences and just about anything that has to do with music," Jett says.
Interest, in Lyman's eyes, won't be a problem. He should know -- he didn't create The Warped Tour and the Taste of Chaos without having a good idea of what will and won't work with his target audience.
"With the Internet and all of the downloading of songs that goes on, things are changing," says Lyman. "Kids now are more open minded. They are able to go back and explore all of the music that they missed."
Jett doesn't even seem concerned about the rigors of the Warped Tour that have been so widely documented since its inception. The first thing any tour veteran mentions is either the frequency of the shows or the intense heat that comes with the majority of the outdoor stops -- Fresno certainly being no exception.
"I don't know, I'm in pretty good shape," says Jett. "I'm a vegetarian. I don't smoke, I don't drink -- I just do my job. I don't think I will have any problems. I've done Broadway for God's sake, nothing can be as brutal as that."
Even the younger Aiden doesn't sound that confident. Hailing from Seattle, the band has never played a Warped Tour date anywhere else. Yet, Franco still seems to realize that his gothic motif isn't the best fit for a July afternoon in the Valley.
"The sun and the heat are probably going to be the most challenging aspects," Franco says. "I'm not so much a fan of all that business."
Franco and the rest of Aiden are, however, big fans of the tour in general and of this summer's installment.
"I've been attending Warped Tour for the last 10 years, and it has always been a dream to be on the tour," Franco says. "I think the lineup is amazing. Most importantly NOFX, they are one of the bands that helped me learn how to play the guitar and I'm really excited that they are on the whole thing."
It is terribly ironic that Franco mentions NOFX. Punk icons themselves, NOFX's first recording was a demo produced by a guy named Don Bolles. Bolles played drums in one of L.A.'s most legendary punk bands -- The Germs.
Even though they are considered one of the founding fathers of punk, The Germs only actually recorded one full-length studio album in their career.
That album was named "GI" and it was recorded in 1979 on Slash records. The producer on that now-legendary album was a good friend of the band by the name of JOAN JETT.
Sounds like a story for a veteran rocker to share with a young upstart in between sets on a hot, sunny afternoon in July, doesn't it?
Vans Warped Tour
2006 July 9 - noon
Selland Arena
Tickets: $30.25, $35.25
(559)485-8497
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