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JOAN JETT & Cherie Currie a Runaway success at Pacific
from: ocregister.com
by GEORGE A. PAUL
If anyone needed a refresher course about women in rock history, there have been numerous opportunities lately to catch up with one band in particular: the RUNAWAYS.
Led by lead vocalist Cherie Currie and singer/guitarist/co-songwriter JOAN JETT (above), the influential L.A. quintet released a handful of studio albums during the mid-to-late 1970s that never became commercially successful, but were big in Japan. Still, the RUNAWAYS set an early standard for gals -- especially teenage ones -- playing guitar-driven, hard rock music in a male-dominated field.
Both Jett and Currie were on hand at Pacific Amphitheatre on Wednesday for a rare local performance.
Exiting the RUNAWAYS for a solo music and acting career, Currie soon appeared in both film and TV: Foxes, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Matlock, Walker: Texas Ranger. Jett stepped into the spotlight until the band broke up and later stormed the pop charts throughout the '80s. With the BLACKHEARTS, she racked up several Top 40 singles -- most notably "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," which spent nearly two months at No. 1 in 1982. RUNAWAYS lead guitarist Lita Ford also notched a few pop/metal hits and a platinum album toward the end of that decade.
Meanwhile, Currie recently put out the autobiography Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway. Initially geared toward young adults, she expanded it with more mature content about her longtime struggles with drug, alcohol and sexual abuse in the 2000s. The publication eventually served as the basis for The RUNAWAYS, a biopic starring Dakota Fanning as Currie and Kristen Stewart as Jett (who also executive produced), which arrived in theaters this past spring.
The engaging film received generally positive reviews, yet a lack of proper marketing led to a modest box office gross; it's now available on DVD and Blu-ray with ample bonus material. Currie's fascinating book, finally republished in March, was a best-seller.
A revamped Greatest Hits collection from Jett and the BLACKHEARTS contains new versions of the RUNAWAYS' "School Days" and "You Drive Me Wild," plus a Jett coffee table photo book by fashion designer Todd Oldham also emerged this year. Next month, gamers can find Jett and Currie's newly re-recorded take on their best-known RUNAWAYS tune "Cherry Bomb" as part of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.
Judging from various young girls' ear-piercing shrieks and overall excitement level, the crowd was definitely amped to see Jett and Currie perform on their first promoted O.C. bill together since their RUNAWAYS days (although Currie has been known to cameo at Jett shows, including a decade or so ago at the Grove of Anaheim).
Fans decked out in punk and glam rock attire (studded belts, wigs, platform shoes, plenty of black leather) dotted the sold-out amphitheater, which allowed a small overflow crowd in the lawn section. Actress Scout Taylor-Compton, who portrayed Ford in The RUNAWAYS, was among those in attendance.
Jett's 75-minute, 18-song set got off to a somewhat sluggish start, however, with slower-than-usual versions of "Bad Reputation," "Fake Friends" and "Light of Day," but it heated up quickly via Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," thanks to some fun call-and-response action. The punk-pop tune "Change the World" -- the first of five songs from Jett's impressive 2006 disc SINNER -- was pure energy, as spiky-haired lead guitarist DOUGIE NEEDLES pogoed around and added fine harmonies. (Selected tracks were augmented by longtime Jett collaborator KENNY LAGUNA on keyboards and backing vocals.)
"This is for those of us who like to straddle the lines a little bit," explained Jett before her laid-back, almost countryish cover of the Replacements' "Androgynous," one of rock's sharper songs about sexual orientation. Needles had a wicked solo on the RUNAWAYS' glam stomper "You Drive Me Wild," which Jett noted was "the first song I ever wrote while sitting on my bed." Suddenly, the band was on a tear, roaring through "Backlash" (another one penned by Paul Westerberg), "French Song" and "Love is Pain," for which Needles displayed some windmill motions.
"I Love Playin' with Fire" retained the RUNAWAYS' original sensual, menacing rock thrust (sans the jailbait connotations), while that band's "School Days" was a fun singalong in the BLACKHEARTS' hands. "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" seemed routine, but Jett's tender, breathy vocals amid her hit cover of Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" was a real standout moment.
The main-set closer "I Hate Myself for Loving You" found the band in electrified mode, and that continued through the encores ("A.C.D.C.," a humorous bisexuality tune originally by the Sweet, and Sly Stone's "Everyday People," which contained a great tandem Jett/Needles solo). But the fact that Jett didn't join Currie (above) onstage, or vice versa, was a major missed opportunity, especially considering they've united for surprise performances of "Cherry Bomb" elsewhere in the past.
Currie came across like a panther let out of a cage in Costa Mesa. Her way-too-short half-hour set proved she still has vocal chops and assertive performance prowess despite spending recent years as a noted chainsaw wood-carving artist. Clad in black leather pants and vest with a fox tail hanging from behind (and sporting gorgeous long blond locks), Currie amazingly looked every bit the vixen at 50 that she was at 15.
Launching with the RUNAWAYS' aggressive rocker "Queens of Noise" and continuing on a hard-hitting trail with "California Paradise," "American Nights" and "C'mon," she truly owned the stage. Occasionally, her vocals were mixed too low to rise above powerhouse Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum -- no easy task -- and it never became detrimental.
"This is my idol," Currie beamed before a crunchy rock take on David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel," on which her 19-year-old son Jake (from a marriage to actor Robert Hays) proved his mettle on guitar. Later, before a slinky version of Nick Gilder's glam-era "Roxy Roller," she enthused, "I can't believe I'm reliving a dream I gave up so many years ago." Her signature song "Cherry Bomb" proved to be an exhilarating finale. Let's hope she puts out a rock album in the near future.
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