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JOAN JETT deserves to headline the Stadium Tour
from: straight.com
By Steve Newton
If you ask me--or even if you don't--JOAN JETT should be headlining the Stadium Tour.
The big rock show that hits Vancouver's BC Place Stadium on Friday (September 2) has Motley Crue (screw their umlauts) and Def Leppard getting top billing, with Poison in the number two spot, followed by JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS.
There's something seriously wrong with that.
Sure, the Crue and the Leppard have garnered way more radio hits and sold millions more albums than Ms. Jett, but when it comes down to little things like artistic integrity and being true to your fans, there's no competition.
Motley Crue? Come on. Didn't they make a "legal" promise to their fans, not too long ago, to never tour again? That was kinda tacky, dontcha think, to rake in all that cash from the diehard followers who wanted to forever brag that they got to see their fave band's final show in whatever city those suckers called home? And I'll admit that I thought Motley Crue's debut album was great, but I also believe that--like Kiss--they went downhill musically after that first killer disc.
Def Leppard? Hey, I bought their debut album too, and played the crap out of it. But let's face facts: as impressive as it was when they courageously carried on after drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a car accident, there's no denying that the tragic death of guitarist and co-songwriter Steve Clark in 1991 left a musical void that even the talented Vivian Campbell couldn't fill.
And Poison? Two words: "Unskinny Bop".
So now, 20 minutes or so after starting this little blog with the outlandish notion that JOAN JETT should be headlining the Stadium Tour, I'm still stickin' by that claim.
I mean, she started out at the age of 16 with the RUNAWAYS, and hasn't stopped rocking since.
She was the original riot grrrl, all about female empowerment and being true to yourself, and at the age of 63 is still a badass.
But she's a grounded, down-to-earth badass, as I learned when I interviewed her before a Vancouver club gig in 1992.
"I feel very lucky," she told me. "I'm in a band, I get to travel, I get to write songs and get on stage and play. I mean, the reason I got into this is because I enjoy relatin' to the people, and I like seeing them smile. It's a really great thing to be able to do."
Eighteen years after that conversation I saw Jett opening up for Aerosmith at Rogers Arena, and she totally held her own with the Bad Boys from Boston. She made a lotta people smile that night.
So here's my message to all the hardcore Crue/Leppard freaks heading out to see their '80s glam-metal heroes. By all means, shake your butts to "Pour Some Sugar on Me", and make like Ronnie James Dio with the horns-up sign during "Shout at the Devil".
But just make damn sure you get there early enough to cheer on JOAN JETT as well. And smile while you're doing it.
The show starts at 4 pm. |
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