July 2012 News

by Chad Taylor

It's safe to say of JOAN JETT that she's done it all. Beginning her career in one of the seminal female rock acts, The RUNAWAYS, Jett has gone on to a solo career that is defined by solid three chord blues riffs and includes a couple of the most memorable rock anthems of all time.

More so than any of her RUNAWAYS band mates, Jett has cemented herself as rock royalty. She was included on the list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists (No. 87) by Rolling Stone, and when was the last time Lita Ford was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

But for as much as Jett acknowledges her role as a pioneer for women in rock, it's not primarily how she'd like to be remembered.

by SacramentoPress Staff | Photo by Steve Bibiano

Do you love rock and roll? You don't need to put any dimes in the jukebox to hear JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS at the California State Fair on Friday.

The rock-and-roll group most famous for "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is part of the California State Fair's concert series, and like all concerts at the fair, it's free with admission, but preferred seating will cost $22.

The California State Fair is being held at Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Blvd., and the JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS show runs from 8 - 9:30 p.m. on Friday.

Photos by George Pimentel

Hundreds of guests took a catwalk on the wild side as they ditched their dapper suits for tight eye-popping leather and revealing lace. The 12th annual must-do Gerry & Nancy Pencer Brain Trust extravaganza was once again held at The Liberty Grand in support of the Gerry & Nancy Pencer Brain Tumor Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital. Nancy Pencer, along with daughters Holly Pencer Bellman and Stacey Cynamon, welcomed throngs of partygoers who were in the mood to rock 'n' roll.

It was a party like no other, and featured performances by Grammy-award-winning singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, of Walking in Memphis fame, who performed during an exclusive dinner for sponsors. Patrons were then invited to party the night away while taking in the legendary music of Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum recording artists JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS. Guests danced and sang along to the iconic I Love Rock 'n' Roll.

On May 23, 1997, Gerry Pencer was diagnosed with a grade 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme brain tumour. An incredible CEO with a tremendous outlook on life, Pencer transformed his diagnosis into The Gerry & Nancy Pencer Brain Trust, a not-for-profit organization with a mandate to make a difference in the quality of life of people living with brain tumors. Sadly, Pencer lost his battle, but his incredible memory lives on through the work that his "girls" continue to do with a ton of heart.

"The Gerry & Nancy Pencer Brain Tumour Centre, in association with Princess Margaret Hospital, is home to some of the world's leading researchers and clinicians in the area of brain tumor treatment," said Nancy Pencer, president of Pencer Brain Trust. "This year's ROCK event allowed guests to embrace their inner rock star, while helping to raise much needed funds to provide information, treatment and support for brain tumour patients and their families."

' Those rocking out included Shane Fontayne, guitarist; Elicia MacKenzie and Peter Deiwick of Rock of Ages; Paul Alofs, president and CEO, Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, and wife Sheila Alofs; David Cynamon, executive chairman, K2 Pure Solutions, and Stacey Cynamon, co-chair of the ROCK event; Michael Bellman and Holly Pencer Bellman, executive director, The Pencer Brain Trust; Dr. Barry Sherman, chairman & CEO of Apotex and wife Honey Sherman; Peter Giacomelli, managing director, TD Securities; broadcasting icon Valerie Pringle; Ken Myres, president of Tony Roma's; and event emcees Melissa Grelo and Steve Anthony. With the generosity of so many, total net proceeds from the past 11

by Promotions

105.7 The Hawk is proud to announce Wingstock 2012, Saturday, September 29 at First Energy Park, the home of the Lakewood BlueClaws!

JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS and GEORGE CLINTON AND PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC will perform.

Tickets for the show will go on sale beginning Friday, July 20th at the First Energy Park box office and at blueclaws.com.

by Melissa Fossum

JOAN JETT
Talking Stick Resort
Friday, July 6, 2012

JOAN JETT is one of those musicians whom everybody should see if they get the chance. She's an inspiration to every girl who ever picked up a guitar, pioneering the riot grrl movement before it had a name (she later produced a Bikini Kill album). Jett has continued to rock since she formed The RUNAWAYS as a teen. Now, she's still going strong as a 53-year-old.

JOAN JETT took the stage with her signature short, black choppy hair, a black tank top, and tight red pants -- a style not too far off from Laura Jane Grace's recent appearance with Against Me!, which isn't surprising as the two recently performed The Replacements' "Androgynous" together.

Accompanied by an all-male backing band dressed like '70s punks, JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS delivered racing guitars, sing-alongs, and loads of attitude, even if Jett's vocals were spotty at times. The band opened with "Bad Reputation," which didn't quite sound like the song I know and love from the opening credits of Freaks and Geeks. Her voice lacked gusto, and it sounded like she was just going through the motions (or, let's posit that really doesn't give a damn about her reputation).

Chalk it up to a rough start, because The RUNAWAYS' classic "Cherry Bomb" was totally on point. Jett sang it with her signature punk ferocity, even if it was originally Cherie Curie's song. The band played two RUNAWAYS songs, peppering "I Love Playing With Fire" into a set that could easily be a tracklisting The BLACKHEARTS' greatest hits.

by Ted Hansen

"It's hard to grow up" sang JOAN JETT midway through her set list as she and her band, the BLACKHEARTS, tore through a seventy five minute set at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale on Friday night, July 6, 2012. Although Jett may lament that she's "too old to be acting like a child," those in the audience were glad she still does. Childhood for JOAN JETT meant forming the band, The RUNAWAYS, and writing and performing such songs as "Cherry Bomb" and "I Love Playin' With Fire." For those in attendance this night, they got to turn back the clock with Jett and bounce, sway, clap and sing like they did in their childhood, or at least early adulthood.

But for the improvements in sound and lighting plus the graying of the majority in attendance, the Ballroom at the Talking Stick Resort in 2012 could have been New York City's CGBG's in 1980 as Jett took the stage opening with "Bad Reputation," and "Cherry Bomb." The crowd was up and bouncing and Jett looked like she's barely aged, sporting a black vest with red pants and maintaining her punk attitude. If anyone thought Jett wasn't punk enough, then a look at lead guitarist DOUGIE NEEDLES and bass player Acey Slade should have been enough to be convincing.

With drummer THOMMY PRICE pounding the familiar beat, it didn't take much prodding by Jett and her fellow band mates to get the crowd to sing "yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah," as the BLACKHEARTS launched into "Do You Wanna Touch Me." From then on Jett gave the appreciative audience some of the old, "I Love Playin' With Fire," some of the new, "TMI," and some of the familiar, "Fake Friends."

As a testament to the energy Jett and the other BLACKHEARTS were bringing, few in the audience ever sat down, which for a middle-aged, Scottsdale crowd is something of a rarity. Equally impressive was that all the material being played was well received. This wasn't just your "I'm here for the four JOAN JETT songs I know" crowd. These were loyal fans and JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS didn't disappoint.

Article and photo by James Cacciatore

JOAN JETT ARRIVED backstage at the Marin County Fair on Monday night in a caravan of golf carts carrying her tattooed, spike-haired band, the BLACKHEARTS, and her 94-year-old uncle, Al. As she stepped off her cart, she led the elderly gentleman by the hand as she hustled past a gaggle of guests and disappeared into her dressing tent.

Uncle Al helped raise Jett's mother, I was told, and this was Joan's way of putting a little rock 'n' roll excitement into the old man's life. The scene seemed to encapsulate the two sides of her persona: the sweet, caring rock idol with a heartwarming smile that only a select few get to see, and the badassed chick who wrote the jail-bait anthem "Cherry Bomb," her first hit, when she was a 16-year-old co-founder of the all-girl punk rock band the RUNAWAYS.

A lot has happened for the 53-year-old female rock trailblazer since she first performed at the fair six years ago, when she was launching a comeback with "SINNER," her first album of new songs in a dozen years.

by Albert Rodriguez - SGN A&E Writer

JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS
SNOQUALMIE CASINO
July 3

I'm not sure how old JOAN JETT is, and it isn't relevant. What matters is that she's still got plenty of girl power left. One of the first women to transition successfully from the punk scene to mainstream rock, the Pennsylvania native is embraced by Gay and straight fans equally.

Her set list at Snoqualmie Casino's outdoors summer stage included mostly the familiar. 'Bad Reputation,' 'Cherry Bomb,' and 'Do You Want to Touch Me' were motored through early in the concert, and the crowd seemed to know all the words to them.

Rocker chicks in black clothes and punkish hairdos were prevalent, yet a surprising number of dudes in leather jackets showed up too. Jett herself wore a pair of tight black leather pants, a gray tank top, and sneakers. Her slick hair was parted at the middle and barely grazed her shoulders. She looked sexy, especially for a woman who's been at this for a while.

'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' got everybody chanting the chorus and pumping their fists in the air. Some slight wear and tear is detectable in Jett's voice, but she's retained that deep growl that made her famous in the '80s. A female trailblazer on electric guitar as well, her speedy riffs probably didn't have the crunch outdoors that they would have had in an indoor concert hall. (In 2003, Jett and Joni Mitchell were the only women included in Rolling Stone's top 100 guitarists of all time.)

by Betsey J. Denberg

Although JOAN JETT was on the shortlist last year for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she hasn't forgotten her long battle to make it as a solo act. Jett recalled the period following the RUNAWAYS' 1979 split when she and manager KENNY LAGUNA were desperately peddling her as a stand-alone artist. Jett recalled to The Arizona Republic, "We have 23 rejection letters. We kept them. They all heard 'Bad Reputation,' 'Crimson And Clover,' 'I Love Rock N' Roll' and 'Do You Wanna Touch Me' -- and yet, they swore they didn't hear a hit. They all said 'You have no songs,' 'You need a song coach,' 'Lose the guitar,' 'You're an interesting artist, but. . .' Just a lot of 'No.'"

Jett added, "You just had to wonder, 'Can they not hear hits?' Or did they know ahead of time that they just didn't want me so they're making up an excuse? But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we put that album out ourselves on BLACKHEART RECORDS. We put out, I think, maybe 500 records at first to sell out of the trunk of the car at gigs. We put 'import' on it and they all sold right out."

She went on to explain that considering the time story considerations, the recent movie The RUNAWAYS was a success in her eyes: "I thought it definitely gave you a sense of what it was like to be in the band. The actors did an amazing job with the script they had. Having been in the band, of course, I'm gonna feel that way too much is left out and that you don't really get a true sense of everything we went through. But you couldn't really tell the full story, I think, in whatever it was, an hour and a half."

Article and photo by Moira Sullivan

JOAN JETT was back in the Bay Area at the Marin County Fair on July 2 with her group "The BLACKHEARTS. The queen of rock took fans, old and new, to spiritual dimensions with some of her greatest hits. The rocker was an inductee for the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with "Guns 'N Roses" and "Beastie Boys". She's also back on the list for 2013. Jett started her own record company, "BLACKHEART RECORDS" in the 80's. The company and JOAN JETT was paid tribute in the summer film "Rock of Ages". Jett produced The RUNAWAYS (2010) starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning.

The JOAN JETT sound is mesmerizing. Her raspy, deep, soulful voice set to electric guitars, keyboard and drums took the crowd over the edge deep into the soul and intoxicated Marin for over an hour. Jett is timeless and clearly appeals to veterans as well as newbie's as young as five years old seen ''rock 'n" and "roll 'n".

The concert began with two hits Jett wrote - "Bad Reputation" followed by "Cherry Bomb". Joan, a woman of few words, presented her band from New York City. After that "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) lead Jett devotees in a ritual that kept going until the FOUR extra songs at the end. Ms Jett performed alongside her excellent band with outstanding backups, both vocal and musical -- including keyboardist KENNY LAGUNA.

by Betsey J. Denberg

#19 | JOAN JETT, 'Bad Reputation' Boardwalk, 1981

The happy product of a lifetime devoted to the pursuit of the perfect three-chord black-leather beer-bottle-smashing rock & roll record.

Essential moment: "Bad Reputation," all buzz-saw guitar and sneer.

by Bill Gates

Jett plays to sweltering audience JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS greet the crowd as they take the stage during the Heritage Festival on Saturday night.

It wasn't quite as hot, temperature-wise, when Jett played on Saturday.

But the heat generated by a mass of bodies that spread out past the beer garden and as far to the wings as possible surely made up the difference.

Last year, the Guess Who played to a crowd estimated at over 5,000.

Jett's audience topped that.

She opened with three songs back-to-back-toback: "TMI," "Cherry Bomb" and "Do You Wanna Touch Me?"

"I know it's hot, but that's what rock-and-roll is all about," Jett told the crowd. "You have to sweat for it."

by Stacy Arrington

Rockville, Maryland native, JOAN JETT was welcomed back to Maryland with open arms on Saturday, June 30th. Ms. Jett was the headliner for the Dundalk Heritage Fair.

Hitting the stage promptly at 8pm, JOAN JETT was clad in a leotard bodysuit that looked like something a member of Kiss might wear, all except for the Vans on her feet! Joan rocked a new song called T.M.I, which sounds like typical JOAN JETT, punk material. Immediately following the song, she went into the chords of the RUNAWAYS hit song, Cherry Bomb. At this point the crowd became alive and I could hear the concert goers behind me chanting the lyrics! This one be one of three RUNAWAYS songs performed this very special night in Dundalk hon...

As the intro for Do You Wanna Touch started Joan asked the crowd what the score was for the Orioles game that was going on. For those of you not in the know, The Orioles are Baltimore baseball team.

by Marge Neal

The annual Independence Day celebration opened three hours late and several acts had to be canceled on Saturday.

Heritage Park took a wallop Friday night when the storm rolled through town, but the relentless efforts of volunteers enabled Heritage Fair to reopen a few hours late on Saturday and finish with a flair on Sunday.

Dundalk's annual three-day Independence Day celebration attracted big crowds with big-name acts like Dennis DeYoung and JOAN JETT and an entertainment and activity schedule that included something for all ages.

Friday's schedule got off without a hitch, as the thunderstorm rolled in after DeYoung called it a night and the crowds left the park.

Overnight, strong winds and rain played havoc on vendor booths and goods, and the park lost power for a time, according to fair volunteer Marilyn Doyle.

"There was a power problem, but it has been resolved," Doyle said at about 5 p.m. Saturday. "A lot of the arts and crafts vendors have left--their tents really took a hit--but some said they would be back (Sunday)."

by Ed Masley

JOAN JETT was all of 16 when she made her first important contribution to the history of rock and roll -- a throbbing jail-bait anthem titled "Cherry Bomb" that gave the world its first taste of the all-girl teenage RUNAWAYS.

Written by Jett and manager Kim Fowley, the opening track on the RUNAWAYS' 1976 debut is now looked back on as a punk-rock classic, arriving the same year the Ramones' first album hit the streets.

"It was one of the best times of my life," Jett recalls. "It was magic. We scared the (expletive) out of people just by being ourselves."

America wasn't ready for a pack of teenage girls who could play their own instruments while singer Cherie Currie, dressed in lingerie, vowed to be "your ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb."

Three hit-free albums later, they disbanded after one last show on New Year's Eve, 1978.

LINCOLN CITY -- Performing live in the showroom at Chinook Winds Casino Resort on Saturday July 14 will be the hit making rock and roll band JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS. "I Love Rock and Roll" will be performed among many other top of the chart songs produced by this legendary band. Tickets range from $20 to $50 and are on sale now at the box office, online at www.chinookwindscasino.com or by calling 1-888-624-6228.

JOAN JETT has been rocking audiences since the age of 15. As the leader of the BLACKHEARTS she has earned 8 platinum and gold records and 9 top 40 singles. JOAN JETT also runs her own independent label, BLACKHEART RECORDS. She is a singer, songwriter, actor, musician and producer. Other popular recordings include "Crimson and Clover," "I Hate Myself for Loving You," "Do You Want to Touch Me," "Light of Day," "Love Is All Around," "Bad Reputation," and "Little Liar."

Tickets start at $20 and are on sale now. Show times are 8 p.m. For more information, or to obtain tickets, call 1-888-MAIN-ACT (624-6228) online at www.chinookwindscasino.com.

by Hollowood Music

JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS dropped a Cherry Bomb on West Virginia on Saturday, June 9 when they played the Harv at Mountaineer Casino. Hollowood's was there with Audio Production and Backline support. Joan and the band killed a 90 minute, sweat-soaked set that included classic hits like "I Hate Myself For Loving You", "I Love Rock n' Roll", "Crimson & Clover".