August 2025 News

By Katarina Hein, WBAL NewsRadio Digital Content Manager




Backstage at Merriweather Post Pavilion, JOAN JETT joined 98 Rock's Kirk and Marianne and shared a story about her early days crossing paths with Billy Idol, long before the two were touring together.

Jett revealed that it all started in the late 1970s, when she was living across the street from the famous Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles.

Since she wasn't old enough to drink, she couldn't spend much time inside the club, but that didn't stop her from being part of the scene.

Instead, her apartment became the go-to spot for friends and musicians to hang out before heading out to the Strip.

"I used to see all the bands, but I wasn't old enough to drink yet," Jett said. "So all my friends would come to my house and party before we went to the Whisky."

Jett explained that those casual gatherings sometimes brought in touring bands as well.

One of them was Billy Idol, then fronting Generation X and just starting to make a name for himself.

"When bands would come into town, sometimes they'd come to my house," Jett recalled.

"Billy came over one night. There are pictures of us just having a drink, hanging out."

Now, decades later, Jett said she and Idol are still crossing paths.

She admitted that life on the road often feels like "two ships passing in the night," but whenever they connect, it takes her right back to those nights in her little L.A. apartment.

By Dale Maplethorpe




Music From The Vault

Collaboration in the arts can be difficult. While there are plenty of success stories, not every songwriting duo winds up forming The Beatles. There are some duos who bring out the worst in each other rather than the best.

But first, let's focus on what makes a good songwriting companionship. It really doesn't matter if artists are pally each other in the studio, because actually it's those tense conflicts that often bring out the peaks of their creativity. While I know John Lennon and Paul McCartney eventually pushed their relationship to breaking point, even their early work the odd contained creative difference because they were shaped differently by their personal experiences.

The change-up in artistic approaches helped them become one of the greatest songwriting duos in history, and that wasn't a coincidence at all. It helped when it came to overcoming writer's block and giving a song added finesse that separates them from the majority of other songwriters.

The reason why The Beatles eventually split up was because of the fact that their differences became too intense. It meant that they were unable to continue writing together because these varying opinions made it impossible for the two to work well together anymore. As such, The Beatles split up, and the two continued their writing careers separately. It was a crying shame to see their partnership come to an end, but this is just one of the many crushing pitfalls that come with creativity.



While some of these creative partnerships are well thought out and planned, some happen spontaneously because two artists are fond of one another. This is what happened with JOAN JETT and Laura Jane Grace when they came together to write the song 'Soulmates to Strangers'. The two had always admired one another from afar, which meant that when Jett was looking for potential collaborators on her 2013 record Unvarnished, it made sense to reach out to Grace.

"I met them when we were doing Warped tour in 2006," Jett recalled, "My band, the BLACKHEARTS, and I love Against Me! And we have done gigs with them through the years. I always wanted to write with Laura Jane. About a year ago, we did a concert, and we said something about writing together, and before you know it, she had come up with an idea and sent it to me over the internet. We started exchanging ideas and came up with this song."

The track plays into both artists' styles perfectly well, as it has a feel which seems to do both of those who worked on it justice. Every second feels planned out, and it doesn't sound as though either party compromised when putting the song together. This is what ideal collaboration sounds like: two artists with different styles, unifying to make something exceptional.

It wasn't a hard decision for Laura Jane Grace to choose to write with Jett. As well as being a fan of her work, Jett reached out to support Grace during a time when she was feeling particularly vulnerable. "When I came out publicly as trans, Joan got in touch," Grace recalled. Maybe the two were always destined to write together, given they were friends as well as artists.

By Jim Reynolds




Both Billy Idol and JOAN JETT played impressive performances at SPAC's Broadview Stage on Sunday August 17, 2025. The pairing of these two artists of the 80s punk-rock scene was appropriate for many reasons. Both are performers in their 60s (although Idol, at 69, is on the threshold of becoming a septuagenarian) who can still belt out their songs with great gusto and verve. They both did career boosting covers of Tommy James & The Shondells songs (Jett with "Crimson and Clover," Idol with "Mony Mony"), which were show spotlights. They both provided well-executed live shows, and had the rapt audience sing along with the familiar lines and choruses. Although they both may fall under the unfortunate label of "nostalgia legacy acts," they both have recently put out new material that they incorporated into their sets. Both also utilized the projections screens in the back of the stage to augment their shows - Jett had grainy, edgy black, white, and red images and song lyrics synced up to her performance, while Idol had images of himself, his name logo, and other relevant projections to the songs he performed.

JOAN JETT, at age 66, played her one-hour set of songs with great energy and angst. Always outspoken, Jett at one point alluded to "the state of the world today," and then read a quote from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "Of the People, By the People, For the People," then had the crowd rant into over and over before playing "Change the World." She mentioned her love for the Replacements before playing a terrific version of their song "Androgynous," a not-surprising choice from a significant ground-breaking artist and icon who broke down barriers for other female rock performers. Although half of Jett's setlist often consists of cover songs, she has always made them her own, and delivered them with her signature sound, which definitely set the tone for the feel-good night.

Billy Idol worked the entire stage from the start - roaming, sauntering, and swaggering around - and encouraged the attendees to participate, continuing the inclusive and lively atmosphere still lingering after Jett's set. At one point, he even threw frisbees into the crowd. Idol's backing band has evolved and changed throughout his career, but a consistent presence has been his longtime collaborator, guitarist Steve Stevens, who was a pleasure to see and hear. Stevens is an underrated guitarist, but his guitar playing dexterity and prowess were on display all night. Five songs into the show, he was given a proper moment to shine when he played a spectacular acoustic guitar solo - with references to Led Zeppelin's "Over the Hills and Far Away" and, cheekily, a bit of "Stairway to Heaven," which he abruptly stopped, shook his head, and slapped his own hand. He then went into a bit of Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption," which received rousing spontaneous applause.




Other current members of Idol's backing band include Stephen McGrath on bass and backing vocals, Billy Morrison on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Erik Eldenius on drums, and Paul Trudeau on keyboards and backing vocals. Before playing "Ready Steady Go," Idol took a moment to acknowledge the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, displaying an image of him on the back projection screen. He had Morrison (who he said was one of Ozzy's friends and musical collaborators) give a brief speech about Ozzy, before getting the crowd to chant "Ozzy! Ozzy!" One of the striking moments of the night was a cover of Rose Royce's "Love Don't Live Here Anymore," which Idol sang with backup singer Kitten Kuroi - who held some high notes that received cheers and praise for her amazing vocal power. Idol sounded great, and both backing vocalists Kuroi and Jessica Childress gave his songs and performance an extra element they needed onstage. Other memorable moments included Idol picking up a plastic white toy ray gun during "Rebel Yell" and handing it to Stevens to play his iconic ray-gun guitar solo in the song. Idol came back for four encores, which included three of his well-known and upbeat songs: "Dancing With Myself," "Hot in the City," and "White Wedding," ending the night on a high note.

Mixed with the obvious nostalgia of the night was a genuine reverence for these two Rock and Roll Hall of famers, who proved they can still rock out and provide patrons with a spirited and dynamic live music experience.

BILLY IDOL SETLIST:
Still Dancing
Cradle of Love
Flesh for Fantasy
77
Eyes Without a Face
Steve Stevens Guitar Solo
Mony Mony (Tommy James & the Shondells cover)
Love Don't Live Here Anymore (Rose Royce cover)
Too Much Fun
Ready Steady Go (Generation X song)
Blue Highway / Top Gun Anthem
Rebel Yell

ENCORES:
Dancing With Myself (Generation X song)
Hot in the City
People I Love
White Wedding