I don’t use the word icon lightly, with a period in recent years where the word was ubiquitous, utterly overused, everything seemed to be described as “iconic,” almost as much misused as another of my most hated words, literally… literally, everything was iconic… ha ha.
Anyway, when it comes to Joan Jett, the word fits her as perfectly as her tight leather breeks did last night. Hers was a performance of understated cool NYC nonchalance, cutting a suave figure of effortless style, and an air of unhurried consummate professionalism, having the hyper-hyped crowd eating out of her hands from the get go.
Before the main event we were treated to a high octane set from energised punk duo from Essex, The Meffs, playing with a pumped up exuberance to an already packed Academy. Their set went down a storm and included a brilliant cover of The Prodigy’s Breathe as well as a compelling take on X Ray Spex Identity. The title track from new album Business was one of the stand outs from their set for me. Their ascendency is on on a steep rise at the moment, expect to see much more of them…
Whoever created the video backdrops for Joan Jett requires a shout out, with colourful themed videos as a backdrop throughout the gig, one for every song, and with a deft skill at building anticipation with the behind the scenes footage soundtracked by a couple of other inimitably powerful true rock n roll rebels in Wanda Jackson and Kathleen Hanna.
Jett took to the stage to a rapturous welcome launching into the classic I Love Rock n Roll track, Victim of Circumstance with the early set highlights continuing into a wild singalong in the shape of The Runaways Cherry Bomb and, appropriately, Drive Me Wild which were interspersed with the provocative, and perhaps controversial to some, inclusion of her version of Do You Want to Touch Me but to be honest, it didn’t bother the fervent crowd who were singing along in unison.
Her between song banter was short and sweet, with one exception being her eloquent takedown of the current US administration in her familiar slow-rolling gravelly New York drawl before the inspirational Change the World and the start of a broken up tale before Fake Friends which she abandoned choosing instead to launch headlong into a cutting take of the song. The middle of the set was strewn with Jett classics, like Love is Pain, Woe is Me and Run Away, interspersed with songs from her 2023 Mindsets EP and including a glorious cover of The Replacements Androgynous.
The party really started in earnest when the band played their cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s classic Everyday People which signalled the start of a series of powerful uppercuts and right hooks to send the zealous crowds reeling. We were pummelled into submission with Jett’s boisterous take on the classic I Love Rock n Roll, before her brilliantly distinctive cover of one of my all time favourite songs, Tommy James & the Shondells Crimson and Clover and penultimately the roof-raising, hard-rocking I Hate Myself for Loving You before bringing the set to a close with her final knockout blow, in the shape of her ebullient signature tune Bad Reputation. After that performance you can consider her 45 years in music as well and truly celebrated.
