A recollection of a star-struck Joan Jett fan, who, by the amazing-ness of her bandmates and their family, got front-row seats and backstage passes to the Joan Jett concert at the Kentucky State Fair 2008:
The opening act was great, although a little strange. The band’s name was Spanky 9 or something like that, and they combined jazz and rock music. But the only reason I’m describing them is because after their third song, the security guys took us backstage. It was this little enclosure with its first side (if you can believe it) the back of the stage, and the other three trailers as the other sides. We met a couple of the managers, and stood in our little group, apart from the other people with backstage passes.
The agent, or whoever he was, was telling us that in a couple of seconds, he would “bring her out.” That struck me as odd because he talked about “bringing” her out like she was a prize puppy, or something. Anyway, he went inside one of the trailers and came out with Joan Jett following. She had her back turned towards me, so I didn’t really realize it was her until a hushed silence came over the group, and not even then until I recognized her black-on-black clothes.
She went over to some other group before she came to us, so Clare Hagan and I started singing “I Love Rock n’ Roll” while she played the shiny white guitar (I forget the brand) Leigh Ann had given us for her to sign. After a couple of minutes, she made our way over to us. It was the first time I’d met any celebrity, let alone somebody who performed on stage for thousands of people regularly, so I was kind of surprised at the amount of makeup she wore. But experience led me to realize almost right away that she would look amazing on stage. And she did.
We introduced each other, and made it clear that we (Clare, her sister Elise, and I) were in a band together, and she asked what we played. I think she meant what songs, but I stupidly pointed to Elise, Clare, and myself and rattled off, "“Bass, Lead Guitar, and Rhythm.” She then asked what songs we played, and we said, “I Love Rock n’ Roll” and “Because I’m Awesome,” which is a song by a band on Joan Jett’s record label, the Dollyrots.
So basically, that was our glorious meeting with Joan Jett. As we had anticipated, she did look awesome on stage, and she sounded great as well. I really liked her because usually, when you’ve been playing for twenty-five years or so, you don’t really put out a lot of new music. But the songs she played off her new Sinner album were just as good as classics like “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and “I Love Rock n’ Roll.” Her stage presence was great, and if she made any mistakes, you didn’t know about them.
The opening act was great, although a little strange. The band’s name was Spanky 9 or something like that, and they combined jazz and rock music. But the only reason I’m describing them is because after their third song, the security guys took us backstage. It was this little enclosure with its first side (if you can believe it) the back of the stage, and the other three trailers as the other sides. We met a couple of the managers, and stood in our little group, apart from the other people with backstage passes.
The agent, or whoever he was, was telling us that in a couple of seconds, he would “bring her out.” That struck me as odd because he talked about “bringing” her out like she was a prize puppy, or something. Anyway, he went inside one of the trailers and came out with Joan Jett following. She had her back turned towards me, so I didn’t really realize it was her until a hushed silence came over the group, and not even then until I recognized her black-on-black clothes.
She went over to some other group before she came to us, so Clare Hagan and I started singing “I Love Rock n’ Roll” while she played the shiny white guitar (I forget the brand) Leigh Ann had given us for her to sign. After a couple of minutes, she made our way over to us. It was the first time I’d met any celebrity, let alone somebody who performed on stage for thousands of people regularly, so I was kind of surprised at the amount of makeup she wore. But experience led me to realize almost right away that she would look amazing on stage. And she did.
We introduced each other, and made it clear that we (Clare, her sister Elise, and I) were in a band together, and she asked what we played. I think she meant what songs, but I stupidly pointed to Elise, Clare, and myself and rattled off, "“Bass, Lead Guitar, and Rhythm.” She then asked what songs we played, and we said, “I Love Rock n’ Roll” and “Because I’m Awesome,” which is a song by a band on Joan Jett’s record label, the Dollyrots.
So basically, that was our glorious meeting with Joan Jett. As we had anticipated, she did look awesome on stage, and she sounded great as well. I really liked her because usually, when you’ve been playing for twenty-five years or so, you don’t really put out a lot of new music. But the songs she played off her new Sinner album were just as good as classics like “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and “I Love Rock n’ Roll.” Her stage presence was great, and if she made any mistakes, you didn’t know about them.
