Rock fans of all ages celebrate 45 years of Joan Jett & The Blackhearts!
West London’s latest concert hall – the British Airways ARC – recently opened in the Olympia complex, inviting major artists to play as part of the venue’s opening season. We were excited to learn that Rock icon Joan Jett with her band The Blackhearts would be one of these; and even more so when our favourite hard-rockin’ Punk duo The Meffs were announced as support band!
There’s another summer heatwave burning the capital on Wednesday 8th July, but fortunately the ARC is air-conditioned, and they have relaxed the rules tonight to allow us to bring in our water bottles. The venue itself is impressive; a large standing area in front of the stage is encircled by a raised section, offering plenty of great vantage points. Upstairs there is plenty of seating, again laid out in an arc, to allow maximum viewing of the stage. The interior is painted black and decorated with strings of warm white light bulbs, fanning out across the ceiling of the raised section, towards the large bar at the rear. The staff are all friendly and helpful, the facilities modern, plentiful and clean. The standing floor is sprung, giving just the right amount of bounce, and the sound in the auditorium is clear and set to just the right volume.
The Meffs are surprised to raise a cheer when they point out they’re from Essex – lead vocalist & guitarist Lily reckoning its proximity to London gives them some immunity! However, she and drummer & backing vocalist Lewis despise the racism and far-right politics the area has become tarnished by. This is evident in their songs, as well as in what they say in between numbers – they’re doing everything they can to stand up for what is decent, and to speak out against rising fascism.
The duo are making a big name for themselves now, something that wasn’t encouraged at first… Lily tells us that she could never have imagined as a 14-year-old that one day she’d be playing on a huge stage to a crowd of 2,500, supporting a genuine Rock legend such as Joan Jett!. “We were told we’d never play in large venues, to big audiences, or with well-known artists, but we’ve done all three!” exclaims Lily with a triumphant grin. The Meffs’s set includes striking new songs from their forthcoming second album; title track ‘Business’, ‘Where Did It All Go Wrong?’ and ‘Disorder (Wake Up)’.
We’re delighted to hear the old favourites too, of course, including ‘Deathwish’ and ‘Stamp It Out’! “The world was a crazy place when we wrote ‘Broken Britain, Broken Brains’” explains Lily. “And it still is. We don’t believe anything the fascists say”. Set closer ‘Clowns’ feels particularly poignant tonight, following an accountability avoidance stunt by the band’s local MP just the previous day, where he stood down to trigger a by-election in his Clacton seat, trying to wriggle out of the parliamentary investigation into a substantial sum of money he’s been ‘given’… The crowd are enthused after jumping about to The Meffs – job done.
There’s a cheerful and lively atmosphere down the front, with multiple generations of fans in attendance, all excited to see their heroine – Joan Jett. It’s been 16 long years since Joan Jett & The Blackhearts played a concert in the UK, and for many, our first opportunity to see the band live. The backdrop screen introduces Joan and The Blackhearts via video, featuring archive clips interspersed with punky animated graphics. It’s been created to celebrate their comprehensive songwriting output over that past 45 years, since their debut album ‘I Love Rock ‘n Roll’ was released. Opening their set with ‘Victim of Circumstance’, Joan then goes on to introduce the first recorded song from her original band The Runaways ‘Cherry Bomb’, which receives a great reception, shortly followed by another Runaways song, ‘You Drive Me Wild‘:
Joan tells us the story of her time making a movie – about a brother and sister who formed a rock band – with actor Michael J Fox (who also could play guitar), and how helpful he was in calming her nerves on set. It was decided that all the actors should play a real gig at the bar around the corner to get them into character, which apparently was great fun for all involved! Bruce Springsteen wrote the title track song for the movie, ‘Light of Day’, which Joan Jett & The Blackhearts play as a heartwarming tribute to Michael and the film.
Keyboard player and record producer Kenny Laguna called in a few favours to allow Joan to record her first solo album ‘Bad Reputation’ at The Who’s Ramport Studio here in London. Both he and Joan are glad to be back in the city that gave her this break, as the US companies didn’t want to know, being full of sexist bullshit about female songwriters and performers. Their trials to get a record deal were immortalised in ‘Fake Friends’, which they go on to play like they absolutely mean it!
On stage, guitarist Dougie Needles shows off his skills while striking variety of poses, bassist Hal B. Selzer remaining a more composed figure on stage right. Michael McDermott impresses us with his drumming, which is particularly exceptional on ‘Oh Woe Is Me’. Joan ditches her guitar to sing a cover of The Replacements’ ‘Androgynous’ then switches to her beautiful wine-red Signature ES-339 Gibson guitar for ‘Lie To Me’. There’s a fun moment during the band’s rocked-up cover of Sly & the Family Stone’s ‘Everyday People’, where Dougie joins Joan in a wild guitar riff-off!
Enthusiastic audience participation throughout ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’, ‘Crimson and Clover’, ‘I Hate Myself for Loving You’, and concluding number ‘Bad Reputation’ ensures that Joan Jett & The Blackhearts leave the stage with deservedly wide grins, and a promise to return to play for us again much sooner!
Main Photo Credit / All Photos: PER-ÅKE WÄRN
Live Videos: RUTH RAE
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