Sometimes, timing is everything, especially in the music scene. There could not have been better timing for Joan Jett this weekend.
On Saturday night, Jett and her band the Blackhearts made their presence known in Park City, playing to a packed, sold out crowd at the World Famous Harry O’s club. The timing of the show was perfect, as a movie about Joan Jett’s first band The Runaways was to make its debut at Sundance on Sunday. The film has been the most coveted ticket at Sundance this year, and the show the night before “set the stage” perfectly for the next day’s activities.
Jett was true to her celebrated form – raw, aggressive, and with a scratchy edge to her voice that helped push the band’s sound over the top. She guided the band through a set of old and new, digging deep to her first song written, “You Drive Me Wild,” introducing her newest track “Androgynous,” and filling in the popular tracks and fan favorites between like “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and her anthem-rock classic “I Love Rock N’ Roll.”
The highlight of the evening came as a surprise to those in attendance. After playing the song “Love is Pain,” Jett brought former Runaways singer Cherie Currie out on stage with her, along with the actors who played their respective parts in the movie, Dakota Fanning and Twilight star Kristen Stewart.
Jett delivered just what the Sundance crowd was looking for – a real-life precursor to the movie that will chronicle her early days. Hopefully Kristen Stewart can do justice to the legend that Joan Jett has created. She has some pretty big shoes to fill.