Long Beach Post: Digging on Joan Jett at the Grand Prix

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Digging on Joan Jett at the Grand Prix

by Greggory Moore | No Destination | 02.09.12 |

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10:00am |�On Saturday, April 14, at 6:45 p.m., Joan Jett & the Blackhearts will take the Convention Center's outdoor stage at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. And that's a whole lotta awesome.�

Look, don't blame Jett and co. for Faith Hill's awful NBC Sunday Night Football song; "I Hate Myself for Loving You" is good, hard pop/rock -- one of several times when the band nailed their particular combination of rough-and-ready garage-band rock 'n' roll with tuneful sensibility. �

We all know "I Love Rock N' Roll." I'd never heard anything like it way back when, and it still sounds damn good (when's the last time you heard it through headphones?). "Bad Reputation"

is a beautiful holdover from the days when punk was about attitude with melody and not welding speed, anger, and dissonance as tightly as possible. "Fake Friends" may suffer from poor production, but the song is the best of early '60s American-style rock with an early '80s sound.�

Look, no one's comparing Jett's oeuvre to Pink Floyd's. But would you really want to hear Pink Floyd at the Grand Prix? I think not. But Joan Jett & the Blackhearts is just about perfect. �

I don't care about car racing, but I never miss the Grand Prix because of the crowds. This year, though, I'll have another reason to be there.�

(And I've got two words for the 2013 talent-bookers if you want to continue your winning streak: CHEAP TRICK.)

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3 Comments so far.

CHS
I saw Joan perform at the OC Fair a couple of years ago. She has all those great songs and she puts on a great show. And, she's still in terrific physical condition at age ???????

Kevin
Cheap Trick was there in 2010. It's time for Foghat!

Clarissa
She's in her 50s which is unbelievable. I hear she does 50 push ups during commercial breaks. Her performance is definitely a reason for me to be at the Grand Prix this year.

No Destination

Greggory Moore examines Long Beach in light of his belief that the most pragmatic aim of a community and its individuals is not for a terminus but simply to be better, always to be better.

Trapped within in the ironic predicament of wanting to know everything (more or less) while believing it may not be possible really to know anything at all, Greggory Moore is nonetheless dedicated to a life of study, be it of books, people, nature, or that slippery phenomenon we call the self. And from time to time he feels impelled to write a little something. He lives in a historic landmark downtown and holds down a variety of word-related jobs, from HOA minutes-taker to theatre critic for GreaterLongBeach.com. His novel "The Use of Regret" was published in early 2011.

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