Reader submission: “My Joan Jett experience”

Hi! Let’s continue the good #HappyBDayJoanJett vibes with an incredibly eventful first-time Jetthead story, complete with a road trip, a Jett Eye Lock, and a chase scene. Judith, THANK YOU for sharing this!

Hello my name is Judith D. and I am 17 years old. I’m here to talk about my Joan Jett experience. To be completely honest I didn’t even know who this incredible woman was until the movie about the Runaways came out. Sure I knew the songs “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “Bad Reputation”, but I didn’t know the artist. After watching the movie everything I did had to do with Joan Jett! I went out and bought a few of her albums and all i did was sit in my room and play them over and over again. I would spend hours just thinking about getting to know her (I still do). I was extremely fortunate when I got the chance to see her live in Turlock Ca. I planned to go months ahead, of course It took plenty of begging to get my parents to approve because it was a couple of hours away, but after realizing how much I loved her they just couldn’t say no. I got there as soon as the Stanislaus County  fair opened (around 5pm) and I went straight to the  stage. Unfortunately the seats right in front were taken but I still got front row but on the far left (her right). I stayed seated there until 8:30 when the show started. Seeing her up there was like no other feeling I had ever experienced. I knew the words to all of her songs and I just sang along throughout the whole show! I’ve never been the “party” type of girl but I completely let go at this concert, dancing harder than I ever have. My favorite part of this whole experience was during my favorite song “You Drive Me Wild”. Joan Jett was in the middle of the stage and all of a sudden she turns to her right and completely locks eyes with me. At this point I was freaking out! But then she kept looking at me and started walking towards me as she played her electric guitar. I was soooo excited that I froze up and like a scratched Cd I found myself repeating “I love you, I love you, I love you!!!” as I held up my hands into a heart shape. She said  I love you back, and from that moment on I knew i’d never be the same. I know she’s said it to many people before but just having her acknowledge the fact that I’m here on this earth and to know that she knows that I really do care about her and her music so much… Well, this just means everything to me. I wanted to meet her so bad that I attempted it about 3 or 4 times in that show alone. A couple minutes before the show I went to the side where there was a fence opening and all of a sudden some guy comes out and I asked him “is Joan back there?”  “she sure is” he responded. So then I started pleading to the man to let me see her! He seemed like a very nice guy, he let me in under the tent but then he said “oh I’m so sorry she was just here having a meet and greet” so she was gone and I of course was devastated. I later found out that the man who almost helped me meet Joan was the guy who feeds her and the band their food. Anyways, I was about to leave when some older looking gentleman came out, I think he had blonde short hair but I can’t really remember. I heard him say something about being Joan’s manager so I walked over to him and started begging him to let me see her he refused right away and said that he couldn’t allow me to see her cuz she was getting ready for the show. But he said the best he could do was give me her guitar pick, he pulled out a light blue shark tooth shaped pick with her name on it. I still don’t know If that really was her’s or not but I tell myself it is just so I can sleep at night 🙂 After the show I decided to try again and so I went to the back and ran through the gate. Now I don’t do things like this but i thought about how much of a badass Joan is… and I was scared to go through a fence?!? “what’s the worst that can happen?” I thought to myself. So I found myself being chased by like a 200 pound security guard. I was scared shitless but it was a rush! I didn’t want to get tackled so I obeyed his angry yells and ran out from behind the stage. At this point I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh at what just happened or cry because I failed at meeting my idol yet again. I stood outside of the fence waiting for Joan to come out in her grey van. Her van came out after about an hour and I could see her sitting in the back on the left side. There were two cops riding beside her van on huge horses. I found myself jogging in between the horses waving my hands like a crazy person trying to get Joan’s attention. I yelled her name and she turned to the left smiled and waved at me. At that point I knew it was to late to meet her so I stood back and watched her ride away,  she would soon be far away from me and I would once again be stuck In my room listening to her albums reminiscing on the day that I ALMOST met Joan Jett. I cried myself to sleep every night for about a week after this, I felt like shit. But I soon decided that instead of crying over Joan I wanted to show the world just how much this woman inspired me. I began working out everyday (I still am) and I decided to become a vegetarian, although it’s only been a few weeks I intend to keep this up for a VERY long time. I just can’t get over how gorgeous Joan looks at 52, and I want to look like that at her age too. I had also played guitar for a while but then I quit because I always thought that in order to play guitar you had to play lead. But seeing Joan up there rockin rhythm guitar made me realize just how important rhythm guitar is to rock n roll. So I recently picked up the guitar yet again and I’m even in a band now! This band isn’t exactly my type of music because they don’t play that much rock n roll but I want to use this as a learning experience and eventually form my own Rock ‘n’ Roll band. My 18th birthday is this Friday  on September 23, one day after Joan’s birthday! And all I would ever want for my birthday is to meet Joan Jett, it would mean absolutely EVERYTHING to me. I hope to one day have the opportunity to let her know just how much she inspired me. I am proud to be a Jetthead! Happy Birthday to the Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll!

Welcome to the Jetthead fandom, Judith! And a big thank you to Kristen Stewart for bringing you to us. ♥