Tag Archives: Jettheads

by - 10 Comments

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. ♥

by - 2 Comments

Reader submission: “My first Joan Jett concert–York, PA”

One of our readers, Ashley, went to her first Joan Jett concert last Tuesday in York, PA, and she was kind enough to send me a note about the experience. Congrats Ashley!

I’ve been watching online videos of Joan performing a while now and my family decided it was time for my first concert, being they were all the same age as me when they went to their first concert(15). With that being said I just HAD to go see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. The closest show at the time (of buying the tickets) was in Pennsylvania an hour away from Philly in York, its a 12 hour drive from were I live in Michigan to York so my family decided to make a road trip out of it. I was so eager to get to our seats if i had it my way we would have sat out side the gate the entire day. 14th row back towards the left of the stage 😀 the show blew my mind, shes as strong of a performer today as she ever was (not that I was doubting)……… but man something about seeing your idol on stage right there, In the flesh, its like a priest meeting God. I definitely see more Joan Jett and the Blackhearts in my future, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Joan in concert.

You drove 12 hours? You have me beat! The furthest I’ve ever driven to see Joan was Nashville, TN, about 9 hours away from me.

I was also at the York show (my 16th!), and I’m still working on my write-up. I’ll post it soon.

When was YOUR first Joan Jett concert? Email the story to born2bjetthead@gmail.com. I’d love to read it!

by - 6 Comments

A Joan Jett t-shirt gets banned in a middle school

A t-shirt of Joan Jett wearing a Sex Pistols t-shirt was banned in a middle school. The girl was an 8th grade student, and her mother told the story on her blog:

I am not sure if this was an official censor. Last month my 8th grade daughter came home from school to tell me that her Health Ed teacher told her that she could not wear her Joan Jett T-shirt to school anymore. “Mom, a lot of the teachers told me it was cool” she mused. In the T-shirt Joan Jett is wearing a t-shirt that says “Sex Pistols”. The word sex was offensive to the teacher.
…
My daughter has been a big fan of Joan Jett since the movie the Runaways had been released.  We had been collecting Joan Jett T-shirts on all of our trips to New York City. She purchased this particular one with her father and grandmother at Trash & Vaudeville on St. Marks.

Read the rest HERE.

Now, I’m not interested in debating censorship in schools. I went to Catholic school, so uniform restrictions are not weird to me. The world of academia is full of crap like this, and once you leave school it all goes away–to be replaced by crap in “the real world.”

The interesting part of this story is actuallly the response from this woman’s daughter, the offended party in question, in the comments on the blog:

As the daughter with the tee shirt in question, I’m offended you’ve stated that The Runaways movie is what prompted my love of Joan Jett. If anything, my reaction to the movie was, “Ooh, a movie will be released on one of the most influential female rock bands in history, what luck,” not, “Ooh, I just saw this amazing movie, I want to know who this band is!”

With the statement of the movie setting the Joan Jett love off, it has implications that I watched the movie for reasons other than the music. Those reasons, in this entertainment climate, are more likely than not the actress playing Joan Jett- Kristen Stewart. Kristen Stewart has a number of fangirls, who have followed her work since Twilight, the utter travesty it is.

Your statement of how I discovered the Runaways, in effect, implies that I am a Twilight fan, and that right there is far from the truth.

[/End irrelevant rant.]

Yes, I saw the irony, especially as the lesson that day was on sex.
–gianttacosalad

Insults to Twilight aside, I am EXTREMELY impressed with this Jetthead”s intelligence! Not just in her collegiate-level vocabulary (she will KICK ASS on her SAT’s), but in her thorough knowledge, acceptance, and unconditional love of Joan Jett and The Runaways. This is the smartest 13-year-old (or soon-to-be-13-year-old) on the planet. I am perfectly comfortable leaving this world in her hands when I die.

I just have one message for “gianttacosalad”: You’re wrong about Kristen Stewart and her fans. They’ve been around since well before Twilight. Kristen has made many cool movies that her fans, including me, love her for. Think of it this way: Twilight is Kristen Stewart’s I Love Rock -n- Roll. If someone had accused YOU of only loving Joan Jett because of I Love Rock-n-Roll, I bet you’d be pissed. [/End totally relevant rant.]

Welcome to the Jetthead fandom, gianttacosalad! *waves* We’re proud to count you in our numbers! 😀

by - 7 Comments

Gift ideas for the Jetthead who has everything

Holiday shopping season is upon us, Jettheads! If you’re sick of getting Pat Benatar t-shirts from your near-sighted (yet well-meaning) relatives, then send them the link to this post to give them some new ideas for you.

1. Joan Jett. You read that right. For four more days, you can bid on a meet-and-greet with Joan Jett herself that will take place at the October 10, 2009 Jack’s Fourth show in Irvine, California at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. The auction is open until October 8, even though the Unite the United page’s auction widget is saying that it has already ended. You can bid on this and read the rules HERE. The winner will receive two tickets to the show, dinner, a meet-and-greet with Joan backstage, and other goodies. Proceeds from the auction benefit Music Saves Lives.

More Jetthead (and non-Jetthead) gift ideas after the jump. Continue reading →