Jubilee Jam - Saturday highlights: Joan Jett and More

Saturday's festivities were even hotter than Friday, if that's at all possible. When I headed over around 3 pm, it was already much later than I'd anticipated as I was avoiding the heat and grimaced at the Walgreens marquee declaring 99 degrees. Thankfully, the Jam folks installed two large misting fans to cool down the crowd.

First up for me was Latinismo! at the Trustmark Stage. With at least 13 members on stage, they played a rousing set of Latin groove. The horns were sharp and the guitars had a saucy ring for the few people daring to dance in the sun. I hope that it was just the heat that made the crowd small. I had a lot of fun swaying my hips to the music and started imagining them giving my summer birthday party a bit of salsa swing. Latinismo! started wrapping up their set with a slinky cover of The Doors' "Light My Fire."

Next I wandered up the hill toward the VisitJackson.com stage at State Street for Blue Mountain. The gathering crowd crammed themselves into the small patches of shade to enjoy the homegrown country rock. I'm not familiar enough with the band to know the songs, but I enjoyed the twangy guitars enough that I'll definitely get their discs to enjoy in the comfort of some cranked A/C or play it at a bbq when it's not eleven million degrees in the shade.

The Trustmark Stage then sported Passenger Jones at 5:00. The Jackson darlings have six members (two guitars, bass, drums, keys and cello) to their ensemble, creating a full sound that isn't so dense that it's not accessible. I am still impressed with how well they've managed to harness the ability to use dynamics with so many instruments. It's rare, I think, that bands are able to play great music in the rock spectrum that isn't just hard and loud for their 45 minutes. At one point, front man Taylor Hildebrand declared, "Y'all, I have wanted to play this festival my whole life." He got his wish as they played songs old and new for the growing crowd. I especially liked the bluesy guitars of "Taste It," but will make a point to see their brand of rock next time they play in Jackson.

I had to leave mid-set to head to the Budweiser Main Stage. I caught a few songs from Charm City Devils. Their brand of loud guitar rock really isn't for me. I mean, I enjoy Led Zeppelin, A.C.D.C. and obviously, Joan Jett, but something about the songs about drinking and rockin' didn't resonate with me. I felt like they were guys with guitars trying too hard to be glamorous. They had a decent sized crowd who seemed to be enjoying themselves. But I was there to head back stage for the headliner.

When I interviewed Joan Jett on the phone earlier this month, she made the point of inviting me to come backstage to hang out with her. I think I told every single person I knew and even some I don't know in my excitement. I got back stage with my friend Lindsay, who is probably a bigger fan than even me, and we waited and waited. I watched the clock as it got closer to Joan's stage time of 6:30 PM and gave her tour manager a call after I still didn't see anyone from the band. He assured me I was in the right place and came over to chat. He explained that she'd be out momentarily and just to hang tight. The next five minutes were chaotic as several photographers came back stage who apparently didn't have the right credentials to shoot the show and in dealing with that and some missing equipment, I didn't get to meet Joan Jett. I was all of ten feet away from her and surprisingly, she's a very small lady. I guess I'm surprised because on stage, she casts a frame that is larger than life, when in reality she's maybe 5'3" with a solid, muscular body. She ran on stage and gave us all what we came for with the following:

Bad Reputation
Light of Day (Springsteen cover)
Cherry Bomb
Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)
Change the World
You Drive Me Wild
Love Is Pain
I Love Playing With Fire
Naked
Love Is All Around
Fetish
I Love Rock 'N' Roll
Crimson & Clover
I Hate Myself For Lovin' You
A.C.D.C.
Everyday People

If you were in Jackson and not at this show, shame on you. My vocal chords felt shredded after hollering along to "I Love Rock 'N' Roll" and "A.C.D.C." It was a truly awesome experience to be at the front gate with my friends, sweating ourselves away into puddles and grinning at each other with the start of each new song. Joan Jett still has pure rock 'n' roll running through her veins and with longtime creative partner Kenny Laguna, has created something that all rock bands should take to heart. The Blackhearts are a solid band and are the luckiest guys on earth that they get to play the music they love such a strong and talented woman.

The awesome thing about this whole experience is that the story with Joan Jett didn't end with me leaving backstage to go up front to see the show with everyone else. Between last night and this morning, I have gotten a phone call from Kenny Laguna, a call from Kenny Laguna and Joan Jett and a follow up call from Ed, her tour manager. The first two were checking in on me and wondering if things were okay as they missed seeing me. The second call made my day: they loved the JFP article. Ed was totally gracious and apologetic about the chaos. I explained to them that I was just glad I got to be there to experience, for me, the ultimate rock show.

Two things out of this weekend:

1) Jackson, you did me proud with the energy you gave to Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. I wish the crowd had been bigger, but for those of us who made it out, we got what we came for.

2) I'm in the good graces of one goddess of rock 'n'roll. Life is good.

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