Patti Binger and Joan Jett, August '99, in Mississippi
Just to let you all know, I've never written a story for anyone before, so I apologize in advance for any errors!!
I was asked if I would be interested in submitting a story about a Jett trip I took. That would be referring to Joan Jett, if you didn't know! :) I thought about it a few days, and realized, I didn't want to write some review about a Jett show. I wanted to write about the Jett TRIP. Let me start at the beginning!
Around February of 1999, the Joan Jett web page was revised, complete with a new message board and a, oh my god, chat room! I was just a little too excited about the idea of chatting with other people who had the same jett fetish I had! There was always one girl in the room at the beginning, and her name was Kat. Kat had never seen Jett live before, or anyone for that matter. We began talking....every night....till all hours! Then we learned Jett would be doing a FIVE night show in Biloxi, Mississippi!! We HAD to go! It was decided!! I would drive down and pick her up at the Biloxi airport!! We then found a group of people from the message board that would also be going. The plan was coming together!
To make this part of the story shorter, I'll condense it for you! I picked Kat up, we went to the hotel, within the 1st 10 minutes, we were watching Joan do sound check and Kat went and introduced herself to her!
Within the days that followed, we met up with many Jett posters, including: Mikey (jettrocker), Cindy C (jettahhh), Pauline and Cindy, Tammy, Linda, and Levin (jettchick). We had the BEST time you can imagine. Our room became a sort of Blackheart Central, with visits from the band and crew every day. We took Dougie and Thommy on a day trip to New Orleans one day and had Joan brushes a few times in the lobby or club where she was playing. It was a great week, and fueled what would later become "Jettheads Unleashed."
After Biloxi, there was Tulsa, Oklahoma, in May, Kansas City in July, and the infamous ItchyCoo (or hell as we revised it) in August!
Itchycoo marked the 1st time we decided to do a T-shirt, primarily because it was all the people from the year, together at one place.
The T-shirts were good, we got word that Joan liked them...and later in August, at a MS show, Dougie [the Blackhearts' guitar player] made a point to tell me they were "keepers."
The chatters in the chatroom were now talking about New Year's Eve and wishing there was a show to go to. The closest one was in Virginia Beach, December 18, which was also my birthday! We decided that was the best we could do. It was now dubbed "Jettlennium" and a new version of Jettheads Unleashed T-shirts was born!
This was going to be fun!
By the time the trip rolled around, the attendance was getting amazing! We had JettBlackBerry and his wife Donna, Jimbo, Banker, Pauline, Cindy, Sammy67, Oshuba, Mom (Osh's), Kent, Kat, Lguapo, Elke, Ben, Trish, Gothgrrrl, Ed, Michelle, and me. We all holed up at the same hotel (except for a few), and we got along GREAT!!! It really didnÍt even matter at this point if Joan was there. This wasnÍt about seeing Joan Jett; this was about fun and friends. It was about very different people, from very different parts of the states, coming together, and LIKING it. No one cared if someone was straight, gay, old, young, or pretty. Everyone there was beautiful; everyone there was nice. We all went out together, drove around together, laughed together, and loved together.
When the night of the 18th came, we all put on our shirts and met up at the corner where the club was. Looking for a place to eat a bite and get a few drinks before the show, we went into a little pizza place. We invaded that eatery!
Sitting at the table, a girl came up wanting to see the shirts. It was yet another jettposter, also from Oklahoma, and her name was CherryBomb. We all introduced ourselves, and she grabbed her up a shirt! On the walls of this eatery, were pictures that had been wrapped to look like Christmas presents. As one of the other patrons left, he told us that one of those pictures under wraps was Joan Jett. Being obedient jettheads, we asked the little waitress (who was very hot, I might add), and she told us which one she thought it was, and told us to go ahead and unwrap it. Sure enough, there it was, a huge Joan Jett and the Blackhearts poster autographed by Joan after eating at their establishment. It was signed something like "Hot...Just the way I like it." We felt it was kind of fate. All together, and sitting under a poster of Jett.
After a slice of really HOT pizza and a few drinks, we made our way to Peabody's. Walking down the street, all in our T-shirts, looking like some wayward gang, was a very empowering experience. The other people standing in line were looking at us like "who are THESE people?" We must have looked like a traveling fan club or something. But, we talked to everyone and unloaded the few shirts that we had left. Pauline went in a little store and bought Cindy, Me, Kat, and herself a little blackheart earring. I still have it in. We went into the club and met more and more people. It was amazing.
Jett came onstage and put on an incredible performance as always. The crowd was unruly, and she had to put them in their place a time or two. I hate it when Joan has to stop a show to yell at people being idiots. But, she continued and sounded great. She was checking out the sea of shirts, I'm sure wondering where the hell we got 'em! She would find out later. As always, Joan, Kenny [Joan's manager], and the boys got one.
Like I said earlier, this isn't a story about the show. It's about the people. There will be a Jettheads Unleashed III. It's already in the decision-making process. We are trying to do something where everyone will have a chance to come. All I have to say about the next adventure(s) is.......I hope EVERYONE tries to make it to New York City AND Las Vegas! Now, Jett just has to book a show at those places!
See ya in 2000!!!!!!
"You can tie us up. . . . but you can't tie us down" Jettheads Unleashed!!
**Afterword: Since first writing this, a group of us travelled to Minnesota. This trip included: Jimbo, Banker, Kat, Pauline, Cindy, Lisa, Sharon (sammy 67), Catherine (oshuba), Al (NJ), Kent, and me. The show was the best I've seen the Blackhearts do in a LONG time. Everyone was great!!!
The hotel gave us the posters advertising the event, and we had a wonderful time!!! Next up....NYC in March!! Read the "New York City show" thread at www.joanjett.com.