Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Deadwood, SD

Joan Jett again, in her short, bleached hair days. Deadwood, South Dakota from time to time has held concerts during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This one was August 2, 1998.



It rained very hard about an hour before the show and I found myself huddled under a small tent with a radio dj and Joan for about 20 minutes hoping the rain would quit. It did and the show was held under sunny skies as you can see.



This picture was taken by Joan's long-time partner and manager, Kenny Laguna.

Joan Jett/Smashmouth, Sturgis Rally

More Joan Jett and the Blackhearts! This is August 8, 2007 at the Glencoe Campground's "Rockin the Rally" during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.
I saw Joan back in 1982 on the "I Love Rock'n'Roll" tour and she looked and sounded just as good 25 years later. This version of the Blackhearts band has been together for several years at this point and play really tight. If you like punk/hard rock, this is one of the originals.
Also, if you've ever seen Joan Jett, you've seen this guitar. She's been playing that same Gibson Melody Maker for as long as I know. It's gone from a nice white finish to covered with stickers, to the stickers being worn off from lots of hard use. Kind of like Willie Nelson's "Trigger" guitar that I've got some pictures of somewhere.









Opening the show that night was Smashmouth, who sounded pretty good as well. Here's one of their drummers.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Aberdeen, SD

I'm not sure Aberdeen, South Dakota was ready for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at the Brown County Fair on August 20, 2004. Dougie Needles' mohawk kind of stood out in a crowd of farmers' kids, but the show was fun!
This was the third time I had seen Joan and the band, second time shooting them, and second time I got my picture taken with Joan.