Rock and Roll will stand': Joan Jett, Smithereens play Festival Park
Red Pearl Productions brought a rare treat to the Outer Banks with its presentation of Rock 'n' Roll Relief 2005 featuring national recording artists Joan Jett the Blackhearts, also the Smithereens and Red Metric at Roanoke Island Festival Park Saturday. Walking over the bridge to Festival Park on the Manteo waterfront, I heard a few bluesy guitar riffs coming from the direction of the amphitheater, then a chorus of the Beatles' song "Magical Mystery Tour." The next number from the sound check was another classic, but from a few years later -- the Smithereens were running through "Only a Memory." The bass and guitar volumes changed as the sound man checked his board.
The security presence at the gate was intense. As I approached to take a peek toward the stage, a burly fellow in a white security shirt bellowed, "Can I help you!
"
"Er, four-thirty?" I asked, regarding the opening of the gates.
"That's right; go hang out over there.
"
I found a picnic table under an evergreen and settled down to enjoy the ongoing sound check.
Smithereens pinch-hitter Severo Jornacion was giving his bass a workout, feeding tunes through it that included the "Blood and Roses" bass line.
The band tried that one on and ran through it tightly.
(Guitarist Jim Babjak hollered "solo!" instead of playing one.)
Vocalist Pat DiNizio's voice could then be heard: "We're done; thank you, everybody.
" Somebody fell to playing CDs on the public address system as people came and went, not a few in New York Yankees hats. (Joan Jett is from New York City and the Smithereens are from across the Hudson in Hoboken, N.J.
)
At 4:35 I joined the throng of pilgrims gaining entrance, where security ripped tickets, applied wristbands and looked through bags.
Hampton Roads band Red Metric began their sound check while the audience staked out land and began unfolding their chairs and blankets.
It was several orders of magnitude louder in front of the stage than out by the parking lot.
When they had finished, the public address system was flushed out with some Van Halen sides.
There wasn't a lick of shade on the field, but a nice breeze blew off the sound. Red Metric began their set at 5:25, the bulk of the audience having just trickled in.
The cover of humanity on the great lawn was still a little piebald in places.
The show, Rock 'n' Roll Relief, benefitted a Disaster Relief Fund held in trust at First South Bank by the Kitty Hawk, First Flight and North Banks Rotary clubs to assist residents of Dare, Currituck and Hyde counties in event of future disasters, vis. hurricanes.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Irene was approaching the Outer Banks, although several computer models predicted she would veer to the north and west.
Onstage, Red Metric began with a pretty good imitation of a hurricane, with thundering drums and bass and distorted power chords from the guitarist.
Bass player Adam Powers and drummer Michael "Moey" Gaylor worked together closely to maintain an interesting foundation for singer John Tingley's lead vocals.
Tingley also played guitar, mostly chords and rhythm figures with a few single-string leads as the music allowed.
The numbers featured discreet sections, and while mostly thundering, were varied and memorable. The crowd seemed as enthusiastic as the band.
A few brave VIPs ventured into the onslaught to their seats down front like mariners making their way across-deck into a gale.
The Smithereens' minions set up their equipment as the audience refreshed itself. Out came the accoutrements of your typical classic rock band -- Pearl drums, Marshall amps and Fender guitars, and the Smithereens were ready for a false start at 6:40.
Jim Babjak had completed the introduction to "Only a Memory" and the rest of the band joined in when the performance veered off the runway and came to rest in the dirt.
"All right; we'll try that again. Give us a minute.
..," said Pat DiNizio.
The band and their crew peered and poked at the equipment, and finally Babjak played his introduction again. This time the band took flight.
DiNizio has gained some mass and some grey in his famous goatee over the last 20 years.
The rest of the band showed their age less, and while they were trim, you could see that their glory days were almost a generation ago.
But the fans, those who danced and sang along, ranged in age from teenagers to pensioners.
The band ran through numbers like "House We Used to Live In," "Drowned in My Own Tears" and "Top of the Pops" with enthusiasm and the panache that comes from lots of practice.
DiNizio doffed his guitar and waved a cigarette for "Especially for You." At the bass introduction for their first big hit and second-most famous song, "Blood and Roses," the audience back on the fringes of the field, which was now filled up, snapped to attention.
The crowd couldn't restrain themselves at all during the Smithereens' last number and biggest hit, the incredibly catchy "A Girl Like You.
" They were on their feet for the whole song, where they stayed to deliver a well-deserved ovation.
Joan Jett had her work cut out for her.
Dusk had fallen when Joan and her band mounted the dark stage at 8:15.
Her first chords sounded in the dark and almost immediately the lights came up and the Blackhearts stood revealed in their glory.
The band was all studded leather and spiky hair, but the spotlight stayed mostly on the charismatic Ms. Jett.
Dressed in black leather jeans and an abbreviated black muscle shirt, she held her white Gibson down by her thighs.
Her voice wasn't as rough as one might surmise given the vocals she has recorded over the years; rather she stood revealed as a professional entertainer who took care of herself and her band, in the service of rock 'n' roll.
And the rock rolled, including songs from her new CD, Naked.
These included songs like "Androgynous," dedicated to a certain segment of her fans, "Naked" and "Fetish," complex songs that were a far cry from her simple but unfortunately catchy anthem "I Love Rock and Roll."
She played a long set, including Sonny Curtis' "Love Is All Around," which she had performed for the 2000 television reunion of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary and Rhoda.
The Smithereens had seemed at times like an enthusiastic garage band and the Blackhearts were consummate professionals, but they, and Red Metric, all delivered the rock.
As Pat DiNizio said after his set, "Rock and roll will stand."
Peter Hummers covers entertainment events on, and about, the Outer Banks at Outer Banks Onstage. ©2005 Peter Hummers
They took in the Elvis clocks, Elvis calendars, Elvis greeting cards, Elvis cardboard cutout and Elvis dolls; Elvis on records, on a rug, on toilet paper and on Mount Rushmore; Elvis across "Fruit of the Loom," books, bust, bumper sticker ("I saw Elvis making crop circles") and newspaper clipping ("Woman cured of throat cancer after licking Elvis stamp"); and, finally, Elvis in posters, in photographs and in velvet.
Elvis' spirit, at least, lives on here from floor to ceiling.
Today marks the 28th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death in 1977; the official ruling was heart disease.
And about this time for the past five years, Elvis devotee and schoolteacher Sharon Hoffmann and her husband have hosted an "Elvis Overnight."
The Hoffmanns donate the sleepover to an auction to benefit Clark Elementary School in Webster Groves, where Hoffmann has taught for 16 years. The item, bid on by parents for their kids, usually goes for about $300.
This year, former pupils of Sharon Hoffmann made the grade: August Bont, Cal Lanouette, Shy Ingleton and Alex Ring. All four had Hoffmann in second grade.
"I've really been anxious," said August, who'd taken a nap earlier Saturday to maximize his ability to stay up late.
The Hoffmanns make it an overnight fit for the king of rock 'n' roll.
As the youngsters headed upstairs, they heard Elvis wailing, via videotape, on the television. They could sip black cherry soda - an Elvis favorite and, thoughtfully, caffeine-free - chilling in a cooler.
And they could play pool - an Elvis pastime - for as long as they wanted. And that was just the beginning. Sharon Hoffmann later would take the boys to the Loop, where they ate at Fitz's restaurant and then caught a performance by an Elvis impersonator in the "live" window of Blueberry Hill restaurant.
And if the boys weren't tuckered out by their return, Hoffmann had ready her Elvisopoly, UNO Elvis and Elvis jigsaw puzzles.
"We've got a big night ahead," Hoffmann told the boys.
To be sure, the sleepover is as much fun as educational.
It's history: Presley is the top pop culture icon ever.
"It's also a way to connect with kids," the veteran schoolteacher said.
Her connection to the King goes way back.
"Elvis made me happy as a kid," said Hoffmann, explaining that many of her collectibles were presented to her by friends over the years.
She recalled seeing Elvis on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in the 1950s. And she "can't help falling in love.
"
"I was probably 9 or 10 years old, and I just became enamored with him," said Hoffmann, whose shrine includes some 45-rpm records she bought as a kid growing up in Waterloo, Ill. Some of the records have the initials "S.S.
" written on them, for Sharon Schneider, Hoffmann's maiden name.
"As I got older, I kind of moved on," said Hoffmann, whose musical preferences embraced the Beatles.
But Elvis was always on my mind.
On Valentine's Day, her pupils make Elvis hand puppets. On his birthday, Jan. 8, she hosts a party in her classroom and Hoffmann croons "Are You Lonesome Tonight?
" to wind up the festivities. The tune annually hastens the return of an Elvis bust that is stolen during the day and then returned to her classroom.
So why does she think the King endures?
"I honestly don't know why," Hoffmann said.
It could be that his music is timeless, she said. Maybe that his music was taboo for some, she added.
Or that Presley was a "good guy," giving away much of the money he earned to charities.
Through the sleepovers, Hoffmann passes on that affection to another generation.
So what do a bunch of third graders know about Elvis?
Truth be told, they were probably just as excited about being able to stay up as late as they wanted - by 2 a.m. there was a little less conversation.
"I haven't been to that many overnights," Shy confided.
Still, they stood up under some good-natured grilling on the topic of Presley. Shy recalled that Elvis liked to play pool.
August said, "I know that he was famous. He has a lot of CDs. I've heard him on CD.
"
Cal figured that Hoffmann had about "400" Elvis items in her bathroom. He said he thought that Elvis died on his dad's birthday or maybe that his parents got married on that date. (Well, he was right about the first date anyway.
)
He couldn't recall just then the names of any Elvis tunes, but Cal knows him when he hears him.
"His voice is just not like the other voices," Cal said.
Alex enjoyed the bathroom shrine and the Elvis impersonator, who wore a "white suit with kind of like diamonds" on it.
"I know he's a rock 'n' roll star," Alex said. "That he sang 'You ain't nothing but a hound dog,' 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'Love Me Tender.'"
As for the overnight, Alex was still all shook up the next day.
"It was," he said, "really fun."
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