State Troopers weren’t wearing those orange earplugs for the Chevy Court’s previous tenants, Asleep at the Wheel and the Spinners, but they sure needed them when Joan Jett and the Blackhearts blew the roof off the joint (metaphorically speaking, given the arena’s open-air status) during the band’s two sets on Aug. 23. 

A touch of deja vu permeated the twin concerts. When Jett last performed at Chevy Court in August 2006 she was promoting a new release titled Sinner (Blackheart) and zipped through her show in about 50 minutes—and the 2008 edition pretty much adhered to the same playlist, running time and Sinner plugs. Yet Jett appeared way more charged than she did two years earlier, when she performed in front of an afternoon audience of listless zombies.

Who can turn the world on with a smile?: Joan Jett grins during her Aug. 23 Chevy Court, while lead guitarist Dougie Needles jumps for joy. PHIL D. RAPPER PHOTOS

Maybe her energy was derived from a backstage drive-by with the entourage of Sen. Chuck Schumer, who later strolled Chevy Court’s perimeter as he gladhanded visitors while pitching a possible dream teaming of the Syracuse Chiefs and the New York Mets. Or perhaps it was the excitable crowd of perhaps 8,000 to 10,000 afternoon fairgoers who spilled across the court’s grassy field. At one point Jett peered into the sea of humanity and, bowled over by their rapturous reaction, uttered a simple “Wow!” 

Hey, who knows what kind of musical muse she was channeling that day, because all that really mattered is that Jett was still capable of rocking out hard. Tattooed lead guitarist Dougie Needles supplied plenty of grit for Jett’s sonic blitzkrieg, as her resume of hits quickly piled up: “Bad Reputation,” “Crimson and Clover,” “I Love Rock’n’Roll,” “Cherry Bomb,” “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” “Do You Want to Touch Me,” “Light of Day” and her driving reinterpretation of “Love Is All Around,” the theme from the 1970s sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She also belted out Sinner tracks including “Naked,” in which she was retying her bikini top’s strap during the intro, and the political rant “Riddles,” with its aural samplings of idiotic quotations from George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld cranked up to 11. Jett’s nighttime show also featured an encore, her flavorful version of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People.” 

Jett was having fun, make no mistake, as an occasional smile would cross the face of the pixie with the ferocious stage demeanor. And taking it all in backstage was the familiar-to-locals tandem of Gary Frenay and Arty Lenin, as the Flashcubes veterans (who performed a 6:30 p.m. Chevy Court set sandwiched between Jett’s afternoon and evening gigs) enjoyed Professor Jett’s crash course in the pure pleasures of power-punk rock.