You can book Joan Jett for your rally, and she'll draw a crowd, but that doesn't mean she's going to deliver protest songs.

"She's not Bob Dylan," her longtime producer and friend Kenny Laguna joked in a ballroom at the Hilton before her short set Wednesday night at Point State Park.

"I'm here because I support the cause and there are [topical] songs I could do," Jett said, "but my job is to entertain."

Jett flew in late Wednesday afternoon for the Clean Energy Jobs Now! rally at the Point, which featured pro-labor, pro-environment speeches by local politicians and representatives of groups such as the Sierra Club and the AFL-CIO, plus 20-minute sets by the Houserockers, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and Kathy Mattea. It was the only show on the 22-date Clean Energy Jobs tour to feature such national artists.

Before the show, the black-clad, black-mascaraed Jett, who turned 51 on Tuesday, paced the ballroom, occasionally looking out the window at the stage across the street. "I don't like to sit down before a show," she said.

Pittsburgh is almost like home for Jett, who was born in Philadelphia but lived here for a year or so when she was 6. She was just a brash teenager when she formed the all-girl punk band The Runaways in L.A. back in 1975. It lasted five years, before she went on to a hit-filled solo career with the Blackhearts.

Jett said she was drawn to this rally because she knows that the current economy has taken its toll on states like Pennsylvania.

"The bottom line is we used to make things in America and we don't anymore," she said. "It's just imperative that people need to make a living."

In town on the eve of the G-20 summit, Jett observed that the city seemed to be "in lockdown," and also noted, "I'm sure I would definitely be aligned with some of the protests. Depending on what specific issue you're talking about, I may agree or disagree, but it's absolutely imperative that leaders get together and discuss these issues that are really grave and important to all of our countries. What are they supposed to do? Not talk."

Pittsburgh in G-20 mode was nothing compared to some of the battlegrounds she visited to perform for the troops, including Kosovo and Afghanistan. Even though she didn't support the Bush policies in the war, she felt it was important for her to help keep up troop morale.

"It's really just the very obvious recognition that we're all the same," she said. "After my first band The Runaways broke up, I was really in a bad place. I was really lost and very confused, and I considered for a short time joining a branch of the military just to try to get some direction in my life. I didn't have to do that because I met Kenny about five days later and we wrote songs together and the rest is history. But that gave me insight into the fact that it isn't something to be demonized, it's a necessary aspect of our life that you have a military, and I think it's admirable that people are willing to lay down their lives for the country."

An hour after the interview, Jett headed over to the park and brought a rather sleepy crowd to its feet by opening up with her signature song, "Bad Reputation," and plowing into a short but rousing set of hits that included "I Love Rock N Roll," "Cherry Bomb," "Do You Wanna Touch" and "Crimson and Clover."

Next up for Jett is a greatest hits compilation with two new songs and a biopic set for next year called "The Runaways," starring Kristen Stewart as Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. Jett served as executive producer and was on the set each day as a resource.

Her take on Stewart as Jett?

"Wonderful. She was great to work with, really enthusiastic. She got it."