50s rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson has been traversing around the country for the last couple of weeks, hitting Melbourne's Corner Hotel last night to an adoring and strangely mixed audience.
The first lady of rock 'n' roll, who will turn 70 later this year, showed amazing charisma and a spectacular voice that hadn't aged a bit since her timeless 50s recordings.The singer, who once dated Elvis (and isn't the slightest bit shy of telling the stories/using that to keep her name out there) ran through an hour or so's worth of songs from her 50 year career, including a few from her most recent album, 'I Remember Elvis' - a collection of Elvis songs from around the time she knew him.
A crowd favourite was her non-hit, 'Funnel Of Love'. She explained before singing it that it was just a b-side and was perplexed to find that a younger audience (who weren't focused on what was a hit at the time of release) hooked onto that song and continued to request it, forcing her to go back and learn a song that she hadn't sung since she recorded it.
The audience was mixed between older fans who had followed her for years, curious rock 'n' roll fans looking for a history lesson and die hard heavily made up rockabilly kids.
Seeing Wanda Jackson live is what ever faithful concert goers describe as a "moment". It's something you won't soon forget and it's a hell of a lot more fun than any history lesson you attended at school.
