Review: Wanda Jackson at The Powerstation

Wanda Jackson covered <i>Heartbreak Hotel</i> by Elvis Presley, who she once dated. Photo / Supplied

Wanda Jackson may be in her 70s but her swathe of new fans isn't. This week's Auckland concert was forced to move from the intimate Kings Arms to the larger Studio, and was finally upgraded to The Powerstation as new-age rockabilly fans - some of the hippest kids in town - demanded tickets to see their heroine.

The majority of her audience weren't yet glimmers in their parents' eyes when Jackson last performed in New Zealand, 37 years ago. Now she's a 72 year-old pip-squeak with sensible shoes, but the same voluminous black hair, red nail lacquer and classy diamonds. She said she was overwhelmed by the darling fans who had reignited her career, then pointed out some nostalgic fashion in the audience - it took her right back, she said. So in return Jackson took took her adoring Auckland fans all the way back to 1956 when, encouraged by her good friend Elvis, she threw some rock into her hill-billy country and soon after won herself the label of rockabilly queen.

"1956. That was a good year, I wish y'all could have been there as I sure could have done with some fans then," Jackson said, in her husky Oklaholma accent as she launched into her early hit I Gotta Know.

Between sips of cough medicine that her husband of nearly 49 years brought out from back stage, Jackson and her fresh-faced band (Auckland-based The Situations) gave the audience everything they wanted: the song that took her to number one (in Japan) Fujiyama Mama, Rock Your Baby, Whirlpool, Elvis cover Heartbreak Hotel and a country hit I Betcha My Heart I Love You complete with impressive yodeling. Then, joined by a brass section, Jackson showed off her Jack White-produced 21st Century-self, with roaring covers of Amy Winehouse's You Know I'm No Good and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' Shakin' All Over - both shot her back on to the charts this year. After a very brief spiel about her Christianity (brief, considering how many years she spent producing gospel music) and a cover of Hank Williams' I Saw The Light, Jackson left the stage on Let's Have a Party. And while she probably went home to bed, her young fans may have done just that - not before lining up to get their merchandise signed at the booth mind.