Women Rock Public Hall

This year’s edition of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum’s annual gala fundraiser, It’s Only Rock and Roll, offered the strongest, most cohesive lineup of performers yet, along with the usual food, drink, auction prizes and schmoozing. While it’s always a fun party, the entertainment has usually been a grab bag of has-beens and never-weres, marginal artists mixed with influential musicians, and disparate genres jostling side by side.

Not so this year. The 3,000 attendees at Public hall Saturday night were treated to a lineup that included three Rock Hall inductees. The focus was on women, in keeping with the Rock Hall’s brand-new exhibit “Women Who Rock” which also opened this weekend. And the women spotlighted were all stellar performers. Kicking off the show ’50s rockabilly queen (and 2009 Rock Hall inductee) Wanda Jackson was resplendent in hot pink fringe. She showed that at age 73, she can still purr and growl credibly, shaking that fringe hard on “Shakin’ All Over.”

This article appears in May 11-17, 2011.