Tom Jones International

Lydia is an under-25 British fan whose great loves are Tom and Jack Nicholson (so she’s “an under-25 British fan” with taste!). She has a lovely, fun TJ website that is at the moment down, but we’ll let you know when it’s relaunched.

Arriving at Leeds Castle, car speakers blaring It’s Not Unusual, my mate and I climbed out of my car and enthusiastically headed for the stage! The crowd was filled with likes of young & old eagerly waiting for Tom. The venue was situated near the overwhelming site of Leeds Castle. Along with the gorgeous weather and a great venue, I knew we’d be in for a entertaining night!

As anticipated, Tom bounced onto the stage in full swing to Tom Jones International. The crowd went wild, & the screams of hundreds of excitable fans filled the air as Tom hit every note spot on. Tom looked very trim & seemed to really be enjoying his time on stage. I was eager for my opportunity to give Tom a Welsh rugby shirt… so, I waited.

The stage was bombarded with a mass of underwear and flowers! Tom played it cool & humoured the crowd.

The set list was well-organised, and the fans were treated to live performances of What am I Living For She’s a Lady, Stoned in Love, End of the Road and many more. I was very impressed with Stoned in Love. Tom really sang this well considering how his voice was modified slightly on the original recording.

I’d eagerly waited for my moment to hand Tom my Welsh Rugby shirt, and when I did…. it was like the world had stopped. Tom danced over to the right hand side of the stage (where I was sitting). At this moment I was holding up the shirt for him to see. While he was still singing along to She’s a Lady, he motioned for me to throw the top at him. That was it! I ran forward & threw the shirt. He smiled and caught it, and hung it over his shoulder. During the performance he dropped it, but then was kind enough to pick it back up. At the end of the song he thanked me, and held it up to show a welsh dragon on the back. The crowd went wild!

Amazing, at the end of the show he picked up my gift from the back of the stage & walked off holding it and waving.

Amazing…

Here’s a review of Tom’s Leeds Castle show on Sunday night from The Guardian. While every critic has the right to an opinion, no critic has the right to go to a show with an attitude about the show or performer that he or she doesn’t disclose to readers. Even the most cursory reading of what we’ve posted below shows that this is someone who does not like, who does not get — and who is not willing to even consider — Tom Jones.

We know from experience that not everyone likes Tom as much as we do and, sometimes, they don’t like his music or show or, even, his appearance….but no one can deny his talent. And while various facets of his performance have been criticized even here (mostly the sameness of the setlist and stage outfits), it’s very rare for him to deliver a merely “workmanlike” performance. And we know he really enjoys performing in the UK. This is certainly the show we’ve seen repeatedly, and we’ve often expressed a wish for some change, but “human jukebox?” “Boredom?” This woman is clearly clueless— about Tom, at least. She’s certainly spot on about Frank Strauss’ stupendous gifts on the keyboards. Or, perhaps, she would rather have been near “Mr. Gelati” watching the World Cup. For what it’s worth, we couldn’t find an email for her, but you can email the editor.

Sophie Heawood /Tuesday July 11, 2006/The Guardian

“This song was written in the late 50s. Or was it the early 60s? You know, they say it’s the second thing to go, your memory. I can’t remember what the first thing is.” Tom Jones recently turned 66, has the orange skin of an oompah-loompah, and is performing outside a castle in Kent – in fact, he seems to have borrowed the portcullis to use as a beard. The boy from the valleys should be at home here, as his stage is down in the dip while we are spread up the hill, sitting on the green, green grass with our picnics and booze.

Even after the sun has set over the beautiful castle there is still a big queue for the ice cream van, though it turns out to be a rabble of beleaguered husbands watching the world cup final on Mr. Gelati’s portable TV.
Jones might claim amnesia but he hasn’t forgotten his old hits, as he wiggles his hips through Delilah, What’s New Pussycat?, It’s Not Unusual, Kiss and even a recent chart hit he enjoyed with the dance act Chicane, called Stoned in Love. Middle-aged women dance sexily for their husbands during If I Only Knew, perhaps to compensate for the fact that they had to pay £40 a ticket to miss the football. When he covers Love Letters Straight From Your Heart, the couples wrap themselves around each other and sway. One pair of pants is still thrown at Jones — but his outstretched arm can’t quite catch them in time. “Ah, nearly,” the sexagenarian winces, a shadow of his former knicker-blocker glory.

After performing a rather lovely medley of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis songs, Jones regales us with stories of going out drinking with the latter in Las Vegas, though he doesn’t mention his long friendship with the former. The boogie-woogie piano from his 10-piece band is great, and Jones is, of course, the consummate performer — but his manner is very workman-like. How can it not be, when you’re churning out half a century’s worth of well-known material like a human jukebox? Whether it’s Botox or boredom that have robbed him of his smile lines, there’s something rather stony-faced about Jones’s delivery. Despite the quips, he is strangely humourless.

In the market for a facelift? Or a masquerade costume? Check this out.

Just imagine an audience full of of people at a TJ concert wearing this. Or, maybe, Tom’s band and back-up singers?

It’s only £17.49 inclusive of VAT @ 17.50%. Plus shipping.








Thanks, mharding.

These two small photos are courtesy of Lois Gooding, who saw Tom as he was autographing everyone’s favorite album cover. The full-size ones are in our “Tom Then & Now” flickr.com set. (Because they’re the newest pictures, they’re at the bottom of the set.)




The review is from BroadwayWorld.com. We think We’ve Got Tonight was a major hit for its composer, Bob Seger (or, as it says on the Mr. Jones CD, “Robert” Seger) and we also think even “seasoned” fans know Sex Bomb. But it’s a nice review nonetheless and nice to see that a readership whose interest is primarily legitimate theater is learning about Tom. And he’s so correct about the import vs. the domestic release of Reload(ed).

Review: Tom Jones at Mohegan Sun Arena


Thursday, July 6, 2006; Posted: 1:34 PM/by Randy Rice


To borrow a phrase, if you haven’t seen Tom Jones lately, you haven’t seen Tom Jones. Not content to slide on his well-known Vegas persona, Tom Jones has taken a hugely successful leap, collaborating musically with some of the hottest, most current, musical acts in the business.

Much of the music Jones performed Sunday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena is on the Tom Jones Reloaded album. There are two versions of this CD available. If you have the chance to choose between the version available domestically or the import version; choose the import.

After a brief, introductory music video, Jones opened Sunday night’s show at the Arena with Tom Jones International which has a heavy, pounding baseline. The song is a collaboration between Jones and Wyclef Jean and it was the audience’s first clue that this show was going to be different than a Tom Jones show of ten years ago.

Sporting a goatee and looking athletic and fit at 65 years old, Jones came out in a purple suit with a black sequin shirt opened a few buttons down (not everything has changed), that was quickly drench in sweat.
He and his three back up singers and six-piece band, moved right into Momma Told Me Not to Come, also from his *Reloaded* album. *Momma* is a raw, funky, bluesy song that lends itself to Jones’ strong, loud voice. Back on familiar territory for the audience, next up was *Delilah*, but with a new arrangement and a picked up tempo and heavy electric guitar. Following that was *Help Yourself*. Tom danced, jumped, slid and shook his way through this and all of the songs in his show. The mere suggestion of a hip swivel or gyration or thrust sent the audience into ecstasy. During both *She’s a Lady* and *What’s New Pussycat* there was the legendary tossing of panties onto the stage. This ritual was updated as well. A pair of men’s boxer briefs joined the mix of undergarments on stage. Jones took it all in stride. For me, *What’s New Pussycat* was a “full-circle” moment, having seen it performed the evening before, by its writer, Burt Bacharach.

Slowing things down a bit, Jones covered *We’ve Got Tonight* (Sheena Easton and Kenny Rogers had the hit with it). Jones’ version had a reggae beat replacing the country twang in the well-known original. Slowing it down even further, Jones sang “Love Letters”. His version was stripped down with grand sweeping notes that swept up and down the scale.

*Sex Bomb* was a huge, international hit for Jones, just a couple of years back. It topped the chart in the U.K. and Europe and made an appearance on the dance charts here in the U.S.
The success of that song, was, I believe the impetus for Jones to update his act. It is fun and simple, with a catchy hook. On Sunday night, Tom tore it up. It was during this song that the newer fans were distinguished from Jones’ seasoned fan base. For the newer fans, it was the song that they were waiting to hear.

The song that the long-time Tom Jones fans came to hear was *It’s Not Unusual,* which followed *Sex Bomb*. It is almost unbelievable to me that it was recorded nearly (more than?) forty years ago. Jones sang it with his signature verve. Perfect. Not missing a proverbial beat in the last forty years. And exit.

Two encores followed, ending with his cover of Prince’s *Kiss*, a recording that breathed new life into his career a generation ago. The crowd was on its feet, dancing and bobbing and swaying. *Kiss* closed the fan generation gap. I mean, who doesn’t love Tom Jones’ version of *Kiss*?

If you haven’t seen Tom Jones in a while, it is time to see him again. Also, I think, you should see him in a casino setting if you can, it just adds to the vibe. If you were thinking about seeing him this go ’round and didn’t, make sure you do do next time.

At the top is the photo used in the review reproduced here as it was used. It looks as if it is an official photo downloaded from tomjones.com. But, maybe not. And, since Lori pointed out that it’s reversed, we thought we’d unreverse it for you. Ahhh! Now that gorgeous Ponty Bridge ring is on the “correct” hand. Is that better?