Tom Jones International

Hopefully, we’ll have that Dallas fan review tomorrow…or someday soon.

Thursday night Tom played to about 5,000 people in Buenos Aires’ famed Luna Park. Jorge, whose posts you see on TJI, sent us the photo at right.

The evening, according to several newspaper reviews, was a smash, although the reviewer just below tried his best to take the man down a peg and clearly didn’t care for the singers and he uses the dreaded “c” word, “crooner.” Yuck.

Clarin carried that review by Marcos Mayer. Again, I’ve done my best to translate and did leave out a bit.

Tom Jones: as the years pass
The singer was presented at Luna Park and demonstrated why he is still an idol

In this second half of his career, Tom Jones has set two goals. One is keeping alive the old glories of the late ’60 and early ’70, when he was admired for a voice and a power that bordered on the edge of the incredible. Two, he’s trying to show he’s still entitled to a place, albeit somewhat marginal, in the panorama of rock and pop world. These two attitudes marked the show he gave with a solid band of ten musicians in a Luna Park that was almost full and before an audience that ranged from fervid to a complacent listeners.

Tom Jones knows he must also prove he is a star. When he is not planted as a crooner at the microphone, his movement will deny his almost 70 years. It is somewhere between impressive and admirable to see the beads of sweat fall to the floor, like rain from his body. Jones’ trademark is to be, above all, a highly extroverted singer. His way of dressing almost puts him on the verge of kitsch.

Everything is bright, the leather jacket that will be taken off, predictably, before singing You Can Leave Your Hat On, diamond cross that hangs from the neck and a purple silk shirt which will glisten with sweat, sensual gestures of the chorus girls-one black and thick, the other very blond and very pale — dancing more than singing.

For a newspaper photo from that show, the rest of this review and a snippet from another, click here

The show gave priority to the songs of his latest album 24hours. He opened with Sugar Daddy — written for Jones by Bono and The Edge — then went into Feels Like Music, whose introduction drew one of the biggest cheers of the night: “I thank God for the voice that He gave me . But there was also room for the old hits, Delilah, She’s A Lady, Sex Bomb and What’s New Pussycat and even an acoustic set where he showed his country vein, especially in the classic Green Grass .

Tom Jones remains true to himself with a certain eclecticism that goes from blues to Afro-Brazilian rhythms, and a singing style that makes the voice on the expressive side his priority. An argument that has no place in a public as ready to be amazed as the first time with the demonstrations of power. He has managed to find a way to stay this way despite the years and changes in the music world.

At the end of a very similar positive review, Terra.com reported that Tom said as he closed the show: “Buenos Aires, we love you. We had a party up here, I hope you did too,” the experienced showman said in English at the end of a night to remember.