Show & Venue Reviews, What's New, Pussycat?
Please share your Tom Jones shows with other fans. Setlist? Audience? Energy? What was it like being there? We’d love to hear from you.
And, while you’re telling us about the shows, please let us know what you think of the venues where Tom plays. Clubs, theaters, casinos — Tom Jones performs in all of them. Which venue do you think is the best? The worst?
So that other fans will know what’s in store when they buy their tickets, please tell us a little bit about the venues you know. If possible, try to use the format below so others can tell at a glance what you think. The best venue will merit ****. More than one review of a venue is welcome.
Review From Mystic Lake in MN: We Beg to Differ With Some of It. Your Opinion?
Saturday, April 15th, 2006This story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune has lots of compliments for sure. But, honestly, Wayne Newton?? “More charisma?” Tom is “hammy?” A “bit of a parody of himself?”
On the other hand, the reviewer really did get the music and did see Sir Tom’s terrific sense of humor and the fact that the audience is meant to have a good time, but the show is a “hoot?”
He wrote as if he just didn’t get the show. Is this Tom Jones funny? Is he campy? Or should he be taken seriously? And, most important to this reviewer apparently was this burning question: If I write how much I liked the show and admire the guy, will people who aren’t fans laugh at me? So,though his review is on balance positive, seems like he was almost ashamed to say so. Too bad.
But, maybe we’re being oversensitive. He enjoyed the show and the performer and, likely, that’s enough. What do you think?
We’re posting this photo by Andrew Parsons of the AP again because (1) we like it and (b) it ran with the story in the paper.
Over-the-top Tom Jones is as good as it gets
CONCERT REVIEW: The 1960s heartthrob displayed his ageless panache at Mystic Lake. And the ladies loved it.
Jon Bream/Star Tribune/April 14, 2006
Tom Jones: The new British knight is still the object of bra- and panty-hurling from his female fans.
Tom Jones gets it.
Neil Diamond, 65, has a bigger catalog of hits and more songwriting acumen. Wayne Newton, 64, has larger-than-life charisma and more flash and flair in his show. But Jones, 65, has the shtick, the voice, the arrangements and the self-deprecating humor.
His 85-minute show Thursday night at Mystic Lake Casino was an absolute hoot. You could laugh with him and at him — he didn’t care as long as you were having a good time. Thanks to his humor, his hits, his hipster/camp cachet, his heartfelt interpretations of some unexpected tunes and the audience’s interaction with this hammy icon, it was a wonderfully memorable night.
Jones — actually Sir Tom Jones now, after being knighted last month by Queen Elizabeth — was a bit of a parody of himself, with his bug-eyed mugging, ageless bump-and-grinding, mincing gestures and timeless look of tight curly brown hair, diamond pinkie ring and open shirt, revealing a giant gold cross and hairy chest.
He still has that stentorian baritone, which he unleashed most effectively on country-blues-soul tunes, including Charlie Rich’s Who Will the Next Fool Be, Howlin’ Wolf’s Three Hundred Pounds of Joy (”200″ in Jones’ version), the oldie What Am I Living For and his 1969 hit I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.
The highlight was You Can Leave Your Hat On, during which Girls Night Out at Mystic Lake suddenly became Older Girls Gone Wild, as a nonstop parade of women (mostly in their 30s to 70s) danced to the lip of the stage and hurled bras and panties at Sir Tom. He mugged and winked and then sang Sex Bomb. He gets it, indeed.
(For those who are interested, here’s a photo from People of Tom with Wayne Newton that probably dates back, oh, 15 years. They both have ’staches now and, of course, TJ has a goatee. Thanks to Vince.)
April 15th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
As Jon Bream says at the top…”Tom Jones” has the voice. Mr. Bream doesn’t get it. Notice where he writing his review from…it ain’t Broadway. Tom Jones gets it and thats why he’s earned 750 million.
April 15th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
“Stentorian” is a BIG word isn’t it. Think I’ll have a lie down.
April 15th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
Ah, that’s better. Anyway, I was wondering, how do entertainers deal with the critics? Robert Goulet puts them in their place through the medium of painting as you can see for yourselves in this expressive work entitled “Critics”:
http://www.robertgoulet.com/art.php
Gnarled, multi-headed creatures with dangerous looking tongues they be to Rob’s mind and who am I to argue?
Interestingly he places this painting first in his portfolio, possibly as a visual disclaimer in case you criticize his other pictures.
Bye!
April 15th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Just saw R. Goulet in a fundraising conceert. He’s still (as opposed to some) got a voice and looks fine. But I think ageism is a big issue and always has been for so many entertainers. We saw Tony Bennett last summer. At 79 he was amazing, still winning over an audience — no schtick, just talent and charm. Of course a critic is entitled to his or her opinion and is, in fact, paid to state that opinion. I just don’t understand why a critic (like this guy) who obviously enjoyed Tom’s show has to try to be witty at the expense of honest opinion, clouding that opinion in a mountain of meaningless verbiage. And, with all due respect, if this critic thinks W. Newton is charismatic and his show is full of “flair and flash,” then he should really do some rethinking. That’s just sad.
April 16th, 2006 at 3:17 am
Neil Diamond is an extremly talented writer, Tom Jones is an extremely good singe. Both are worldwide recognised and I heard tom say they are friends, but who the h.. is W.Newton?
April 16th, 2006 at 8:06 am
Two years younger than Tom, Wayne Newton is a long-time presence in Las Vegas who came here at age 15 when he had a hit record called Danke Schön. Today known as “Mr. Las Vegas,” he tours for the USO, visiting soldiers around the world. Newton doesn’t so much sing anymore as he does just be onstage kind of going over the words from his hits while his backup singers help a lot. He also plays several instruments and is very personable. You can hear samples of his singing on his Amazon page, where you can listen to some of his old stuff and compare it with his voice the way it is now. (For the record, there are some who do not believe he in truth is “Mr. Las Vegas.” But that’s a debate for another day.)
April 16th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
I think Mr. Bream’s statement …”it was a wonderfully memorable night”, puts a positive spin on the whole thing, and I really don’t think he meant to be offensive in calling the night “a hoot.” I have always thought that “a hoot” meant it was fun, and Tom is fun, for sure. The guy also said twice that Tom “gets it,” so I have to look at this as a tongue-in-cheek review and cut the dude a break.
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