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.
Tuesday, May 6: Opening Night At MGM
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
We’ve covered this ground in the post below, but we first want to say that the show had no surprises — same songs beautifully sung and, as always, The Voice made the evening.
The house was a sellout and, possibly because the shows tonight and tomorrow were added fairly recently, we only saw one long-time fan who regularly attends shows. We sat with people from Massachusetts and the Netherlands. The former hadn’t seen Tom in years and were suitably impressed. The latter, a young couple in town for only two days, didn’t want to leave the theater. When it ended, they just stood for a few minutes and then began to talk to us about Tom. They were enthralled.
Few things were tossed onstage and the show passed quickly. When Tom came out for his encore, a woman sitting at table 5A, seeing him walk toward her to get to center stage, stood up, extended her arms and wagged her fingers. Tom moved a bit closer and he and the woman began to laugh. When she sat down she was heard to say, “Did I do that?” It was funny.
We know we are so very lucky here in Las Vegas. We have him in town so often and we get to meet fans from across the country and around the world; many of whom we’ve only “met” on this site. We are also lucky because, seeing Tom so often and, also, seeing other entertainers here, we’ve come to know with great certainty that the Las Vegas of a few decades ago — a Las Vegas in which entertainment was cheesy and meaningless — is gone.
Today entertainment here has to be among the (if not the) best in the world. And Sir Tom is the best of the best. We’re proud to live here and proud that this man — who has outlasted so many others and who is still today so strong and compelling — exemplifies what Las Vegas entertainment ought to be. Cirque du Soleil may be spectacular, but without elaborate sets, costumes and tricks, Tom Jones is spectacular and real. And we’re very happy about that.
—Ellen & Ursula
May 7th, 2008 at 2:40 am
I can’t help feeling a little sad after reading this. You are SO lucky to see Tom as often as you do. Words cannot express what Tom means to us all, but when you’ve lost your best export to another country it hurts.
May 7th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Gill: We do understand your sadness and we hope that everyone who reads what we write about our experiences seeing Tom understands that we know how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to see him so frequently. Yes, we get tired of the casino ambiance, but we’re grateful that we at least have that.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
My question is this - if Tom had moved even closer to the woman at table 5A, what would she have done with those “wagged” fingers? I can only amuse myself with a guess!