Tom Jones International

Tom’s is not an “oldies” show. He sings his hits but does other stuff, too. This reviewer focused on the over-60 crowd and missed the point — that she had the privilege of watching a master entertainer with an amazing voice fully entertain 2,200 people. If you think it’s worth it, you may want to follow the link just below to the review and, on that page, scroll down and write her. But it’s probably not worth it. And, by the way, we don’t think everyone has to like Tom, or enjoy his show, but to treat his audience as if they’re a bunch of old ladies trying to recapture the past, is outright insulting. It’s just not funny.

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Crooner turns on wayback machine
Saturday, May 31, 2008/KRISTI TURNQUIST/ Oregonian

Sometimes a concert isn’t just a show. It’s a time machine, transporting you back to when life was less complicated, adulthood and its concerns were a distant spot on the horizon, and you could feel so happy it seemed like the sensation would never end.

For about 90 minutes Thursday night, Tom Jones took the crowd at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall expertly by the hand. He flirted. He teased. And he reminded them how it felt the first time they saw the Welsh sex bomb swivel his hips and lustily belt out It’s Not Unusual.

There were a few men in the audience, but it was mainly a sea of women — some young, most older, with their own reasons for turning out to see the veteran showman, who turns 68 on June 7.

Gayla Johnson, 61, has been a fan since the late ’60s. “This is my fifth concert of his,” the Vancouver resident said. “But I haven’t been to one of his shows for 30 years.”

As Johnson was talking, another woman leaned forward to say that her late mother liked Jones so much she carried a picture of the singer in her wallet: “She was a quiet, devout woman, mother of eight — but she loved Tom Jones.”
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SusannePDX was at the show last night in Portland. Her words and photos need no further comment. But we must say we love that marquee.

Tom Jones came to Portland tonight and left us filled with adrenaline. Its has been 2 years since his last show here. Portlanders of all ages were ready. (No merchandise was offered for sale. I’m sure it would have sold. I hope when his CD is out they will at least offer that.)

For fans familiar with the MGM Hollywood Theater, I’ll point out a few differences. The lighting was not as sophisticated. Although a majority of women, there were many many males and couples in the room. The “Schintz” holds 2,200+ seats and it was sold out. At 7:35pm the lights dimmed but there was not the usual video intro just the audio. Tony came out to introduce Sir Tom and the whole place rose to their feet, clapping and screaming. Tom bounced unto the stage to a standing ovation. The crowd went wild and TJ drank in the energy . He was on fire in his red coat. The voice was as fine as ever. His step was very lively–he danced up a storm.

The set was the same but it didn’t matter. Other than the usual comment about “happy to say I’m 200 lbs” there was no banter with the audience but his gestures were more pronounced.. The crowd especially like He Stopped Loving Her Today, 200 lbs, Git Me Some, and the standards went over very well — but when he got to She’s A Lady the whole audience was on their feet again dancing in their seats. Security was heavy, shewing people out of the aisles. People caught taking pictures were pounced upon. By the time the encore rolled around they couldn’t control the audience anymore. Tom stayed longer on stage taking his bows. No one wanted it to end.

It is no wonder this man loves to tour. We loved him and he loved us back.

OK: the newspapers in Portland were full of previews of Tom’s show there tonight. On the left is a very easy quiz with a nice photo of Tom waving to the crowd after he sang the Welsh anthem last month. On the right is a photo of a Tom Jones bust that we will tell you about when we have time. You can look at more photos and hear a song in this article in the Portland Mercury. The quiz is from The Oregonian.

We hope those of you who saw the show will send in reviews.

Paula, whom you probably know from her posts on this site, came to visit Las Vegas and we doubt she’ll ever be the same. She’d been here before, but not with Tom and not since the city has become what it is. Her story is below and we are honored and thrilled she chose to share it with us. We hope she comes back soon.

I am told that everything in Las Vegas is now deemed an “experience” and having just returned from my eight-day trip I can understand why: I won’t be forgetting mine in a hurry….

The focus of my trip was, of course, seeing Sir Tom and I was privileged to attend the last four shows of his run: May 18th – 21st. And I do mean privileged. The eight-hour time difference, 10 hour flight and inadequate sleep the previous night before my early flight (perhaps I was just a tad excited…) were all starting to take their toll on me by Sunday evening but as soon as Tony came on to do his intro and Tom walked on the stage my exhaustion simply evaporated and the adrenaline kicked in. Tom looked fabulous: tanned, fit and sizzling hot in the red jacket. This is why I had come: to see Tom in the famed Hollywood Theatre at the MGM………and it was simply fantastic to be there.

All four shows were terrific, with hugely enthusiastic audiences and Tom firing on all cylinders. I would find it difficult to pick out a favourite (let’s not forget: I am often accused of being the blind obsessive) since Tom’s voice was simply glorious each night…just ringing out. It’s a thing of wonder, that voice. I had a great seat at all the shows but on Tuesday night I was front and centre at Table 5A (be still my beating heart) and could not have been more thrilled. To someone who has been devoted since childhood the significance of this proximity cannot be exaggerated. Bliss. Tom alternated the red and white jackets (I thought he looked equally gorgeous in both) and his energy levels, considering he was at the end of a 16-day continuous run, were astonishing. The Band was terrific, as always. They are such accomplished musicians and singers who have a terrific rapport with Tom
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Yes, we say it again and again — Tom is great. We know that. We also know it’s difficult to define what makes him so.

Tonight, the night before he closes this run at the MGM, we sat with our good friend from the UK (a good friend we met thought tji.com) and two women from San Francisco, long-time fan Debbie and her cousin Amy. Sitting at table 5, they had a ball, loving every minute.

Also in the audience was an assortment of women of all ages who had never seen Tom before. Of course, it’s nothing new that he he was smokin’— he most always is. But to see these women who appeared to be well into middle age, dancing in the aisles, cheering and having a ball, was terrific.

While it’s nothing new, we have to say that once again we were struck by the magic that is Tom Jones.

You see, this man, after all these years, has the amazing, probably singular, ability to make every woman in his audience feel beautiful, sexy and desirable. And, mostly, the men who accompany the women get a real kick out of it sensing, somehow, that they’ll reap the benefit of it all. It is, in addition to his voice, his gift.

Tom gives the gift of happiness and it is a rare gift. We should cherish it and the person who gives it.

Once again, we must say we’re lucky to have had the Tom Jones experience. Please share yours with us.

Tom’s jacket is like that because the photographer caught him in motion. There’s nothing wrong with the hem or the tailoring.

Tom began the last four days of his amazing 16-day run at the MGM Sunday night and he was — need we say it? — really terrific.

The audience was into the show and it was lots of fun — he appeared to be having a really good time.

Once again, the audience was filled with Brits. It’s good to know that the strength of the US dollar is actually benefiting some people, even if they’re not from the US. There was a couple in their 60s who had never seen him before, two young guys from London absolutely taken with him and a group of four guys here from Cambridge for a bachelor party who really liked the show. And that was just at our table and the two closest to it.

Note On November: This economy is causing the venue, like so many venues in a very hard-hit Las Vegas entertainment landscape, to make some changes. They’re adding several one-week stands (Donny & Marie, Wayne Newton, Craig Ferguson) and, as in Tom’s run here last December, when he’s here October 30 through November 12, his show will go on at 7:30 pm, with Rodney Carrington doing a 10 pm show.

We just hope that that group of shows isn’t forced to be as rushed as they were last year when the schedule was like that. And we also hope that the December shows still happen.

At any rate, Tom’s been great. We’ve said before that we cannot think of any other singer of his quality — including Pavarotti, Bocelli and, even, Caruso — who can deliver the high caliber performance he does night after night. Sixteen shows in a row is truly a gift.

The Voice that is Tom Jones is a miracle and we’re so lucky to be able to see and hear him, aren’t we?

If you haven’t already done so, please share your Las Vegas experience of this run.

Thursday at the MGM was — like Tom’s jacket — hot.

The man had the audience in the palm of his hand and they loved him. We were sitting with some people from Wales. Margaret told us her husband David was “really” the fan. By the end of the evening it would have been difficult to distinguish fan from not-a-fan in that couple.

To our left was Keith, a California guy who hadn’t seen Tom before. By the end of the show he was hooked. He just smiled throughout the evening.

In fact that might be a description of the entire audience — long-standing to fairly new to TJ virgins. It was (to bring back a phrase or two from a few years ago) a complete love-in.

We preferred — as did SusannePDX in an earlier comment — the white jacket to the red. But that has nothing to do with how Tom looks in white vs. how he looks in red.

It is about the play of the intense colored lights. Under them, the white stays white. The red turns all sorts of different shades in the red family, from the true red when he first comes out, to orange, to paler red…

…On the other hand, it is Tom Jones and he does look great. And we loved the black slacks. They look terrific whether he’s standing, moving or, simply (and maybe best) sitting on a stool and singing.

Of course, he sounded great, too. After he sang I’ll Never Fall In Love Again (which he has noted would be a good epitaph for him because “I never will, will I?”) he said softly, chuckling, “I sang that when I was 24….and then when I was 44….” as he let the thought trail off to laughter from the audience.

Several people commented on the band. The guy next to us couldn’t get over the interplay between Tom and Herman. “They’re really having fun up there, aren’t they?” he asked.

Yes, we’d bet they were, everyone else on the state was and the audience was, too. And that’s what it’s all about — the great music, the great voice and audience basking in the presence of today’s greatest voice and his assemblage of amazing musicians and singers.

We are truly blessed to have them in our lives. And we hope each of you has the chance to see the red jacket and the white jacket and decide for yourselves which is the favorite.

We ran this photo in an uncharacteristically large size because we just like it. Hope you do, too.

It has lots of errors — incorrect song titles and biographical disinformation — but this review of Tom in AC from jambase.com also has lots of praise, even though some of it isn’t too clear: “Jones commanded us to watch as a mirrored ball suspended from the ceiling high over head in the grand theater shined like artificial starlight in a planetarium, the vastness of outer space brought inside as light rained across the room for Sex Bomb, a great get up and dance song. The audience responded with moves of their own, and Jones responded with I Like The Way You Move and closer Prince’s Kiss. Little could be smoother or sexier.”

Anyhow, this review also has some good photos by Rod Snyder. If you want to see them, you’ll find them at photonet.com.

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Words by: Bobby “TP” Coleman | Images by: Rod Snyder

Tom Jones :: 05.03.08 :: Harrah’s Casino :: Atlantic City, NJ

At Harrah’s Casino in Atlantic City, in a very proper theater seating about 1300 people, a velvet curtain concealed the stage as bright light peaked out and sound washed over the room. After a moment the curtain rose and the eleven-piece band appeared in small groups across the stage underneath a video screen showing images of outer space, Earth and the moon. We saw the topography of their surfaces and then a motorcade, as Sir Thomas John Woodward, better known as Tom Jones entered, giving us the thumbs up to begin our revels.

The Welsh singer, whose career began with Beat Boom stars Tommy Scott and the Senators in 1963, started the show by asking the audience to Raise Your Hand as he took us across the threshold of time, through space, into a musical journey spanning 40 years. Second song, Help Yourself, composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the musical “What’s New Pussycat?” nostalgically transported me back to 1965. The carefully produced and polished show highlighted the individual band members and their talents. The sound is big, fresh and clear.
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We are so grateful to the fan who gave us these photos. Don’t know exactly when they were taken, but it was one night since Thursday.

The wonderful thing about seeing Tom Jones — whether for the very first time or for the fifth time in as many days — is that you are guaranteed great audio. Always. Tom’s voice is indescribably, breathtakingly amazing. If he were to have an off night, it would still be leagues better than most singers having their best night. It is always a privilege to hear him.

Of course, as many people have commented, the visuals aren’t bad, either.

Starting with last Thursday night’s show at the MGM Tom has changed his look. As you can see here, it’s black slacks, black shirt (no change there) and — Sunday, at least — a white jacket. He alternates that with a red one.

Where other men may look like waiters in a white jacket, Tom looks great. The tan, the diamond jewelry (catch his Bellagio clock — er, watch — one of only five in the world) and the contrast of black against white looks terrific.

We sat next to four guys from Denver, all in their early 20s who wanted Tom to sing Stoned In Love. (They love the song and their response proves again that it was too bad that it wasn’t released here with any kind of publicity, as it would have likely been a dance hit.) Anyway, they were spending a great deal of time during the show texting (and no usher bothered them or asked them to put away their phones). When asked why, they explained with great enthusiasm, “We’ve gotta tell everyone how f***in’ great he is!”

And, we have to add, one of the nicest things about the World of Tom Jones is the fact that fans can, and often do, become good friends. We were able to celebrate two fans’ birthdays this week, laughing, dancing (who can resist I Like The Way?) and just enjoying the great shows and the great company. If you have been at the MGM this month, please share your review.

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