It was a Friday night (4/18/25 to be precise)and what better way to spend it than hanging with an 84 year old icon in Connecticut? This is what you do when Sir Tom Jones is in town.
While not my preferred genre, I love music and knew enough of his songs that I figured it’s worth checking out. He’s been on the UK version of The Voice for quite some time and sold something crazy like 100 million albums, so it should be a good performance.
He opened with I’m Growing Old which set the tone for the show if you ask me; a solid voice, good musicianship, not a lot of energy, and old people. I kid I kid…but not really. It’s just a fact of his demographic.
He had a five man band accompanying him which I was happy to see. I had wondered if he’d perform with prerecorded music, a rock band, or a big brass-style band prior to the show. Sure, I could have looked it up but I like the element of surprise. Now I knew! He had big screens and lights behind him acting as a back drop displaying colors, graphics, and videos. I didn’t know the next 2 songs but I still enjoyed them. The dude can still sing.
Everyone knew his 4th song which was cool but it wasn’t the version we all knew. It’s Not Unusual usually started out with that big band feeling. Quick tempo, catchy music, and an image of Carlton Banks dancing in your head. But for this one, the music itself was pretty mellow, and the screens were underutilized. Carlton doing his signature dance could’ve been the best video backdrop. But we didn’t get it. Bummer. It was still fun though. What’s New Pussycat was next. And while the internet claims this is not a dirty song, filled with innuendos, it sure seems like a dirty song filled with innuendos. Sexbomb was after that (noticing a theme now) and that wrapped up the songs I knew.
A couple more songs brought him to his latest album and a Bob Dylan cover, One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below). Cool tune. It’s quite impressive that he’s still out there touring and putting out new albums. He said with his latest album, he’s now the oldest person to have a #1 album in the UK.
He no longer performs She’s a Lady due to a line or two he believes don’t fit with the times. I wish he’d just change the line as he sees fit because that’s a fun tune and a solid encore. We stayed for a few more songs and snuck out early. Leaving had nothing to do with the performance. I just knew I wouldn’t know anymore songs, and it was a bit too mellow for me. But if you’re fan and can make it happen, go see him.
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