Sir Tom Jones has still got it. The singer continued his Ages & Stages tour with a triumphant return to the Smart Financial Centre playing last night to over 2,000 fans.
Though his set list hasn’t changed much in years, the bravado and enthusiasm the legend brings to each track always impresses. Jones, boasting 84 years young, has shown a real knack for selecting songs, some from his catalog and beyond, that embody his longevity and rich career.
Starting the night the somber Bobby Cole track “I’m Growing Old” detailing the ravage time takes on a body, mind and soul as one trades vanity and speed for wisdom and acceptance Jones immediately had the audience in the palm of his manly hands.
Just when he had everyone feeling the sting of melancholy by following up his opener with Bob Dylan’s gloomy “Not Dark Yet” he shot the first of many coy smiles and shoulder shrugs as he and his tight band kicked up the energy with his first U.S. hit “Unusual.”
As he did throughout the night, Jones quickly told a perfectly summarized story of performing the song in 1965 on the Ed Sullivan Show after he and many other “followed” The Beatles over the pond for their chance to expand their reach.
Jones crooned the tongue in cheek “Pussycat” with a wink and a nod as even some of the serious seeming ushers gave knowing half smiles to those walking by and everyone couldn’t help but sing along.
Though he’s obviously done it all a million times, Jones seemed genuinely happy to be there singing songs, telling stories and making people smile never taking himself too seriously for a joke, a check in with the crowd or a slightly suggestive wide eyed little grin.
It is always surprising that in 2021 the Welshman decided to cover the loveable, hippie folkie poet Todd Snider’s “Talking Reality Television Blues” on his Surrounded By Time album, but at this point, Jones has really made it his own creating a visual mashup of television’s greatest and lowest points as he smoothly delivers the comical lines from the song.
It’s easy to wonder how Jones could have even been turned on to Snider in the first place until the end of the show when he introduced his band complete with barefoot drummer and musical director Gary Wallis and it all clicked. Jones joked that one day he hopes to be able to buy Wallis a pair of shoes.
The past few years have seen Jones use his set list as a sort of celebration of his career and a reminder of his mortality. The perfect reflection of his life and trajectory being Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song” which feels like it was written in 1988 just for Jones to sing exactly at this time of his long life. Jones himself said he felt it was written about him.
As Jones wound down his set with an encore featuring Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “Strange Things Happen Every Day” the sex bomb pop star turned into a preacher as some clapped along in a world where indeed, strange things happen every day including still being able to see the amazing Tom Jones perform in Sugar Land.
Set List
Growing Old
Not Dark Yet
Unusual
Pussycat
Windmills
Sexbomb
Popstar
Green Green Grass
Cup Of Coffee
Borderline
Talking Blues
Crumble
Tower Of Song
Delilah
Lazarus Man
You Can Leave Your Hat On
If I Only Knew
Kiss
Hell Of A Life
Strange Things
Johnny B Goode
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
