TOM JONES – CHALK, BRIGHTON 15.9.21
The audience slowly filled up last night at CHALK, an intimate venue in the centre of Brighton, amid a loud hubbub of cheerful excitement and expectation. This palpable excitement came from not only being once more out at a gig, but also from the chance to see the legendary Welshman, Sir Tom Jones, projecting his fabulous vocals up close and personal in a small venue.
Jones may be 81 now, but he remains a powerful singer and personality, the long time ‘national treasure’ (was the term invented for him?) is still able to hold an audience in the palm of his hand and last night was no exception. Interestingly, the audience were a mix of ages, many die-hard fans, who Jones acknowledged, but also a younger element who had grown to love him on ‘The Voice’ tv show, and those who, like me, had never seen him live before but had known him since his early hit records, following his career over the decades.
Instead of solely trawling through his vast catalogue, Jones was promoting his recent chart-topping album ‘Surrounded By Time’ and sang many tracks from it judiciously interspersed with a good smattering of his best known hits. This ‘Outstore’ event was organised with local record shop, ‘Resident Records’ in association with One Inch Badge to promote his eclectic and reflective album of covers, which was produced by the excellent Ethan Johns.
Jones launched in with ‘It’s Not Unusual’ to get us all warmed up, one of his signature hits played and, as with all the numbers to come, sung with the professionalism and prowess only he and his excellent backing band of top notch musicians could provide.
Following ‘Popstar’ and ‘No Hole In My Head’, tracks from his new album, Jones moved smoothly into Bob Dylan’s tender ‘One More Cup Of Coffee’, bringing a riveting and moving delivery of the song to his eager audience. Part of Jones’s charm lies as much in his open and amiable chat with audiences as in his vocal skills and both came to the fore in last night’s performance of ‘Talking Reality Television Blues’, a song whose lyrics recall the rise in popularity of television, a rise which radio fans believed unlikely. Jones reminisced on the changes in popular media in the course of his life and, indeed, his new album gives an overall musing about the passage of time and its inevitable links to the ageing process for us all, in his ninth decade this is, of course, unsurprising.
My personal favourite performance of the evening came from Jones’ incredible rendition of ‘I Won’t Crumble If You Fall’, he sang this soul lament with powerful gusto in his inimitable, strong baritone, a number originally sung by Bernice Johnson Reagon of Sweet Honey in the Rock. The audience were spellbound. Prince’s ‘Kiss’ followed, and inspired a sing-along, continuing the joyous, upbeat vibe.
The Wednesday evening came to an end with an exuberant version of ‘Shake Rattle And Roll’, including the original slightly risqué lyrics. This finale took him full circle, back to the beginning of his career and Jones twinkled as he sang the original, naughty lyrics to this stonking and audience pleasing R&B number which had originally been sung by Big Joe Turner and his Blues Kings.
What a glorious evening, exceeding all expectations and confirming that Sir Tom Jones remains a force of nature and a fabulous singer, we were all buzzing with happiness as we filed out, what better testament to the man. Note to self, remember to take a pair of knickers to throw on stage next time!
‘Surrounded By Time’… and Love, definitely, thank you, Sir Tom.
Tom Jones setlist:
‘It’s Not Unusual’ (Les Reed cover)
‘Popstar’ (Cat Stevens cover)
‘No Hole In My Head’ (Malvina Reynolds cover)
‘One More Cup Of Coffee’ (Bob Dylan cover)
‘Green, Green Grass Of Home’ (Johnny Darrell cover)
‘I Won’t Crumble If You Fall’ (Bernice Johnson cover)
‘Talking Reality Television’ Blues’ (Todd Snyder cover)
‘Delilah’ (Les Reed cover)
‘Lazarus Man’ (Terry Callier cover)
‘Kiss’ (Prince cover)
‘Strange Things Happening Every Day’ (traditional cover)
‘Shake, Rattle And Roll’ (Big Joe Turner & His Blues Kings cover)
