Tom Jones takes to the green green grass of Brighton’s Stanmer Park

TOM JONES + GERMEIN – STANMER PARK, BRIGHTON 5.7.23

“It’s not unusual to fall in love with anyone”, but I think you’ll agree that it was rather unusual to see the legend that is Tom Jones performing outdoors on a Wednesday night, on the green green grass of Stanmer Park in Brighton. I had never seen Sir Tom perform before so after much rushing about after work and armed with a pocketful of puns, I was determined not to miss the man in action.

I drove to the Brighton Racecourse to take part in the event’s ‘Park & Ride’ scheme and no sooner had I parked my car, I hopped straight onto a waiting bus full of expectant Tom Jones fans. Twenty minutes later, and we were at the venue gates ready to embark and enjoy the night ahead of us. The sky was starting to look a bit moody, but I knew I could leave my hat on (and rain mac) and still enjoy what the night had to offer.

I missed the first act of the night who was Sussex lad Chris Simmons. I was assured that he put on an impressive set and he commented on how this was the biggest crowd he had ever played to. Find out more about Chris HERE.

As I joined the extremely long queue to the toilet block, the penultimate band ‘Germein’ took to the stage as the heavens decided to open. I swiftly put my rain mac on and checked out their sounds from near the front of the stage. The band hail from Southern Australia and are a three piece outfit made up of three sisters (Georgia : guitar/keys, Ella : bass/electric cello and Clara Germein on the drums).

They have been over to these shores in recent times, when they were supporting ‘Little Mix’ on tour and they have played with a number of household names including opening up for Phil Collins. Their music I would describe as chirpy indie pop and ‘Haim’ comparisons didn’t go unnoticed by yours truly.

The highlight song of their set was ‘Good For A Girl’ which justifiably talks about how they have been underestimated in the music scene because of their gender. They seemed to win over a good portion of the crowd and they were rewarded with a bit of sun from whoever is in charge of the weather.

www.germeinsisters.com

Things were running a little late and after a quick change over, Tom Jones and his band took to the stage to huge applause from the slightly soggy but enthusiastic audience. He started the set by sitting down and singing ‘I’m Growing Old’ from his 2021 ‘Surrounded By Time’ album, which featured some very good and poignant lyrics about those twilight years. He then, expertly drifted into a excellently executed rendition of a Bob Dylan song (‘Not Dark Yet’) of whom he is a big fan. It was obvious from the beginning that Tom Jones is very conscious of his mortality and these moving songs highlighted that fact. It was also evident that at 83 years of old he still looks great and his voice has lost none of its power over the years.

Just when the impatient people in the audience were thinking “Where’s the hits?”, Tom and his band smacked us upside the head with a Zydeco styled version of fan favourite ‘It’s Not Unusual’ and ‘What’s New Pussycat’. I joined in with the latter song’s “Whoahs…” along with the rest of the fans, and various undergarments were held aloft in the air by individuals in the crowd, poised and ready for throwing at the stage at the next available opportunity. These songs signified Tom’s early years in the music business and were the songs that initially broke him to a bigger audience.

Next up, was another 60’s favourite by the name of ‘The Windmills Of Your Mind’ which is a song I really admire and one that was performed back in the day by his late friend, Dusty Springfield. There was a group of girls next to me that had been shouting “Play Sexbomb!” for the duration of the event and now was the time for their prayers to be answered. Mr Jones and the band did this infamous party song justice and the crowd were lapping it up. Another classic was up next in the form of ‘Green Green Grass Of Home’ which he said he’d discovered on an old Jerry Lee Lewis Country album back in the day. He said that when he initially heard it, he just knew he had to record the song, and he has definitely made the song his own over the years.

At this point, the weather had improved but that didn’t stop the front of stage security being put through their paces tonight. Right from the off, they had to eject the odd individual from the crowd. There was a scuffle at one point and various people around me collapsing or having a funny turn. I had never witnessed so many Hi-Vis jackets running through the audience (which was a bit distracting) and was starting to feel left out that I hadn’t been scooped out of the crowd and hoisted over the barrier. There must have been something in the air tonight (not a ‘Phil Collins’ pun) and the security definitely had their work cut out for them. I imagine Tom Jones is no stranger to people fainting in his audience, but this was ridiculous.

Tom Jones played a slow song next, in the form of ‘I Won’t Crumble With You If You Fall’ which didn’t leave a dry eye in the house/field. He followed this with the mighty ‘Delilah’ which got everyone singing along as the undergarments from earlier in the night, went sailing through the air, stage bound. Tom soon followed up this moment with a ‘Full Monty’ moment (musically) with the classic ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’ and I imagine, some of the audience were wishing that they’d kept hold of their underwear projectiles for this tune. He then dedicated the last song of his set to the late genius that is ‘Prince’ which could only mean one thing….his version of ‘Kiss’ (which he originally performed with ‘Art Of Noise’ in 1988). It was a fun version which went down really well with yours truly and the rest of the festival partygoers.

After a short break, Tom was back on stage for an encore with the classic Chuck Berry song, ‘Johnny B. Goode’. He told us about going with Elvis to see Chuck Berry play a concert in Vegas and how Elvis turned to him and said “Now that’s the King of Rock n Roll!”. Tom’s last song of the night was a rousing rendition of ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ by Jerry Lee Lewis which was a fitting end to a very enjoyable night. Tom is a great performer and at 83 years of age, he still proved he’s got the chops. He is a natural when chatting to the audience and all of his songs were well chosen (even the songs I didn’t know were interesting).

It wasn’t quite the end to my night along with many others though, as we soon noticed that the Park & Ride scheme wasn’t really paying off for us. Upon exiting the festival, we noticed that there were no buses waiting for us. We were waiting for over thirty minutes and people’s tempers were getting frayed. One lady I was talking to, gave me my favourite quote of the night. She said, “I’d been waiting for the bus so long that I was expecting Nile Rodgers to walk onto the stage!” (he’s playing this coming Sunday). All was good in the end though, as two buses turned up at once (“What’s new pussycat?”). We all let up a loud cheer and headed homeward after enjoying a top quality performance from the one and only Tom Jones. Long may he continue…

Tom Jones band:
Tom Jones – vocals
Scott McKeon – guitar
Dave Bronze – bass
Paddy Milner – keys
Gary Wallis – drums