Tales from Suburban Bohemia: Tom Jones

This post originally appeared on Stumpy Moose on 30 September, 2001, and was migrated to PraguePig.com on 3 December, 2018.

What’s new, pussycats?

It’s been a strange, hectic couple of weeks.

I have a new job (business reporter at The Prague Post), I attended a convention for image consultants and make-up artists (for work) and I saw Tom Jones in concert.

I’m not a huge Tom Jones fan, and the whole “Reload” revival thing is beginning to wear a bit thin but the idea of seeing the leathery lothario live in a Prague ice hockey arena was irresistible.

Tom didn’t disappoint.

The first odd thing about seeing Tom Jones live in Prague was the audience. All human life was there, from the severe looking Czech pensioners packing the seated areas to the ironic young hipsters down the front.

Secondly, Tom himself is a strange phenomenon. He’s like something from “The Fly”. It’s as if somebody took your favourite uncle and gave him superhuman powers of showmanship and charisma.

The hits keep coming and the voice is immense, cutting through the camp and the kitsch. “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” is a pretty cheesy song on record but live it’s beautiful — almost operatic.

And “Delilah”, “The Green, Green Grass of Home” and “It’s Not Unusual” were, needless to say, magnificent.

The best thing about a Tom Jones show is that after an hour there’s a 20-minute interval, so he can rest his voice (or, who knows, maybe take a nap).

It’s very Vegas and gives you the chance to take a break when your stamina might be failing. More live acts should do it.

He can’t dance and some of his recent cover versions are horrible but Tom Jones has more star quality than anybody I’ve ever seen live before.

Everybody should see a Tom Jones show once in their lifetime.