Tom Jones at Villa Maria Estate

February 22nd, 2010 | By TomJones

Looking as nimble as his fresh-faced ten-piece band, Jones shimmied about the stage, throwing in some cheeky pelvic thrusts and Welsh quips along the way.

Opening with a saucy little number, Sugardaddy, his famously resonant voice shook the vines with songs from his new album 24 Hours and nostalgic hits Delilah, What’s New Pussycat and She’s a Lady.

As daylight faded, the set took a moodier turn as he showed his
introspective side: “I tried to write a song that would explain what music had done for my life, and to thank God for giving me this voice,” he said, before launching into a heart-wrenching tribute to everything his career had given him.

He stopped grooving and clutched the microphone as he sang his stirring promise to never fall in love again.

His elaborate band was stripped back to acoustic guitars for the third instalment of Sir Tom’s performance – a seductive return to the old pub-singing days.

The crowd swayed along to He’ll have to go, Green Green Grass of Home, and Save the Last Dance for Me. These sing-alongs led into the strobe-lit disco finale, which built to a crescendo in a pulsing version of Sex Bomb and ended with the banger It’s Not Unusual.

And, with the mesmerised crowd left wondering what Sir Tom’s secret to life-long party charm could possibly be, he returned, still twinkle-eyes and twinkle-toes for a stage-show encore – Take Me Back to the Party and his version of Prince’s You Don’t Have to be Rich.

He thanked his fans and said he had had a ball, and their squeals and kisses – and the odd pair of knickers – said they had too.

By Jacqueline Smith

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10627813