Tom Jones
Eden Sessions
Review by Lee Trewhela
★★★★
TO quote the Leonard Cohen song which the boy from the valleys has made his own, Tom Jones truly is a tower of song.
The hip-swinging sex symbol days may be long gone but he held the 6,000-strong audience of a certain age rapt with that extraordinary voice which only gets better with age.
Not many 76-year-olds can sing the way he did on Elvis Presley Blues (he knew The King, you know) or Thunderball.
There was one astonishing moment when Tom's voice went as cavernous as is humanly possible much to the delight of the awed audience.
Other highlights included a misty-eyed Green, Green Grass Of Home and the song from last year's Long Lost Suitcase that his late wife Linda loved, reaching a peak with that funky version of Prince's Kiss.
Still getting the ladies excited (witness the jokey knicker-throwing at Eden), Tom has also matured into a performer who gets music lovers equally excited.The Eden Project witnessed yet another legend work their magic in its amazing setting.
Oh and hats off to support artist AJ Brown, 50 years younger than Tom, whose easy charm and Buble meets Elton style won over a lot of new fans.