SEX BOMB DETONATED IN MADRID!

Last night he came, he saw a capacity 15,000 frenzied Madrilenos and, yes folks, he well and truly conquered. The Welsh Wonder, Senor Golden Tonsils, call him what you will, but at 74 years of age, TOM JONES is at the very height of his considerable vocal powers. Powered on by a crack nine-piece band featuring the dazzling guitar artistry of no less than Robbie McIntosh, he held the audience in the palms of his hands.

It always was about the sonic depth and range of his voice, and it was reassuring to hear him every note pitch perfect. Advancing years hasn't forced him to lower the register he sings in, nor does he shirk the big moments. The thing is, he's damned good - and he knows it, too! He coaxes and cajoles the audience - not as if a seething mass of Spaniards needs it - and he and the band are clearly having a ball as well.

When he sang "the biggies", he was almost able to take a back seat as the crowd joined in, and if the audience was by and large less familiar with his more recent work (which is some of the best of his career) it didn't downgrade the rapturous response. He opened, as he has done since 2010, with a thundering version of 'Burning Hell' from 2010's "Praise & Blame" album; it remains the purely musical high point of his 90 minute set.

Burning Hell!!

'Delilah' was, surprisingly, brilliantly arranged into a Tex-Mex tour-de-force, with accordian, handclap flourishes and stomping feet - yes, the chicos and chicas went bananas! 'Green Green Grass Of Home' was rendered beautifully (unlike that tacky cabaret rendition the last time I saw him), 'It's Not Unusual' was a showstopper and literally brought the house to its feet, and 'Thunderball' was tumultuous.

And he STRIKESSSS, like Thunderbaaawl!!

I don't mean to gush but, seriously, he was utterly superb delivering the smash hits....he didn't even raise a sweat hitting the big notes in 'Fall In Love Again'. My 2nd favourite musical moment of the night was a hellraising shakedown of Howlin' Wolf's 'Evil' - just brilliant.

Evil

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't perfection. Despite his two recent albums being the best of his career, the material selection isn't always right. Quite frankly, Tom Waits' 'Bad As Me' is ill fitting, and whilst the lyrics of 'Tower Of Song' could have been written for him, they weren't and he lacks the gravitas to carry off Leonard Cohen's masterpiece.

A nod to Leonard Cohen

He previewed three songs from his forthcoming album; two sounded pretty good but Hank Williams' 'Why Don't You Love Me' was simply the wrong choice - Tome Jones should NEVER sing C&W! But these are mere quibbles that in no way detracted from a sensational performance. His hair is no longer curly but a fuzzy grey mass with matching goatee, and he's not as lithe as he once was (but who is?), but Tom Jones is still in magnificent voice and delivers a show that is guarantee'd to leave you smiling broadly - you'd be crazy to miss him if he plays near you.

Footnote: Apologies for the pictures - I forgot my camera!