Tom Jones @ OLG Stage, Niagara Falls, Ontario 4-17-25

For the second time in two years, Sir Tom Jones has brought his extraordinary talents back to the beautiful OLG stage in Niagara Falls, Ontario for a sold out show. Jones was backed by a 5 piece band. This is the second time I have ever seen Jones live with the first being back in May of 2018. Back in 2018 I was overwhelmed on how powerful Jones’ voice was. Would he still have that authority almost 7 years later? I was curious on how it would all transform at teh OLG Stage.

With people still trickling in, the show was pushed back about 12 minutes from an 8:30pm start time. Jones walked to the center of the stage where it was just him and the keyboard player. Jones proceeded to do two numbers while sitting a stool. They were “Growing Old” and the “Tower of Song.” Jones talked about his affinity for Bob Dylan and the 1st of two cuts he did was up next in “Not Dark Yet.” Maybe his most popular numbers followed. The first being “It’s Not Unusual,” which was sang in a different key. The song was done with an accordion, an acoustic guitar and congas. Jones encouraged audience participation at times too. It was a fun & unique way of presenting it. To me it worked as it was very fresh. Then up next was the fun “What’s New Pussycat?” Jones talked about his friendship with Cat Stevens and paid his homage by doing one of his songs called “Popstar.” Just like the performance I saw in 2018, this show was no different as Jones told some great stories on why he chose the songs he decided to sing. Two years ago, Jones was one of the many artists who celebrated Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday. Nelson asked him to sing the Ry Cooder classic “Across the Borderline.” Jones loved it so much he has been doing it in his set the last few years. If there was any doubt to my question of Jones’ still had that amazing powerful voice, it was profoundly answered with his rendition of “I Won’t Crumble If You Fall Down.” An amazing stoic performance that was the highlight (along with many others) in this set. The guitar players performed three songs in a row on acoustic guitar including the Waterboys cover “This is the Sea.” This was another terrific highlight of how Jones’ voice just shined through. The psychedelic song “Lazarus Man” followed. Jones paid homage to Prince in who he called a genius. A wonderful cover of his song “KISS’ closed out the set. Jones retuned to do three songs for the encore including his classic “Green Green Grass.”

Jones still has the charm and charisma at 84 years young. The women still scream for him at times throughout the show. With all that Jones is, he is still blessed with that golden voice. Most half his age don’t sound like him. Like I said earlier, seeing him just sing is worth the price of admission alone. You put together a solid backing band with some nice video screens and Jones stage presence, it made for one hell of an overall show experience!

Setlist:

Growing Old (Bobby Cole cover)

Tower of Song (Leonard Cohen cover)

Not Dark Yet (Bob Dylan cover)

It’s Not Unusual (Les Reed cover)

What’s New Pussycat? (Burt Bacharach cover)

Sex Bomb

You Can Leave Your Hat On (Randy Newman cover)

Popstar (Cat Stevens cover)

One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) – (Bob Dylan cover)

Across the Borderline (Ry Cooder cover)

The Windmills of Your Mind (Alan and Marilyn Bergman cover)