Its Not Unusal

Sir Tom Jones

Our assistant, Craig Bowie, was a lead dancer in the Jubilee! Show at Bally’s Grand in Las Vegas during the mid and late 80’’s during my performances in that show. When I saw him, he was always adorned in a black or white tuxedo costume for the dance numbers in the Jubilee! or his street clothes, so I’ll never forget the time when he came upstairs to our dressing room outfitted in a skimpy black leather costume number for the epoch Samson and Delilah scene. He visited our dressing room wearing the leather outfit, and because I’d not seen him up close in this risqué outfit (mine were skimpy too), I looked at him stunned as he walked towards our dressing room until I realized it was Craig! Lol! Tom Jones was down the hallway and did this shocked double-take, staring at Craig walking toward me and asking Jonathan to exchange notes for a future show. I reacted by saying something like, “Wow, Craig! I’ve not seen you look so good.” And laughing as we both engaged in the humor. Craig turned the corner, and I was left staring at Tom Jone’s response to Craig’s presence. Of course, those outfits were our regular attire during a show, so we were accustomed to those looks. But Jone’s surprised response was priceless as he stared, and then his gaze met my eyes. I said, “No worries, he works with an impish wink for me.” And he raised a glass of Dom Perigon in my direction and said he’d drink to that. But he couldn’t do it alone, so he invited me to have a glass of champagne, which I couldn’t accept because I was about to go on stage soon, so I toasted him with a Diet Coke (which I never touched today). We had a short, fun conversation, and before I went my way, he was curious if we had seen his show. I told him I hadn’t but listened to him every night in my dressing room. Although the head of entertainment formally introduced us, Richard Sturm, I had his full attention during the few minutes I spent with him. I had to tell him how I had been a big fan of his since 5th grade when my sister played his albums, and I heard him on FM radio riding the school bus daily. I think he was genuinely touched by learning a 10-year-old American fan when it was the older teens and young ladies who captured his heart. I told him I listened to his set in our dressing room, which impressed him. He wanted everyone to like him and his songs, so it seemed. So he suggested that I get a chance to check out his whole show from the light booth when we had a chance, and he even invited us to sit in King’s Row during one of his shows. So I watched his show that night. This is my report.

The pre-concert hum filled the air, amplifying the excitement I felt and experienced awaiting his appearance. Even though I was watching from the light booth and wasn’t part of the audience hive, I felt the energy of anticipation and eagerness coming from the concertgoers like mist off a lake. This time before a show has always been special for me at concerts, and like the people surrounding me, I allow myself to escape and immerse myself in the moment and forget all worries, leaving my troubles at the front door. That’s how I feel when I go to shows, so I usually arrive early to soak in that before-the-show atmosphere, noticing the things that build the ambiance. The lights, the band warming up, the sound of collective voices heard coming from backstage, and the audience is absorbed into the fiber of the theater. Not an echo even whispered as you sat waiting. It’s a great people watcher as you watch audience members file into the show, finding their seats, each showcasing their style. Some arrive in groups, and many couples and families are happy, sharing laughter and playful banter as they greet each other. You feel unity. I race to shows for this solace and all-encompassing experience. It's not something you feel at a movie theater, but if you’re big on pre-movie commercials and trailers, settling into your seat early with a big bag of popcorn and a mega drink is a must. I do that, too - just to get a good seat. Lol!

Well, one thing is sure: without an audience, there is no show. There’s nothing but emptiness in that dark space without their presence. An entertainer can perform in bare space, but it’s like screaming for help in a forest. Who’s listening? Watching? Caring? It’s a void. A vacuum without receiving anything back. It’s why you do what you do - you do it for others. It’s your gift to them, and the gratitude you receive in return is the joy and enchantment of the showgoers. It’s a reciprocal arrangement. Without that reciprocity, the theater is barren. In the absence of life, the theater feels like a forgotten relic, enveloped in profound stillness and loneliness. The stage performer is like a widow losing a spouse when there’s no audience to perform. It's a marriage arrangement. Like a lover, a good entertainer knows how to keep their partner happy, and a loop is created, uniting them together. The pre-show energy is similar to what a couple might feel before they say their wedding vows. The dynamism leading up to this union is essential for the audience and the performer.

I feel the vigor and force in every concert I attend while performing on stage. One of my favorite things to do is peek through an opening in a door or curtain from backstage to look at the audience. I like seeing the faces I’m going to entertain. When I think about some of the greatest shows I’ve ever been to, I always feel that power and vitality are established before every performance. I wish there were a name for it. Tom Jones is one of the best. And when most people walk away from his show, they agree. Easily mistaken for hokey and kitschy by people who barely know him outside listening to FM radio back in the day, they are hugely surprised when watching him live and easily get blown away by his presence and voice. He can SING! His humbleness shines through, and the audience falls in love. Even the stubborn showgoers who might be there to make their partner happy often change their minds once he appears and they hear the first sounds of his voice.

This is about the same period of time I knew Tom Jones at Bally’s Grsnd in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now rebranded The Horseshoe Casino

So, there I sat waiting for the show to begin when sudden quiet blanketed the room, and before the curtain opened, Tom’s voice permeated the theater with his voice singing Till. It was a flirtatious moment with the audience enticing them. When the announcer introduced him as the curtain parted, he had already seduced the crowd with a bit of foreplay before they saw him standing there at the top of the stage with the spotlight only on him. As he began his first song, the light followed his deus ex machina entrance down to the stage, where he sang about an hour set of his best songs. One thing that impressed me about him was his use of an arc and how his songs were carefully crafted to compliment the one before it and the one following it to bring out specific emotional audience responses. His wasn’t just a parade of songs that night. Each was carefully placed, with his biggest hits spread throughout the hour. Everyone waited to hear his first big hit, It’s Not Unusual, which made him a superstar in 1965. It came near the end after a powerful song, which, when finished, the audience almost rose to their feet. I thought his show was over when he took a long, deep bow. When he came up to breathe fresh air, he began belting out It’s Not Unusual. You could feel the adrenaline rushing through the room, and I wasn’t in the room, but I felt the force. It was a climax for everyone. And after the peak, when everyone thought he was done, he returned with a final song I can’t remember. An encore. He knew how to make love to an audience.

Assistant and lead dancer Craig Bowie wearing his Samson and Delilah costume

At Bally’s, I didn't have to hear Tom sing by watching him in the light booth or see him as an audience member. There was a sound system in my dressing room for announcements and to listen to the show, so I knew my cue when to be onstage. I could also tune in to the Celebrity Room Theater and listen to the shows of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Smokey Robinson, and Tom Jones. Mostly, I kept the sound off or low and depended on an old-fashioned clock on the wall to mark my time, but when Tom Jones was in town, I’d crank up the volume and listen to every song by this 60 ’60s icon, which included all his big hits. I was most impressed by how he incorporated several contemporary works by current artists into his repertoire, including George Michael and INXS. It kept him trendy, stylish, and up-to-date. During my engagement at Bally’s Grand Las Vegas, I ran into him many times, passing each other in the hallway. He had different moods, and you could understand his demeanor just by looking at him. He was intensely focused before his show like a prizefighter concentrating before a boxing match. The energy from him was powerful, and you didn’t want to interrupt his space. I made a point of staying out of the hallway where I might run into him before he went onstage, not wanting to disturb the powerful magnetic field surrounding him. Every performer has a way of dealing with the adrenaline rush you feel before going on stage. It’s the same vibration athletes experience before an event. For many entertainers, it’s a focused exercise; for others, it’s more relaxed. It’s a spectrum, and every performer fits somewhere in that range. For instance, Hans Moretti's pre-show mental focus blew me away.

His stage name was Hans Pantar, and he performed his famous cross-bow act with his wife Maureen. He would drive backstage most nights before his show, run up the stairs to his dressing room, throw his costume on, grab his crossbow, run down the two flights of stairs to the stage, and, without a beat, make his stage entrance to a lot of applause and then line up a series of crossbows and shoot several arrows simultaneously at a target revealing his stunning wife and partner Maureen behind the paper target and surrounded by the arrows shot from Han’s bows. At the time, and to this day, there is one of the best variety of acts ever in the world, in my opinion. I often caught it from the light booth, where it was a hazardous and daring act performed by Hans Moretti and his wife, Maureen. Where after their performance, Hans would be blindfolded and shot an apple of his head. It was a risky performance that resulted in many injuries, including one time when an arrow accidentally pierced Maureen’s arm, nailing it to the board behind her. 😬 She managed to hold herself together until after the show, then went to the hospital. Once, my brother and sister-in-law were in our audience when one of their arrows flew past them and landed atop their booth. The arrow's speed slowed before it passed them, reducing the seriousness of the danger. Infamous holes could be viewed in the back theater curtain from dozens of arrows hitting it. And for those asking, the answer is yes. Entertainers must carry general liability clauses specific to their presentations, protecting casinos and theaters financially from lawsuits. Our show was not expensive because it was presented without severe threat to the audience members or venue. We had a small amount of fire in our show, but it was safe and approved by local fire marshals wherever we’d perform. (Although I must say, I was seriously injured by fire twice during performances, requiring hospitalization) At any rate, the Ballys were financially protected in the event of a bad accident caused by an arrow. No one was allowed backstage during Han and Maureen’s act due to the level of danger in their performance. You can understand why one might be amazed by Han’s relaxed attitude before a show. Everyone is different. I prefer to ease my anxiety by focusing on comedic events. Laughter breaks up my tension. Honestly, I’ve not often seen another entertainer use that technique. Still, I’ve introduced it to many entertainers I encounter attempting to find a way to chill and control that powerful adrenaline energy. Tom Jones did it by focusing on his interior, where his voice was generated. He didn’t have to fear forgetting a song. The memory of his music and show were engrained in the very fiber of his cells. When you’ve performed the same routines and shown them repeatedly, your muscles and nerves remember your act, so the process of performing is automatic. Like riding a bike. It allows your brain the freedom to truly express your feelings onstage, permitting your performance to rise to another level. You’re not stuck trying to remember words to a song or moves to a dance. Muscle Memorization of your show seeps deep into your essence, freeing your nervous system to express itself emotionally during your presentation. Nothing in the world is like feeling that sense of liberation and independence in your soul when you perform so freely. Tom had it! More than anyone I've seen. He knew how to tap into that energy and essence. Each song was just as powerfully performed as his previous song. I never heard or saw him get lazy with a filler song. Each one was presented as if it were the only song he was singing that night. He continues to perform in his eighties, and I'm impressed by the successful life longevity of his career.

Hans Pantar Moretti and Maureen performing their dangerous cross-bow show

Tom Jones reigned in a sea of popular bands in the mid 60’s. My love for Tom Jones began when I was a fifth grader in 1965, and his first hit, It’s Not Unusual, was released, making him an overnight megastar. My older sister Shirley was twenty years old and a big fan of all the current pop bands and Elvis. The mid-sixties was like that in music. Nothing but pop bands, Elvis, and a few solo artists. It was the era of the Band, and it began with the roar of The Beatles and The British invasion of other bands and popular culture into the American youth landscape. They replaced Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Junior, etc. Frank Sinatra recognized the change and concentrated his creative efforts on Vegas. The artists from that 50’s period had to adjust and welcome the new. Elvis didn’t fit into that whole Rat Pack time. He was on the cusp and reigned during that short period, connecting the age of the solo singer, starting with Bing Cosby in the 30s to when The Beatles made their grand entrance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. There was a lot of tension, and I understood when Elvis first met The Beatles. Of course, Rlvis felt uncertain because he knew the mantel of music he carried would be passed on to four singers who threatened not Elvis but the entire solo artist paradigm. Later, while at Paramount Studios filming a movie, he heard Tom Jones, a new Welsh superstar, in town, and Elvisoved his music, so he invited a stunned Tom Jones to the set to meet him. Jones responds, “Moi?” “Elvis wants to meet me? A coal miner’s son from Wales. Holy Smokes!” (These weren’t his words but reflected his reactions in interviews about their famous first introduction). Why does Elvis want to meet me? —was his attitude.

So they met, which began their long, deep friendship, ending when Elvis tragically died in 1977. Elvis recognized himself in Tom. He could relate to him, and most of all, he realized through Tom Jones the preservation of him as a solo artist. The Rat Pack had their heyday, and Elvis felt his end when The Beatles supposedly pushed him off the billboard charts. Elvis probably saw the writing on the wall and took comfort in the coming of Tom Jones, who challenged the arrival of “The Band” during that time. He recognized that the Welsh crooner could create music that rocked your senses and reached into your soul. Elvis had a few good years left, but he passed the music mantle to his friend Tom, who carried it past Elvis’ death. The lone solo artist among the ocean of rock and hippy bands staying relevant even until the present where he continues to pack audiences.

Tom’s heartfelt teary-eyed farewell song to his friend Elvis

But the ocean was primarily lonely after Elvis died, leaving Tom alone until Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, knocked on his door — literally. While chatting on the popular Jonathan Ross Show in London, Jones referred to the time when he lived in Los Angeles, and said, "Quincy Jones used to live around the corner from me. I bought Dean Martin’s house. "Here I am, and the bell goes," he continued, "I’m in the kitchen, and you can see Michael Jackson’s face [on the camera]. I could see it was him, of course. ‘Who is it?’" "It’s Michael," he said, before Tom asked: "Michael who?" "Jackson", came the reply. "As if I didn’t know, he’s looking right at me," Tom Jones laughed."He was great though," he added, after he'd invited the singer in."He was looking at some pictures around the pool table, and he said ‘Wow, Tom, you’ve had a great career haven’t you?’""I said, ‘having’, Tom revealed, "And that’s 30 years ago."  It’s 2024 and Tom Jones continues a stellar music career outliving both Elvis and Michael.

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