Besides seeing The English Beat, Independence Day weekend was also about picnicing on my parent's back patio. They have a lovely back yard with lots of plants and flowers covered by a wysteria trellis...and it wasn't too hot, which can be an issue. My aunt, sister and sister's boyfriend came over and dad cooked burgers on the grill. My sister and her boyfriend always have veggieburgers. They look awful! I don't think I could eat one. I had made the special request that my mom make her macaroni salad, which I was so enthusiastic about by the time it arrived that I needed a seperate plate for it.

After coming back to work for 4 days in Columbus I then went back up to Michigan for the Tom Jones concert. I picked up my college-friend Cathy (she last had seen Tom Jones in concert 31 years ago - when she was 11!) and went to The Alibi for dinner - it's 'our place' we used to go all the time when I lived at home, but I don't think it's as good as it used to be. We arrived at Freedom Hill in plenty of time to shop for souvenirs. I got a 24 Hours t-shirt (the name of the new album) and a key chain I plan to make into a necklace. I was getting the t-shirt to make a pillow out of, as I haven't even come close to fitting into a tour t-shirt since I was about 12, but when I got home I dared to try it on, and it actually may be wearable. I tried to get Cathy to buy one of the tees that said SEXBOMB in big sparkly white letters across the front, but she wasn't interested.

While we were sitting outside the theater Cathy said "What are those ladies doing?" About 30 feet away were about 12-15 women in their mid-50's holding their camera phones over a high fence beyond which were 2 tour buses. Suddenly a chorus of screams erupted and seconds later all the women paired off in embraces, jumping up and down while squealing. Fandom was alive and well in Sterling Heights, Michigan!

Our seats were 1/2 way back in the center of the pavillion and we could see fine. Tom Jones had a horn section, 3 back-up singers a drummer and 2 guitarists. It was very Las Vegas! His voice was absolutely AMAZING. So strong! So clear! He's very handsome in-person which was a relief since a few minutes before I had heard a woman say "He's still so good looking - him and Billy Joel!!"

He sang 3 or 4 songs from the new album and also Delilah, Green Green Grass of Home, What's New Pussycat, It's Not Unusual...all the basics! I was disappointed he didn't sing Thunderball, since that's my favorite song of his, nor did he do Unbelievable, which I had also been not-so-secretly hoping for. He did the song where he sings repeatedly "I'm 200 pounds of heavenly joy..." complete with self-rubbing, which sent the crowd of mostly near-60-year-old-women into hysterics! I thought one woman in my row was going to either faint or have a heart attack! The encores were Venus and Prince's Kiss, which was a perfect ending to the set, sort of saying 'yeah, I do the old stuff, but I'm still hip and relevant.' It was great! I told my mom when I got home that I would definitely like to see him once more, anyway. I tried to find some video or pics from the show - every person but Cathy and I had a camera, yet apparently no one wanted to upload them for public perusal.

Next week...The Pretenders!! I'm big on concert-going this year. Did I just see Morrissey 4 months ago? It seems like 4 years ago!