“I don’t really want to stop the show/but I thought you might like to know...” -loveSgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
IT WAS to be a night to remember. And it was. But for all the wrong reasons.
I was quite happy to be at the Tom Jones gig because the last time I saw him, he did a powerhouse show. I mean, I don’t care much for his sappy stuff like Green Green Grass Of Home or Delilah, but Thunderball and his versions of Kiss, Momma Told Me Not To Come, You Can Leave Your Hat On and Sex Bomb were fairly fun.
So there we were all happy campers when he comes out slinging with Sugar Daddy and then moves on to Give A Little Love. Then he says, “I’m sorry to do this, but I have a slight problem with *hack hack*…My voice isn’t good and I can’t continue, I hope we can do this some time soon. Sorry.” Then he turns and walks off stage. Quickly followed by his musicians. A little too quickly. Hmm. Was it all staged?
Meanwhile the audience, thinking it’s a joke start singing Delilah and saying stuff like, “Yeah, right” or “Come on back”. Then the house lights go on, and send-you-home music is played. Then people start looking confused. One lady walks up to a security guard saying, “Is this for real?”
An official hurriedly assures us that he’ll get to the root of the matter. Although he also says, “I don’t even know what’s going on.”
Funnily enough, just a couple of weeks ago, Tom Jones told me, da Abang, that he always took care not to lose his voice. It happened before in Germany and Las Vegas. Then he said, “Oh, but Singapore’s pretty humid, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”loveIf Alanis Morissette was here, she would have burst into song, “Isn’t it ironic?”
Of course, he was in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur before coming here, and hey, you know I love Bangkok and KL, and I don’t mean to put them down or anything, but I’m sorry, the air over there can’t compare to ours. So who knows? Any conspiracy theories???
In the history of short gigs in Singapore, this takes the prize. Normally, artistes cancel the concert before they start singing or before they come here, like The Killers. The last time a gig was cancelled after it started was, what, Smashing Pumpkins? They stopped the show 45 minutes in and walked out.
Meanwhile other audience members are asking not only for their money back but also for to be compensated for their hotel stay, etc, because quite a few of them have flown in from overseas to see his gig.
“Will there be a refund?” asks one ang moh expat lady. “Because next week is a holiday week and many of us won’t be here.”
“There will be a refund,” says the rep.
“A full refund?” asks the AMEL.
“Yes.”
“Are we getting anything else on top of the refund?” Hmm, lady, are you sure you’re not Singaporean? Have you been living here too long?
Anyway, shocked and frazzled Resorts World staff are doing their best to make sure the crowd leaves in an orderly and that they don’t suddenly put on red tees and start screaming for the government to step down. But they comply. Nicely, too.loveAlthough, yes, they soon lament to whoever will listen.
Someone who missed Tom Jones’ last gig here – and brought her mum along too – was sorely disappointed. “I guess I’ll have to go home and listen to his greatest hits,” she said.
A couple spent $400 for their tickets and were pretty bummed out, although they later admitted they’d already seen him in Las Vegas.
“I thought it was a joke at first. But everyone has sick days. But I was proud of the audience reaction. They were very nice about the fact that the concert was cancelled,” said Alicia Waters, Australian, living in Singapore, didn’t ask for anything other than a ticket refund.
For Alicia’s friends Nadiaand Sue, who had brought panties and flags to be thrown, the night was a disappointment. “I’ve never seen a Tom Jones concert,” she says.
“I still haven’t seen a Tom Jones concert,” quips one of her friends.
“Look at it on the bright side,” said another concertgoer. “At least you got to see two songs for free.”
True true. Oh well, another time perhaps. As long we keep our ticket stubs.
For more information on refunds and other cool things pertaining to the Tom Jones gig that wasn’t, visit the Resorts World website: http://www.rwsentosa.com.
More...
IT WAS to be a night to remember. And it was. But for all the wrong reasons.
I was quite happy to be at the Tom Jones gig because the last time I saw him, he did a powerhouse show. I mean, I don’t care much for his sappy stuff like Green Green Grass Of Home or Delilah, but Thunderball and his versions of Kiss, Momma Told Me Not To Come, You Can Leave Your Hat On and Sex Bomb were fairly fun.
So there we were all happy campers when he comes out slinging with Sugar Daddy and then moves on to Give A Little Love. Then he says, “I’m sorry to do this, but I have a slight problem with *hack hack*…My voice isn’t good and I can’t continue, I hope we can do this some time soon. Sorry.” Then he turns and walks off stage. Quickly followed by his musicians. A little too quickly. Hmm. Was it all staged?
Meanwhile the audience, thinking it’s a joke start singing Delilah and saying stuff like, “Yeah, right” or “Come on back”. Then the house lights go on, and send-you-home music is played. Then people start looking confused. One lady walks up to a security guard saying, “Is this for real?”
An official hurriedly assures us that he’ll get to the root of the matter. Although he also says, “I don’t even know what’s going on.”
Funnily enough, just a couple of weeks ago, Tom Jones told me, da Abang, that he always took care not to lose his voice. It happened before in Germany and Las Vegas. Then he said, “Oh, but Singapore’s pretty humid, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”loveIf Alanis Morissette was here, she would have burst into song, “Isn’t it ironic?”
Of course, he was in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur before coming here, and hey, you know I love Bangkok and KL, and I don’t mean to put them down or anything, but I’m sorry, the air over there can’t compare to ours. So who knows? Any conspiracy theories???
In the history of short gigs in Singapore, this takes the prize. Normally, artistes cancel the concert before they start singing or before they come here, like The Killers. The last time a gig was cancelled after it started was, what, Smashing Pumpkins? They stopped the show 45 minutes in and walked out.
Meanwhile other audience members are asking not only for their money back but also for to be compensated for their hotel stay, etc, because quite a few of them have flown in from overseas to see his gig.
“Will there be a refund?” asks one ang moh expat lady. “Because next week is a holiday week and many of us won’t be here.”
“There will be a refund,” says the rep.
“A full refund?” asks the AMEL.
“Yes.”
“Are we getting anything else on top of the refund?” Hmm, lady, are you sure you’re not Singaporean? Have you been living here too long?
Anyway, shocked and frazzled Resorts World staff are doing their best to make sure the crowd leaves in an orderly and that they don’t suddenly put on red tees and start screaming for the government to step down. But they comply. Nicely, too.loveAlthough, yes, they soon lament to whoever will listen.
Someone who missed Tom Jones’ last gig here – and brought her mum along too – was sorely disappointed. “I guess I’ll have to go home and listen to his greatest hits,” she said.
A couple spent $400 for their tickets and were pretty bummed out, although they later admitted they’d already seen him in Las Vegas.
“I thought it was a joke at first. But everyone has sick days. But I was proud of the audience reaction. They were very nice about the fact that the concert was cancelled,” said Alicia Waters, Australian, living in Singapore, didn’t ask for anything other than a ticket refund.
For Alicia’s friends Nadiaand Sue, who had brought panties and flags to be thrown, the night was a disappointment. “I’ve never seen a Tom Jones concert,” she says.
“I still haven’t seen a Tom Jones concert,” quips one of her friends.
“Look at it on the bright side,” said another concertgoer. “At least you got to see two songs for free.”
True true. Oh well, another time perhaps. As long we keep our ticket stubs.
For more information on refunds and other cool things pertaining to the Tom Jones gig that wasn’t, visit the Resorts World website: http://www.rwsentosa.com.
More...
