Tommy James & The Shondells
08 July 2018
Hudson Gardens, Littleton, CO
The weather forecast I read predicted sunny, blue skies, 90 degrees, no chance of rain. The reality was that, 30 minutes prior to show time, for the first time in over 150 concerts I've attended, I was absolutely drenched with one of the most intense rainstorms I've seen in months, dropping the temperature about 25 degrees. After subsiding, I changed out of my 98.1 KKFM t-shirt of 20 years gone by, into a "Crystal Blue Persuasion" merchandise t-shirt I had acquired about 45 minutes earlier which, to my surprise, remained dry.
Delayed approximately 70 minutes by the rain shower, the concert opened with Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits who has kept himself in outstanding shape, able to strut across the stage like days of yore. Noone opened with many cover songs, including "Love Potion No. 9", "Daydream Believer" and "Jumping Jack Flash", prior to showcasing the hits Herman's Hermit's made famous, including "Can You Hear My Heartbeat", "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter", "I'm Henry VIII, I Am", and of course "There's A Kind Of Hush".
Before the opening act and in between acts I conversed multiple times with a brilliant individual who seemed to be very much my match for popular music knowledge of the 1960s and 1970s. I named several of my favorite groups from that general era, and not only did she fully know each and every one, but she identified favorite songs of each that, without exception, I found very interesting/intriguing. I meet some amazing people at these events!
I've always been impressed by Tommy James' ability to achieve success, from hitting #1 with a song ("Hanky Panky") that even he admits has nonsensical lyrics, to producing a title for a Top Ten song after looking out the window at a Mutual Of New York ("MONY"), to accidentally splicing an out-of-tune section of music into an extended version of the #1 song "Crimson & Clover" in an manner that a large audience was convinced was intentional, to orchestrating an entire Top Ten song around an 8-note, looped bass riff ("Draggin' The Line").
Tonight, without a charting single in over 35 years, Tommy sold out the capacity of the beautiful Hudson Gardens amphitheatre on the shore of the South Platte River in semi-pastoral Littleton, CO. Not dissimilarly from many shows over the last 20 years, Tommy opened with his biggest solo hit "Draggin' The Line", my personal favorite of his "Crystal Blue Persuasion", and "Say I Am".
Recently I read his autobiography, Tommy James: Me, The Mob, And The Music, and learned an almost unbelievable story about how his act had been backed, for decades, through Morris Levy, by the Genovese crime syndicate. I highly recommend this book, by the way, because Tommy is exceptionally candid not only about his indirect relation to organized crime, but also his honest, mixed feelings towards Morris (love, hatred, compassion, regret). Tommy addressed these mixed feelings with a special, acoustic version of "I Think We're Alone Now", that conveyed a substantially different meaning compared to the original.
"Ball Of Fire" served as a nice mid-set surprise (to me). Tommy's version of "Tighter, Tighter", though different from the successful 1970 Alive & Kicking version. The obligatory "Crimson & Clover", "Hanky Panky", and the near-original version of "I Think We're Alone Now" proceeded.
After "Do Something To Me", Tommy walked extensively through the audience to shake hands during a very extended version of "Mony Mony".
The 3,250-strong crown demanded an encore, fulfilled with "Sweet Cherry Wine" and the "I Think We're Alone Now" sister-clone of "Mirage".
Tommy James looks, and sounds, as great as ever -- for me music is all about finesse, and Tommy's ability to evoke positive, colorful feelings, is impressive. I've seen him several times during oldies-festival-like concerts, but tonight was the first I've seen with him billed as the headliner -- glad to see him perform a brilliant, full set -- amazing vibe!
[**** 1/2] - Steven T.