Reviews: Tom Jones, Black Sabbath, Chvrches, Tears For Fears, Bob Mould

Tom Jones @ Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pa., Sept. 20 – “He was born with the talent to sing. If you ever get a chance to see Tom Jones, you will not be disappointed. As I was leaving, three women said that his show was ‘way beyond their expectations.’ Don’t retire, Tom … you are still too young!” – Marianne Gunther / Delaware County News Network / Digital First Media

Black Sabbath @  Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix, Ariz., Sept. 21 – “[Ozzy] Osbourne’s keening vocals made those heavy-metal classics sound the way they did in 1970. Or close enough to fool me into thinking they were spot-on.” – Ed Masley / The Arizona Republic / AZCentral.com

Chvrches @ State Theatre in Portland, Maine, Sept. 21 – “Given the Madonna-like-pop nature of some of the band’s material, it seemed fair to hope for some choreography and dance in lieu of exclusively getting by on pure energy, but [Lauren] Mayberry is clearly a rock star. Her singing is full of personality and spotted with odd inflections, like how Alanis Morissette or Sinéad O’Connor might sound if they were on the back of a motorcycle, zipping through a neon-lit city.” – Robert Ker / Portland Press Herald

Tears For Fears @ Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise, Idaho, Sept. 22 – “The majority of the 15-song set list pulled tracks from the group’s first two studio releases, The Hurting (1983) and Songs From the Big Chair (1985). Perhaps the least surprising part of the evening were the selections from the latter of those albums, which went multi-platinum in the United States, for the opening song (‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’) and the encore (‘Shout’).” – Scott Tittrington / Daily Herald

Bob Mould @ Old Rock House in St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 14 – “It must be hard for them to pick a set list, considering Mould has 21 LPs and two massive EPs to choose from. Their set included 8.25 Hüsker Dü songs (I’ll explain the 0.25 later), five Sugar songs, and the rest a mix from his last three solo records. As nice as it would be to hear songs from his solo albums of the ’90s, I have zero complaints about this set list; the fact that we got eight Hüsker songs blows me away.” – Mike Koehler / Playback:stl