Do you know what Tom Jonesing is? No? Why the hell not? Well here’s your opportunity to get enlightened. Don’t mess it up.
There’s a great little restaurant in North Beach called Joey and Eddies.
Besides their pricey food they’re known for hosting an impressive
stable of good ole’ all-American celebrity impersonators (Nat King
Cole, Frank Sinatra & The Rat Pack, etc.), I predict they’ll soon
be known for hosting Tom Jones Night. Let me be more specific: Tom
Jonesing Night (get it?).
For the uninitiated, Tom Jones
is the sex-exuding world famous pop singer who has sold over 100
million albums since 1965. You might know his song “It’s Not Unusual”
from The Simpsons, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mars Attacks, or a
million other pop culture mining films and television shows. He sang
the theme song to the James Bond film “Thunderball,” and helmed
cultural cornerstone mega-hits like “What’s New Pussycat?,” “Delilah,”
and let us not forget “Sex Bomb.”
Because Tom Jones’
catalogue would make Beethoven blush you’d assume that his
impersonators would simply stick to the classics. But in the case of
the visionary “Tom Jonesing” covers supergroup, this is not so. Here’s
an explanation, via the Tom Jonesing website: “Tom Jonesing is the
super muscle car dragster custom chop-shop of tribute bands. We
deconstruct the most happening vintage songs from the 60's and 70's and
then we reassemble them with only the highest quality groove
components.”
Is it kitsch, ironic, post-modern, or just brilliant? Take this into consideration. Tom Jones
was at one point a sex icon, his shows notorious for devolving into
Dionysian orgiastic frenzies, women launching their panties onto the
stage (dirty or clean? Both!), reckless sexual abandon sweeping over
the audience, ovaries and testes swelling and swaying hopelessly,
violently! The pantry cries for Tom Jones
to show them mercy but he is relentless, he will not stop until the
entire audience is melted down into a boiling glob of amorphous,
ecstatic flesh.
Of course I am not exaggerating. Tom Jones is a force of nature, and represents America at its most proud and unabashed. If “Tom Jonesing” captures 1/10th of Mr. Tom Jones’
primal-super-sexual energy, which their website almost guarantees, then
you had better bring a few extra pairs of panties, some to throw, and
some to excitedly soil.
See history in the making April 30th and future dates to be
announced at “Joey and Eddies” at 1652 Stockton Street, San Francisco.
Call for reservations. 415-989-7800.
