If you were brought up in South Wales like I was, you are expected to love Dylan Thomas, Tom Jones and rugby, be able to sing Cwm Rhondda and Delilah - and in the words of the legendary Max Boyce, after a few beers, make them sound both the same.

So when the leaden skies broke over Cheshire yesterday, it was with trepidation that my friend Pauline and I set off on the packed M56 to Tatton Park to hear, hopefully, at least one of those songs.

We found a comfortable spot and thanks to our wellies and waterproofs were prepared for anything - including support act A J Brown, who crooned beautifully as we unpacked our picnic and caught up on latest news.

By 8.30pm, as promised one of the most popular vocalists, whose work has spanned more than half a century, took to the stage.

In his heyday Tom's sexual allure reached such heights that women would throw their pants on stage but Tatton Park's audience by the lake was more sedate and I noted a range of ages from eight months to eighty. There were pants - near the stage a placard had been made out of a massive pair of what you might describe as bloomers and someone else sported a blow up male doll with a Tom Jones mask wearing, of course, pants.

The set was a mixture of the old and the new with tributes to the late great Elvis and Prince and it was just 45 minutes in that Tom saw the light (on the night that he passed by her window) and treated us to a Latin upbeat version of Delilah.

Sir Tom Jones performing at Tatton Park Concerts by the Lake
Sir Tom Jones performing at Tatton Park Concerts by the Lake

In my mind, Delilah is a Welsh girl with an exotic name living in a terraced house in Pontypridd but tonight, Matthew, she was a Flamenco dancer from Andalusia.

When someone has been performing for as long as Tom Jones, in almost two hours you are reminded of his wealth of experience and talent - we had Sex Bomb, Mama Told Me Not to Come, You Can Leave Your Hat On, a beautiful ballad by Gillian Welsh about the day Elvis died, and a special song in honour of his late wife Tomorrow Night. For someone who hasn't been home to Swansea City since April, the Green Green Grass of Home was particularly poignant.

His backing musicians were amazing - the brass section in If I Only Knew were stunning and their joy in making music was evident. It was just a bit odd that he introduced them right at the end and then it all finished. No finale.

Oh well, the man with one of the most powerful voices in the world had not failed to entertain and just left everyone wanting more.