Henley’s opening night was rather blustery — well OK, then, it was cold — but fortunately there were only a couple of short, sharp showers, which failed to dampen the spirits. Admittedly, ladies were shivering in their skimpy summer finery, the river was unusually choppy, and the hot food and drinks on offer were distinctly more tempting than any of the colder fare. Otherwise, the festival was its customary quirky self, complete with the Roving Eccentrica (which seem to get stranger by the year) and the art and sculpture displays that ranged from the elegant (the Salvador Dali collection was unmissable) to the frankly bizarre.

The star attraction of the evening, though, was Welsh legend Tom Jones, and the temperature definitely seemed to rise a few degrees as the crowds swarmed on to the lawn in front of the famous floating stage just before 9 o’clock. At 71, the man voted sexiest in the world just two years ago still seems to set female hearts a-fluttering, and the reaction to his appearance almost bordered on hysteria. And, yes, someone even threw the customary pair of ladies’ undies on to the stage.

But if there was hysteria on the riverside lawn, there was ultimate control from the man himself, who delivered a well-balanced set of old songs and new songs in a calm, unhurried manner — in fact, at times I almost felt the pace was just a little over leisurely, with too many long, drawn-out anecdotes interspersed between the songs. There’s no denying, though, that he still sounds good; solid, vibrant and immensely musical.

He was at his most eloquent in the songs from his new, gospel-inspired album Praise and Blame, as well as such heart-wrenchers as Green Green Grass of Home and I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, but it was the old favourites — Delilah, Kiss and It’s Not Unusual — that saw him at his powerful best.