DIAMOND WOW'S EM IN Blaisdell Arena Honolulu!

BY JOHN BERGER / jberger@staradvertiser.com

It’s always a kick to hear a song performed by the person who wrote it even if another artist was the one who recorded the definitive hit. Hearing Neil Diamond sing “I’m A Believer” Thursday night, Feb. 16, in Blaisdell Arena is a perfect example.

When the Monkees released their hit version, back in the mid-’60s when Diamond was still better known as a songwriter than a recording artist, the song was a youthful celebration of complete romantic fulfillment. Sung by Diamond on Thursday as an introspective ballad, and without the keyboard riff that was the musical hook in the Monkees’ hit, the song was steeped in weariness and a sense that being a “believer” might not be enough to guarantee life-long happiness.

“Red Red Wine” — a minor hit for Diamond in the ’60s that is known to two generations of “island music” fans in Hawaii as a Kapena hit — was also recast. A young man with a broken heart might find temporary solace in a bottle of wine. Diamond, who celebrated his 71st birthday last month, sang it with a world-weary stance of a man who knows that alcohol will only defer the pain.

“I Am…I Said,” a Top 5 hit for him back when he was 30, has aged beautifully. The sentiments are more relevant than ever, and the emptiness and alienation that comes with feeling “torn between two shores” ever more powerful as years and decades pass.

Time passed quickly at the concert. Diamond performed for a solid hour and 40 minutes. He shared an assortment of his chart hits and personal favorites. Almost all of them were instantly recognizable.

“Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)” was greeted with ecstatic applause and then became an instant sing-along. Diamond didn’t need to ask the crowd to sing, the fans were ready to go. They did the “So good! So Good! So Good!” chant on cue as well.

And, just when it seemed the “good times” were over and it was time to do some other song, Diamond called on the band for “one more reprise!” — and then called for another.

That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most of the crowd seemed in the mood to sing “Sweet Caroline” all night.

Diamond had fun playing with the crowd. A well-timed comment — “You give away your age when you don’t get up and dance” — got almost every one on their feet, if not actually dancing.

Another announcement — “This show is about me going where the noise is” — got people in all parts of the arena screaming at him to come their way.

Diamond, consummate professional that he is, directed some of his attention to the people off to the side of the arena and those in the upper level seats as well.

He opened the evening with an expansive arrangement of “Soolaiman (African Trilogy II)” that presented that well-known song as a triumphant anthem. “Forever In Blue Jeans” also had a bit of extra energy to it; Diamond didn’t have to cue the audience to clap along, the arrangement was irresistible.

Diamond fans with tickets for Saturday’s show can expect to hear “You Got To Me,” “Hello Again,” “Cherry Cherry” and “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon” as well.

Even in a show full of big hits and memorable moments, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” was something special. Diamond sang it with one of his backup female singers standing in for Barbra Streisand. They captured the raw, tragic emotions perfectly; the lighting effects were simple but eye-catching.

When Diamond and his singing partner finished the song, the headliner explained that men and women experience the song differently when he does it in a concert. Women experience the tragic lack of communication between the man and woman in the song. Men experience it by looking past Diamond and his singing partner and they “wonder how (the tech people) make those (stage) lights work!”

The encore rocked. Diamond opened with an up-tempo rendition of “Cracklin’ Rosie,” then introduced “America” with a short story about his grandmother’s arrival from Russia more than a century ago. He dedicated the song to her.

“America” would have been an excellent finale. Diamond took the energy level higher with a zesty arrangement of “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show” that brought the intensity of a modern “tent show” revival to the arena. It was remarkable work, and an excellent concert.

Diamond will do it again Saturday night, Feb. 18.

BY ELIZABETH KIESZKOWSKI /

Pop music singer and songwriter Neil Diamond is returning to Hawaii for the first time since 1976, with a Feb. 16 show at Blaisdell Arena.

Neil Diamond confirms Honolulu return!

BY ELIZABETH KIESZKOWSKI /

Pop music singer and songwriter Neil Diamond is returning to Hawaii for the first time since 1976, with a Feb. 16 show at Blaisdell Arena.

Neil Diamond performs in Boston during a 2009 concert with the Boston Pops. (Associated Press)

Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Blaisdell Box Office and through Ticketmaster.

In a phone interview, Diamond said he’s grateful to think he still has fans waiting for him in the islands.

“I’m very satisfied to know that I’m still able to do the same thing, and in the same place,” he said.

Diamond, 70, is a consummate pop songwriter, one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, and generations of fans have taken his direct, romantic lyrics and affection for listeners to heart. Chances are you can sing along to some or all of these Diamond songs: “I’m a Believer,” “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon,” “Red, Red Wine,” “Shilo,” “Sweet Caroline.” The list goes on.

“I got started about the same time as the Beatles,” Diamond noted, when talking about the artists he listens to, ranging from Adele to the Everly Brothers.

He’s been making hits since the ’60s, starting with “I’m a Believer,” performed by the Monkees. Diamond’s first hit single as a performer was “Solitary Man,” in 1966.

Neil Diamond

Presented by Marek Lieberberg Presents and Ron Gibson Entertainment

» Where: Neal Blaisdell Arena, 777 Ward Ave.
» When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16
» Cost: $49, $59, $99, $159
» Info: 800-745-3000 orwww.ticketmaster.com

The hits kept coming, right through the ’80s. All along, Diamond continued performing. And he attracted a new round of interest in his music when approached by producer Rick Rubin (who famously worked with Johnny Cash on the country singer’s later albums) to make two records, “12 Songs” in 2005, and “Home After Dark” in 2008.

“Home After Dark” went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts, more than 40 years after Diamond’s first singles were released. In 2009, he released a live album, “Hot August Night/NYC,” recorded from a four-night run at Madison Square Garden. Overall, Diamond has sold more than 128 million albums worldwide, with 37 Top 10 singles.

“My work is absorbing me, still, after all these years,” Diamond said.

As for live performance, “What I enjoy most are the audiences,” he said. I like seeing the smiles on people’s faces. I like it when they enjoy the music. I’m there to see them, and they’re there to see me. It’s a win-win situation!”

The Honolulu concert is being promoted by Marek Lieberberg Presents and Ron Gibson Entertainment.

Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Blaisdell Box Office and through Ticketmaster.

In a phone interview, Diamond said he’s grateful to think he still has fans waiting for him in the islands.

“I’m very satisfied to know that I’m still able to do the same thing, and in the same place,” he said.

“I got started about the same time as the Beatles,” Diamond noted, when talking about the artists he listens to, ranging from Adele to the Everly Brothers.

He’s been making hits since the ’60s, starting with “I’m a Believer,” performed by the Monkees. Diamond’s first hit single as a performer was “Solitary Man,” in 1966.

Neil Diamond

Presented by Marek Lieberberg Presents and Ron Gibson Entertainment

» Where: Neal Blaisdell Arena, 777 Ward Ave.
» When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16
» Cost: $49, $59, $99, $159
» Info: 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com

“My work is absorbing me, still, after all these years,” Diamond said.

The Honolulu concert is being promoted by Marek Lieberberg Presents and Ron Gibson Entertainment.

Hall of Fame Speech

Now let us tell you what really happened: The stage was set by Paul Simon, who did a wonderful job sucking the life from the room. In his induction speech for Diamond, Simon wagered a guess at why Neil had been denied Hall of Fame status for the last 24 years. "Six words," said Simon, "'You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore.' Unfortunately, if it's Barbara Streisand, it's not close to rock 'n' roll. They won't even let that DNA near the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame." The joke bombed, the crowd was too nervous to laugh -- like, honestly, who ever says something critical in an induction speech to a Hall of Fame?! When it was Diamond's turn to respond, it promptly devolved into the Friar's Club Roast of the Music Industry. He acted boorish, crass, flippant, indifferent, graceless, unappreciative -- it was pretty punk rock. "I still would sing that song with Barbara, she's the greatest," he said. "And guess what? She doesn't give a shit either." He tried to be a "man of the people" in this crowd of stuffed shirts, taking pictures of the crowd, pointing up at the cheap (LOL) seats and saying "These are my people." He bragged about flying commercial from Australia. It paid off, since he clearly had the most rapturous fan club of any of five inductees. He talked to the back of the room: "I'm not talking to you," he snapped at the tables up front. "You have too much money." He looked right at Irving Azoff and said that he was the only person in the room that loved him. He looked at the trophy and said, "I didn't even know what this looked like. They should make this object more famous." Seriously, this was so, so, so, so much better than the Sex Pistols just not showing up. His swagger during the performance was incredible. He left the stage to go play in the audience. Not in a friendly way, but in a downright aggressive way. During "Sweet Caroline," he shoved the mic in Lloyd Price's face and then Robbie Robertson's and then some total stranger's. The camera crew was not ready to follow him into the maze of tables, so he had to do a second take of the song entirely--which only got the crowd rowdier. Don't let anyone ever tell you that Neil Diamond isn't rock 'n' roll. Maybe it's time to reappraise Saving Silverman.

ITS ALLL ABOUT DIAMOND

New York: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's annual induction ceremony is the only place you'd find Bruce Springsteen as just one member of a 21-piece backup band. The rock hall's latest class brought together Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Darlene Love, Dr. John and Leon Russell, and after all the speeches were done the musicians kept playing until the wee hours. ------------------------------------------------------- Springsteen brought his guitar to back Love, who created a modern-day "Wall of Sound" and dueted with Bette Midler on "He's a Rebel" after her induction Monday night. Guitarist John Mayer supported Russell in his ballad "A Song for You." Diamond had the crowd in the glittery ballroom of The Waldorf-Astoria hotel dancing to the 1960s era "Cherry Cherry." Diamond had seemed a bit loopy in his acceptance speech, after traveling 25 hours from Australia for the ceremony and looking ahead to another trip Down Under to resume a concert tour. He criticized Paul Simon, who inducted him, for giving Simon's upcoming album a difficult-to-remember title ("So Beautiful or So What"), then tried to recover by saying "I dare anybody in this room to make a better album." ------------------------------------------------------- Diamond got a cheer from the New York crowd for recognizing his city roots while performing "I Am I Said." Simon noted that Diamond, who was born in Brooklyn, had first been eligible for the rock hall in 1991 and wondered, "What took so long?" His theory: Diamond's duet with Barbra Streisand, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." "It's Barbra Streisand," he said. "It's not rock 'n' roll. I don't even think they let that DNA near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." ------------------------------------------------------- Alice Cooper is the stage name for singer Vincent Furnier and his band, known for 1970s era hard rock songs "Eighteen," ''No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "School's Out." Their concerts were steeped in horror movie theatrics, and Cooper wrapped a snake around his neck during his speech accepting induction. He performed a trio of the band's hits in a shirt spattered with fake blood. ------------------------------------------------------- "We've always been a hard-rock band," Cooper said. "We just wanted to decorate it a little differently." Cooper said he'd like to promise the rock hall that his band wouldn't embarrass it. "But I can't make that promise," he said. "After all, we are Alice Cooper." He was inducted by singer Rob Zombie, who recalled how he painted a portrait of Cooper dripping in blood when he was in fourth grade and was asked to make a picture of someone he admired — drawing attention from school authorities. ------------------------------------------------------- Songwriter Waits is well-versed in blues, poetry and ballads, with songs rough and romantic. Several of his Hall of Fame predecessors have recorded his work, including Springsteen ("Jersey Girl"), the Ramones ("I Don't Want to Grow Up"), Rod Stewart ("Downtown Train") and Johnny Cash ("Down There By the Train"). Neil Young said Waits is indescribable and "I'm here to describe him." The two later performed together; taped highlights of the rock hall ceremony will be shown on Fuse on March 20. ------------------------------------------------------- Waits noted that his rock hall trophy was heavy and wondered if he could have a keychain version "that I can keep with me in case I hear somebody say, 'Pete, take the cuffs off him. He's a Hall of Famer.'" "They say that I have no hits and that I'm difficult to work with," he said, "and they say that like it's a bad thing." Russell composed "A Song for You" and "Delta Lady," but he said he was in "a ditch beside the highway of life" when Elton John called a year ago and suggested they record an album together. The result was nominated for a Grammy. ------------------------------------------------------- "After that album," John said, "Leon came alive, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life." Russell, with a shock of long white hair and beard, walked haltingly onstage with the help of a cane and met John for a warm embrace. Love, whose voice cut through Phil Spector's heavy production, called her induction into the hall her best 70th birthday present. She praised Spector's work but also tweaked him: "Phil Spector said God made two musical geniuses: Beethoven and Phil Spector," she recalled. ------------------------------------------------------- Love lent her powerful voice to several of Spector's hits, in acts such as the Crystals and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. Her "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is a holiday standard: She sang on U2's cover and performs it every December on David Letterman's show. She was inducted with a comic ramble by Midler, who said she was a goner when she first heard Love's voice on a transistor radio. "Listening to her songs, you had to dance, you had to move, you had to keep looking for that rebel boy," Midler said. "Suddenly nobody wanted the buttoned-down guy who was a good provider." ------------------------------------------------------- New Orleans piano maestro Dr. John, born Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack Jr., was inducted by singer John Legend, who recalled meeting him at a benefit for Hurricane Katrina relief. Legend said the new Hall of Fame member has been a leading global ambassador for New Orleans and its special musical gumbo. "He has never stopped flying the flag of funk," Legend said. "Tonight, he is definitely in the right place at the right time." ------------------------------------------------------- That was a reference to one of Dr. John's best-known songs, "Right Place, Wrong Time," with Allen Toussaint and the Meters, which he performed as the ceremony slipped past midnight. Dr. John wore a bright purple suit for his big night and was asked backstage where he had bought his shoes. "The pimp store," he replied. ------------------------------------------------------- Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman and Specialty Records founder Art Rupe also were inducted, in the non-performer category. The inductees' work will be celebrated in perpetuity at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.

Tampa Bay Concert Review

Review: Pop icon Neil Diamond still delivers in Tampa concert

By Sean Daly, Times Pop Music Critic

Sean Daly Tampa Bay Times In Print: Monday, June 4, 2012

Neil Diamond gets the crowd of more than 12,000 involved Sunday night during his concert at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, one of the first stops on his North American summer tour.

TAMPA — Neil Diamond raised a superheroic eyebrow, lifted a hand with slow magician's intensity and intoned: "We're here to make some beautiful noise tonight." Then, punctuating his delivery as only the William Shatner of rock can, he asked the Tampa Bay Times Forum crowd, "Can you handle it?"

Haha! I love that guy! At 71 years old, one of the greatest songwriters and showmen, in the history of popsmanship can still deliver all the ham and cheese and gooey sing-along goodness you crave. Dressed in a sparkly black jacket (natch) and backed by a crack 14-piece band, Diamond packed his two-hour Sunday show with hit after hit, crescendo after crescendo.

Money in the bank, baby.

At one point, Diamond commenced I'm a Believer as a slow pained ballad, but at the risk of robbing the 12,382 diehards here from their giddy expectations, he set his band loose midway through and ended the song just like God and the Monkees intended: as a scooty good-time jam.

Diamond built his setlist the same way he wrote his classic cuts: a tingly beginning (Soolaimon), a frisky bridge (Done Too Soon) and then the big payoff (Forever in Blue Jeans, Love on the Rocks, Play Me). His concert sound system has always been legendary in the music biz, so even those in the cheap seats got a crisp, clean show.

Making John and Mary Daly (not to mention their son, who was properly raised on this stuff) very happy, Diamond raised the volume for Crunchy Granola Suite from his 1972 live masterpiece, Hot August Night.

Diamond's true gift, and a chief reason for his career longevity, is his ability to connect, staring into the masses with those serious eyes and letting them know they're special.

For us, this nugget: "This city has the dubious honor of being the first city in the world that paid me to sing. You paid me to sing."

He added with a smile: "And I'll never forgive you."

But as the chuckles died down, he unsheathed a solemn dagger: "I was born in this city."

Wow, I believe Neil Diamond just gave me the vapors!

Rubbing our delighted faces in the depth of his songbook, Diamond kept 'em coming: the life-affirming Cherry, Cherry (which might be the perfect song), Holly Holy (pretty darn good, too) and, of course, Sweet Caroline. Sure, you think you're sick of that one — especially since the Fenway Faithful have claimed it as their own — until you hear Diamond unload that beauty in concert, reviving that chorus over and over again. "So good! So good! So good!"

So sue me: I'm man-crushing on Neil. And why not? His voice is holding up pretty well. But does it even matter? The existential pap of I Am ... I Said has always been a spoken-word doozy, and here he uttered it with presidential gravitas.

For encore versions of Cracklin' Rosie and over-the-top immigrant song America (look, there's a bald eagle on the video screen!) the jubilant crowd — old men, young women, the works — stood in fist-pumping salute.

Yep, everyone's welcome in the Neil Diamond Fan Club. And bless the shameless hall of famer for still adding to his list of true believers.

Sean Daly can be reached at sdaly@tampabay.com. Follow @seandalypoplife on Twitter.

Neil Diamond Shares Wedding Photo

By Marisa Laudadio

Wednesday May 02, 2012 01:05 PM EDT

Katie McNeil and Neil Diamond

Courtesy Neil Diamond

Good times never seemed so good for newlywed Neil Diamond.

"The wedding was incredible. I've never seen anything like it," the 71-year old music legend tells PEOPLE of his April 21 nuptials to music manager Katie McNeil.

"It was great to have family there that I haven't seen in years ... and to meet the new Irish side of the Diamond family," adds the singer-songwriter, who shared a photo from their big day via his Twitter account on Wednesday.

Diamond, 71, and McNeil, 42, who met in 2007 when he signed to the management company where she worked, celebrated their love with 225 friends and family members inside what the bride describes as a "romantic, enchanted garden atmosphere" created by wedding planner Mindy Weiss at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

"At the end of the night, we decided not to take the arranged limo waiting for us," recalls McNeil, who wore a dress by Monique Lhuillier. "Instead I drove us home in my wedding gown, which barely fit in the little sports car – the lace was piled on Neil's lap in the passenger seat. It was a hilarious sight. We laughed all the way home.'

NEIL DIAMOND MARRIES KATIE McNEIL

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Neil Diamond and Katie McNeil at Columbia Pictures’ World Premiere of ‘Jack and Jill’ at Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles on November 6, 2011No more “Love on the Rocks” for Neil Diamond – the legendary musician is a happily married man!

The 71-year-old singer wed his manager, Katie McNeil, 42, in an intimate ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, his rep confirmed to People.

This is the third marriage for the “Sweet Caroline” crooner, and Katie’s first trip down the aisle.

Neil first announced his engagement back in September via Twitter.

“Good news coming from sunny LA/ and you’re the first I want to tell/ Katie & I just got engaged/ and I hope you wish us well,” he Tweeted at the time.

“I’d like you to meet Katie,” he continued, posting a picture of his new fiancee. “I’m lovestruck.”

Katie produced “Neil Diamond: Hot August Night NYC,” a documentary on the living legend.

In related Neil news, the singer will kick off a summer tour in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on June 1, with multiple dates in Los Angeles in August

DIAMOND 2012 TOUR

June 01, 2012 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Bank Atlantic Center
TICKETS

June 03, 2012 - Tampa, Fl - St. Pete Times Forum
TICKETS

June 06, 2012 - Atlanta, GA - Phillips Arena
TICKETS

June 08, 2012 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
TICKETS

June 10, 2012 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
TICKETS

June 14, 2012 - Washington , DC - Verizon Center
TICKETS

June 16, 2012 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
TICKETS

June 18, 2012 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
TICKETS

June 21, 2012 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
TICKETS

June 23, 2012 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
TICKETS

June 26, 2012 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
TICKETS

June 28, 2012 - London, ON - John Labatt Centre
TICKETS

July 01, 2012 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
TICKETS

July 03, 2012 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
TICKETS

July 06, 2012 - Chicago, IL - United Center
TICKETS

July 08, 2012 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
TICKETS

July 11, 2012 - St Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
TICKETS

July 13, 2012 - Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre
TICKETS

July 16, 2012 - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place
TICKETS

July 18, 2012 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome
TICKETS

July 21, 2012 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
TICKETS

July 23, 2012 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena
TICKETS

July 26, 2012 - Denver, CO - 1ST Bank Center
TICKETS

July 28, 2012 - Salt Lake City, UT - Rio Tinto Stadium
TICKETS

August 07, 2012 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
TICKETS

August 11, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
TICKETS

August 14, 2012 - Chula Vista, CA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
August 16, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
TICKETS

August 18, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
TICKETS

August 21, 2012 - Anaheim, CA - Anaheim Honda Center
TICKETS

August 23, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
TICKETS

August 25, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
TICKETS

August 29, 2012 - Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center
TICKETS

September 01, 2012 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
TICKETS

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 9:33p.m.

Veteran singer Neil Diamond is set to wed in the spring ahead of his upcoming world tour.

The 'Sweet Caroline' legend announced his engagement to girlfriend and co-manager Katie McNeil in September.

Diamond was feted at the Kennedy Centre Honors in Washington, DC on Sunday and after receiving his medal, he told reporters at USA Today about his wedding plans.

The crooner revealed he is planning to walk down the aisle for a third time before he hits the road for a global trek next June.

He tells the publication, "(I will marry) sometime in the spring, before I go out on tour again."

Diamond has been married twice before

NEIL DIAMOND SUMMER TOUR 2012

JUST ANNOUNCED!!!

Rock and Pop Icon Neil Diamond will take his greatest hits on the road on a much-anticipated North American tour kicking off in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 1st and closing in Las Vegas on September 1st. The 2012 tour will feature all of Neil Diamond's classic favorites. The majority of markets will be on sale to the public beginning at 10:00AM on Monday, December 5th and all Canadian dates will be on sale on Monday, December 12th at 10:00AM. Visit the tour section of Neil's website for a full list of dates.

Additionally, Diamond will release THE VERY BEST OF NEIL DIAMOND - THE ORIGINAL STUDIO RECORDINGS on December 6th. The album will feature 23 of the most popular hits and signature tracks from America's quintessential singer-songwriter. This is the first Neil Diamond collection to draw from the artist's complete studio discography. Pre order the album online now at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Neil's Official Online Store. For a limited time, get The Very Best Of Neil Diamond Bundle, including the CD and tote bag, exclusively in the Neil Diamond Online Store.

Don't forget, tickets and music make a great gift for the holidays!

NeilDiamond.com

www.twitter.com/neildiamond

www.facebook.com/neildiamond

Break out the 'Red, Red Wine'! Neil Diamond announced today via Twitter (Yes, Neil Diamond has a Twitter account) that he is engaged to a tall blonde mystery woman named Katie.

"Good news coming from sunny LA," Diamond wrote to his fans. "And you're the first I want to tell/ Katie & I just got engaged/ and I hope you wish us well. Neil."

The 70-year-old crooner also shared a single picture of his future wife, who we'll guess has an affinity for sequined shirts. "I'd like you to meet Katie. I'm lovestruck. I took this photo in London last month," he posted.

So far, nothing else is known about Katie, who will be Diamond's third wife. He wed his high school sweetheart Jayne "Posey" Posner in 1963 but the couple split after six years. He then married Marcia Murphey in 1969 and they divorced in 1995.

Cheers to the happy couple!

Diamond Refusing to Sign a Pre-Nuptial

Neil Diamond is refusing to sign a pre-nuptial agreement with fiancée Katie McNeil. The Jewish Elvis revealed that he is engaged via Twitter earlier this month and now he has said that he has no plans to draw up a pre-nup with McNeil in order to protect his finances. Wow. That's a bold move in 2011, Neil!

Diamond is quite the romantic, it would seem. He lost more than half of his $320 million fortune when he split with his second wife in 1995. Neil, we get it. You love Katie, but did you not learn from your past mistake?

Diamond reportedly said, "I'm not going to insult her by asking her to sign a piece of paper. I want to share my life and everything." Neil is seriously the world's biggest romantic. We'd advise him to ink a pre-nup, though. Just sayin'.

Diamond's two previous marriages were to high school sweetheart, teacher Jayne ‘Posey' Posner, and Marcia Murphey, the latter whom he married in 1969.

Do you think Neil Diamond should rethink his decision to eschew a pre-nup?

—Amy Sciarretto

Neil Diamond: 'I need a woman who understands my work ethic'

He's one of pop's biggest names – but when the lights go down, he speaks to his kids via Skype and plays cards with any 'friendly face' he can find. On the eve of a UK tour, Fiona Sturges meets Neil Diamond, the septuagenarian singer for whom the show really must go on.

Sunday June 26, 2011

In a cavernous concert hall on the outskirts of Rotterdam, Neil Diamond stands centre stage, bathed in a deep blue light. With music murmuring quietly behind him, he tells the tale of how his grandmother made a gruelling journey by boat to New York in 1912, and how she had begun her voyage in this Dutch city. He puts his hand on his chest, the lights turn pink, and the background music swells into "America", one of the many hits from his vast oeuvre.

As he sings the opening lines – "Far/ We've been travelling far/ Without a home/ But not without a star" – Diamond tilts his chin upwards and hoists his fist into the air like the Statue of Liberty, and... he lets the arm drop, adjusts his baseball cap and says: "OK guys, that's enough. Let's not fuck with perfection."

I should add at this point that I'm the only person in the audience, having been given special dispensation to sit in on Diamond's afternoon sound-check. In a few hours the place will be filled with 10,000 swaying, singing and, in some cases, gently weeping fans, each jumping to their feet at the end of every song in honour of their septuagenarian idol. But for the time being, it's just me, Diamond and his band, and I can't help but be a little thrilled by this. I am well aware that there are people who would trade vital organs to be in my shoes.

The man once known as "the Jewish Elvis" incites a very fierce type of idolatry, perhaps because those who adore him are so frequently obliged to defend him. Critics have for years been extremely sniffy about Diamond. Even if they concede that songs such as "Sweet Caroline", "Cherry Cherry" and "Solitary Man" are really rather good, they will point to the tight trousers, the abundant chest hair and, most emphatically, the shirts – the sequin and rhinestone-encrusted monstrosities that he wore in the 1970s and 1980s – and say that he is self-aggrandising and hokey, that he is the very opposite of cool.

Diamond claims to be immune to the concept of what's fashionable, though it can't have escaped him that over the past few years his stock seems to have risen. This is, in part, down to the success of his 2005 album 12 Songs, on which the producer Rick Rubin stripped away the soapy orchestration and put the emphasis back on the voice. Then there was 2008's Glastonbury, where he was a huge hit among the muddy masses, and proved that, whether or not the songs are to your taste, he is one hell of a showman. Finally, in March this year, in a mark of acceptance from the critical elite, Diamond was finally inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.

"Being back in vogue? It's fine," he says, a little flatly, back at his hotel. "It's always nice to be accepted by your peers. But it has not, and cannot, affect what I do. It's not as if I have any say in it. The public accept you, then they forget about you, and if you're lucky they accept you again. It's how this business works."

Curiously, Diamond talks just as he sings. His rich, tremulous voice would sound wracked with melancholy reading the football results. But, up close, he looks nothing like the person he becomes when performing. Wearing a black sweatshirt and specs, with wiry grey hair poking out from under a baseball hat, he seems shrunken and frail. If you saw him on the street, you'd be hard-pressed to recognise him as the man striking triumphant Statue of Liberty poses on stage. Apparently this suits him just fine.

"I'm a very low-profile person and I don't really relish the concept of stardom," he states. "It does not help me as a creative person. I want to be a human being. As a writer I want to be able to pick up on the vibes of what's happening in the world, and I can't do it from behind a castle wall."

But whether he likes it or not, Diamond is a star, not to say the focus of immense curiosity to his fans. He has a hard time getting to grips with this, and certainly doesn't find the prospect of interviews thrilling. Though he is never less than polite, it takes him a while to meet my eye. More disconcerting is the squidgy pink worry ball that he brings with him.

When he picks it up, it's as if he's raising a flag that reads: "For the love of God, don't ask me that!"

I wonder what on earth keeps him going. Many other 70-year-olds with his wealth and status would have retired to the golf course by now, but the Diamond show just keeps on rolling. He has sold around 125 million records and was the most profitable live act of the 1990s.

Right now he is in the midst of one of his biggest tours in years. He has already been to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and is now doing a six-week stretch across Europe, culminating in 15 concerts in the UK. Why do it?

"Because I'm never happier than I am when I'm on stage. Sure, life on the road can be hard going, but there's always a friendly face around somewhere, there's always a poker game to be had, or someone to take a walk with out of my hotel. I'm very comfortable with what I do. I've been doing it a long time."

Last month Diamond also released The Bang Years, an album of his songs covering the brief period between 1966 and 1968, when he was making the move from being a writer-for-hire on Tin Pan Alley to a performer in his own right. The sheer concentration of hits, from "I'm a Believer" and "Red Red Wine" made famous by the Monkees and UB40 respectively, to "Girl, You'll Be a Woman, Soon" and "Monday, Monday", is astonishing when you consider the brief period over which they were written.

Diamond may have rarely been the critics' choice, but these songs are as embedded in our cultural consciousness as anything by Bob Dylan.

Prior to his time with Bang Records, Diamond says he was "essentially a failure. It had been hard, really hard. For eight years I was living hand-to-mouth and I wasn't at all confident that it would work out.

I was knocking on doors and writing songs, but most got nowhere. I had half-a-dozen recordings made of my songs, but none of them really by any known groups, and none of them made the charts. I was playing pretty much any place that would hire me – ski lodges, bowling alleys, high-school gyms."

Diamond was also studying medicine at New York University, though he struggled to focus on his work. "If you're going to study pre-med, it's very time-consuming and I didn't have the time or inclination. I was writing songs in all my classes, I was writing songs on the subway trains coming into school.

In between times I was bringing songs to Tin Pan Alley and knocking on doors – I'd jump on a train and 10 minutes later I would be in the music district. Eventually something had to give, and it wasn't the music."

Diamond was, he says, a quiet child. Raised in Brooklyn, he worked on Saturdays in his father's clothes shop, quietly memorising the songs he heard on the radio. His parents adored music too, and would crash weddings just so they could go dancing. But even they were a bit concerned about their son's desire to abandon a career in medicine in order to write pop songs.

"At that time rock'n'roll didn't have the cachet that it does now," reflects Diamond. "A career in music was looked down on, and the whole milieu of rock'n'roll was kind of a circus at the beginning. It didn't gain any respect until people like Bob Dylan and the Beatles got involved and raised the bar."

It is a surprise to find that he never meant to become a singer. His plan was to earn a living behind the scenes as a songwriter, though early cash-flow problems meant he had to sing and play instruments on the demos he made, and he found his voice suited the songs.

Even so, he didn't take to performing at the start.

Early television footage shows him gaping at the audience as if trying to stare down a would-be attacker. "Yeah, I struggled," he says. "You get on stage and you don't know what to do with yourself. One of the most important elements of performing is that you have to know who you are and what you represent. I thought to myself: 'Am I Frank Sinatra? Am I Harry Belafonte? Am I Elvis?' Those were the choices I thought I had.

After trying all of those people I realised I was going to have to settle for being me, on stage and in my songs, and that realisation was an epiphany. I mean, for a while it was a problem, as I didn't think very much of myself. But I found that if I could be true to myself, and reflect my own situation, that it would strike a chord with millions of people out there who were confronted with the same problems."

For Diamond, these problems included lengthy periods of separation from his wife Jayne Posner and their daughters Marjorie and Elyn, culminating in divorce in 1969. Diamond had been on a professional roll after "I'm a Believer" was a hit with the Monkees. More singles followed, this time sung by Diamond, including "Cherry Cherry" and "Solitary Man", but being away from his children was, he says, awful. "I had been writing, recording and performing non-stop for five years.

For my kids, dad was always out of town. I'd said so many goodbyes to them that it took a toll. I carried that pain with me on the road. As many toys as you bring back, it doesn't replace the time that you've lost."

Diamond vowed that he wouldn't make the same mistakes with his next marriage. In late 1969, he wed Marcia Murphy, a TV production assistant, and the following year their son Jesse was born. "I decided that this time I would be a proper family man.

I did not want to put my second family in the same situation that I put my first in." Thus, Diamond quit touring and stayed at home with his children (he and Murphy had another son, Micah) until they started school. Was domestic life a comedown after the glory of being a successful musician?

"Not at all. I loved every minute of it. We were all together as much as we could be, and I travelled east to see my daughters on a continual basis. It was a magical time. Even when they were all at school and I was back on the road, I would check the touring schedule to make sure I was always home on the kids' birthdays. I was trying to put things right."

When he returned to touring, Diamond started seeing a therapist. "I saw it as a way to learn about myself. I considered it a luxury – it was a time that was just devoted to myself, and it was for my own good. As difficult as it was, I think it has made me a better and more understanding person. I still do it now. It's like maintenance for my mind."

Diamond's career went from strength to strength in the 1970s. Somewhat improbably, he was asked to audition for the role of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, though he declined due to singing commitments, but still Hollywood beckoned and in 1980 he was offered the lead role in the film The Jazz Singer, opposite Laurence Olivier. The film was a disappointment at the box office, but the soundtrack was a smash.

Having watched their children grow up, Murphy and Diamond divorced in the mid-1990s in what is reputed to be among the most amicable and generous settlements. But Diamond is still saddened by the fact that the marriage fell apart.

"It is," he says cautiously, "very difficult for a woman when her husband is adored by the world. Although I tried to compensate for it by making my wives feel like the centrepiece of my life, they knew instinctively that it was the music that came first and they couldn't compete. My dedication to my work has never wavered and, really, I don't see that chemistry changing.

I need to be with a woman who understands my work ethic and is secure enough not to be threatened by it. I don't take the adoration seriously. It's one of the things that I have to deal with, but it doesn't keep my feet warm at night. You have to get off stage, and when you do, you're as mortal as anyone."

Since a long-term relationship with Rae Farley, an Australian 30 years his junior, ended three years ago, Diamond has been single. Is he OK with that? "Well, I read a lot now," he says, looking rather maudlin. "I always have my guitar wherever I am, and I always have a music player in my hotel room. So I don't find that I'm a lonely person any more. I guess I've adapted to it."

When he's away, he talks to his children and grandchildren (there are seven) on Skype. "The world has got a lot smaller through technology," he says. "That's a real blessing for someone like me."

When he's not on tour, Diamond's home is in Los Angeles; he also has houses in Colorado and New York.

He may have become accustomed to his own company but it is clear he is nowadays infinitely more comfortable standing on stage in front of thousands. "I have more fun there than I have just about anywhere else," he tells me and he does, it's true, make it look like fun. Later that evening, when he emerges from beneath the stage in a black suit (he's ditched the sequins, thankfully), he looks 10ft taller and 20 years younger.

The crowd, predictably, go nuts and it's impossible not to get swept up in the euphoria. I even feel a little lump in my throat when he starts talking about his grandmother. "When I'm up there I like sweeping all the elements and the unimportant distractions away from my life and saying, 'This is what I am,'" Diamond says. "It's the best feeling in the world."

'Neil Diamond: The Bang Years 1966-68' is out now on Sony. Diamond begins his UK tour on Tuesday at the LG Arena in Birmingham. For more information on dates and venues, visit neildiamond.com

Neil Diamond to Work on Musical of His Life!

Friday, June 3, 2011 Singer/songwriter Neil Diamond has had a strong presence in the entertainment industry for more than fifty years. Across his career, which brings him to Manchester on tour next month, Diamond has earned a dozen Grammy nominations and millions of albums sold - and surely the singer has also picked up some interesting stories along the way. What better way to tell his life story than in musical form? "I've been intrigued with the possibility of writing a theatrical presentation for some years now," he tells Manchester Evening News. "Maybe now is the time to do it. I would like to be able to tell the story of my life and my career and my inner self through some kind of musical presentation." Across a musical career stretching nearly 50 years, Neil Diamond has sold more than 128 million albums worldwide. He has charted a staggering 37 Top 10 singles and 16 Top 10 albums. His last studio album, Home Before Dark (2008), debuted at #1 in the U.S. and internationally. His 2009 DVD, Hot August Night/ NYC, has been certified double platinum. A Grammy Award-winning artist, Diamond is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the highest honors bestowed upon songwriters. Diamond's many other achievements include a Golden Globe Award and 12 Grammy nominations. He was NARAS's 2009 MusiCares Person of the Year. Diamond, who was inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame this March, is also a veteran of the Broadway stage - he appeared in a limited engagement one-man concert that played the Winter Garden Theatre for two weeks in October 1972.

Mr Diamond an ICON

Legendary singer and songwriter Neil Diamond will receive the 2011 Billboard Icon Award at this weekend's Billboard Music Awards. Diamond will also take to the stage and perform. The award, which honors the cultural impact of an artist whose extraordinary talent as a creator, writer, and entertainer has stood the test of time, will be presented at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. Hosted by Ken Jeong, the awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas this Sunday from 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET on ABC.

Dazzling Neil Diamond delivers in Brisbane

* Noel Mengel

* From: The Courier-Mail

* March 21, 2011 10:29PM

Neil Diamond in concert at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.l Picture: Adam Smith Source: The Courier-Mail

THERE is Neil Diamond, the consummate songwriter of the '60s, and Diamond, the popular entertainer of the '70s.

More lately, Diamond has been restoring his cred as a songwriter under the guiding hand of producer Rick Rubin.

At Monday night's first of two shows at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre there was room for all of the above from the newly inducted member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Sure, Diamond has written his share of cheese but he got that out of his system early last night.

From the first chords of Cherry Cherry the show shifted into a higher gear.

That song gave his crack band the chance to stretch out with some dazzling solos, especially from his virtuoso percussionist.

For the rest of the show he couldn't really miss with songs like Shiloh, a slightly slowed down version of Solitary Man and almost all the favourites loved by fans.

He delivered an emotional version of one of his strongest new songs, Pretty Amazing Grace and a history lesson in the evolution of his hit for The Monkees, I'm A Believer, from rocker to ballad.

Diamond's voice is still in great shape and the sound quality was immaculate.

Will this be his last tour of Australia?

That's the rumour but if this is to be goodbye he'll leave plenty of good memories.

Diamond plays the Brisbane Entertainment Centre again on Wednesday night .

March 14, 2011 Monday night, five new performers will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Over the past several weeks, Morning Edition has looked behind the stage personas of this year's honorees. Here, we conclude the series with the story of an anonymous Tin Pan Alley tunesmith who went on to become one of the country's most popular concert performers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A brooding young man sat in the offices of a prominent New York music publishing company one day in the early 1960s. Sitting next to him was one of Aldon Music's staff songwriters, Cynthia Weil. She recalls that this guy wasn't sure about who he was. He wasn't even sure about his own name. "I said, why would you change a name like Neil Diamond?" Weil says. "That's beautiful. He said, 'Diamond! Diamond! You think that's beautiful?' I said, 'Yeah, it's ... Diamond!' And he said, 'Oh, I don't know.' " ------------------------------------------------------- Neil Diamond did know that he wasn't interested in his pre-med studies; he spent most of his class time jotting down song ideas. Diamond tried recording demos of his tunes, but they always ended up sounding like half-baked versions of The Everly Brothers or Buddy Holly. In a 2005 interview with WHYY's Fresh Air, Diamond said he wasn't any good at emulating someone else's voice and experience in a song. "That's probably why I spent eight years down there in Tin Pan Alley and had very little success," he said. "There was not a lot of me in those songs." ------------------------------------------------------- Success finally came in 1966, when Diamond got the chance to give voice to his own words and music. " 'Solitary Man' was the first in a long line of 'me' songs, my experience songs," he said. But to express the "me" in a song, one has to keep coming up with new things to say. In 2008, Diamond wrote that he feels a sense of dread when it comes time to make a new album — a sense of doubt as to whether he's going to be able to write a decent set of songs. ------------------------------------------------------- Weil says every songwriter fears that. But she says she is lucky not to be the one singing her words. "The great thing is, if you don't write a hit, nobody cares and nobody knows," she says. "You're not like the artist that's going down in flames. It's basically our job to stay in the background. Sometimes, you feel you want to say, 'That's my song,' but it's not the way it is." Neil Sedaka started his career in the background, writing songs for others, but he says he only really found himself when he started performing his own material. He says audiences know the difference. "People can sense when the song comes from their gut, when the lyrics and melody come from their gut," Sedaka says. ------------------------------------------------------- Sedaka and Diamond are old friends. They grew up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood and have both made careers out of singing their own songs. But, he says, the price for being yourself is that you always have to top yourself. "You know, that blank page is always scary," Sedaka says. "But, certainly, if you have a history of as many hits as [Diamond has], you do have to do something that raises the bar." ------------------------------------------------------- Over the course of nearly a half-century, Diamond has placed more than 70 songs on the pop charts. And, though he may not always know where that next song is going to come from, he has come a long way from the days when he wasn't even sure who he wanted to be.

Diamond What A Showman!

Neil Diamond has just turned 70, but the fire is still burning when it comes to touring. AS WITH hearing ''here's the bass solo'', the news that an artist is doing an album of covers is generally a sign that fans can take a break for a while, safe in the knowledge that this will be a space filler - probably good but not essential. ------------------------------------------------------- So after Neil Diamond revived respect and his career with the albums 12 Songs and Home Before Dark - two compilations of intense and personal songs stripped back to bone and muscle - you would be forgiven for abandoning expectations on seeing that his latest album, Dreams, was a collection of songs by contemporaries such as Bill Withers, Lennon and McCartney, Randy Newman and Leonard Cohen. However, although Dreams is not as sparse sounding as its two Rick Rubin-produced predecessors, there is an emotional rawness that connects them. In all three albums there is a sense of Diamond, who turned 70 last month, pulling something out from deep within him. ''At this point in my life, every song that I sing, whether I record it or perform it, it has an urgency to it that I've never really felt before,'' Diamond says softly. ------------------------------------------------------- ''I always felt that there was plenty of time to experiment and do basically what I wanted to do, but now it feels like I have to get down to business and make every song count, every note count. That's what's been happening. ''They cut deeper for some reason, inside of me. They are not just performances, they are expressions of who I am and what I am. That's probably what you are hearing, I sense it as well. I don't think it's intentional but I'm beginning to believe that that's the whole underlying foundation of these last few albums.'' ------------------------------------------------------- For all the glittered-up showman image he had in the 1970s and '80s, an acute awareness of his flaws and frailties is a constant through Diamond's work, from his earliest songs such as Solitary Man. He has never been afraid to show us his weaknesses ''because part of the nature of the pact that I have with the audience is that I be totally honest … even to the point of making a fool of myself''. ''They want a real human being and that's what I'm going to give them. I'm not trying to present some kind of perfect being … I'm just another guy who happens to be able to write music and sing and loves doing it, so let's not take it too far. I still put my pants on one leg at a time.'' ------------------------------------------------------- Which is always comforting to hear from the son of haberdashers. Equally comforting for fans is that he is still performing and is about to embark on another Australian tour. But why would a fabulously wealthy 70-year-old still bother with the rigours of touring? One answer is clear if you have seen footage of Diamond offstage and on. Offstage, he looks and sounds his age, a little frail even, but as he comes into the light, his shoulders noticeably straighten, his stride lengthens and his voice firms as he seems to drop a couple of decades. ''You do feel uplifted,'' he says. ''Up till then it's all theory, but when you step out on stage in front of the audience, the faces, the reactions, the responses, the warmth, it gets you, it changes you, it transforms you. Basically, offstage I'm a quiet person, I fly under the radar.'' ------------------------------------------------------- Can he envisage giving up performing? ''I thought for many years that I could walk away and never look back, but I think the reality is that this is something that I will have to do and continue to do for the rest of my life. The audience looks up to me and I want to be that person that they are looking up to …'' Neil Diamond plays Rod Laver Arena on March 5, 11 and 13.

Diamond Still Cuts It!

Neil Diamond in concert. Picture: Jay Town Source: Herald Sun His first hit was in 1966 and his first tour here came a decade later, but from the moment Neil Diamond was suddenly illuminated on stage at a packed Adelaide Entertainment Centre last night it was clear he'd lost none of his power to hold a stadium captive. ------------------------------------------------------- Stick-slim in black jeans and sparkly black jacket, the legendary singer-songwriter showed barely a sign he'd just turned 70 last month, giving up one hit song after another in a one-man non-stop performance. Diamond's first Australian tour in six years began with the booming drums of Soolaimon, before working through the gamut of his extensive and eclectic songbook. ------------------------------------------------------- He sang with that same familiar strong, deep and slightly gravely voice, rolling back the years with his on-stage enthusiasm. Yes, the man was enjoying himself and why not? The crowd of more than 10,000 was the eight largest the centre has had. Recommended Hot night in the city The Australian, 2 days ago Neil Diamond flies 'on the wings of music' The Daily Telegraph, 4 days ago Big fakes, but we think we love you The Daily Telegraph, 23 Feb 2011 A dunny'll do for Neil Diamond Adelaide Now, 18 Feb 2011 Goers: Boy from Oz lived a lucky life Adelaide Now, 12 Feb 2011 Admittedly, most of his familiar and best songs are from the 1960s and 70s (Solitary Man, Kentucky Woman, I'm a Believer, You Don't Bring me Flowers) and you would struggle to remember anything worthy from the 1980s. ------------------------------------------------------- But, a bit like Diamond himself, they have an ageless quality. It's not nostalgia that gets the audiences in, but the tunes. And he did sing a couple of new songs from his latest album Dreams, although they were old hits by other people. Diamond is best when he sticks to his own stuff. A big part of the attraction has always been the lyrics, with subject matter that can be unusual for the pop genre. Ultimately though it's a great tune well sung that hooks you in. And Diamond knows how to do that just about better than anyone, as more than 100 million album sales attest. ------------------------------------------------------- I was determined to avoid standing and swaying along to Sweet Caroline, but there was no point resisting. The man would not be denied and the audience was in raptures. Diamond is no super showman, but a master performer, and there was relatively little chit-chat as he moved with barely a breather between one song and the next (remembering from time to time to turn and sing to the unlucky but determined fans who sat behind the stage to see only his back for most of the show). ------------------------------------------------------- As Diamond noted himself, it was hard to believe - it felt like only a minute, he said, since he'd been here the first time 35 years ago, and that not long after his monster success with the Hot August Night album of 1972. The audience, mostly but not exclusively baby boomers, no doubted nodded knowingly to themselves. As he sang Shilo - a young girl with fire - I watched in the seats in front of me a grey haired grandma sing those words along with him. Once she was; hard to believe indeed. ------------------------------------------------------- Diamond ended with some of his biggest hits Cracklin Rosie, I Am I Said but it was the song that has almost become a theme for the baby boomers that had them up and dancing first - Forever in Blue Jeans. No doubt about it, this Diamond still cuts it.

GOOD REVIEW for Diamond at Vector Arena

Neil Diamond: Vector Arena, Auckland

After a week of live music from Queens Of The Stone Age, Tricky, Amanda Palmer, Gang Of Four and Don McLean, Neil Diamond may not be the hippest ticket in town, but it certainly featured the most hits. I went along to see Diamond (for the first time) expecting to know just about every song in his set, and that’s pretty much what happened.

A Neil Diamond concert is not about surprises, it’s a slick, well-paced, well-played run through of some of the best (and worst) songs from the 60s and 70s. In true melodramatic style Neil Diamond rose up on a moving platform at approximately 8:15pm just after his 14-piece band took the stage and began playing Soolaimon. Like many of the fans who filled up the Vector, Diamond looked 20 years younger than he is (he turned 70 a month ago), although a certain amount of cosmetic assistance may have been in evidence, also like many of the attending fans. No matter, Diamond was in good voice, the band was well-rehearsed and they quickly got stuck in to hits like Love On The Rocks, Forever In Blue Jeans, Play Me and Cherry, Cherry. There were a few lesser known songs littered among the hits…the title track to the 1976 Robbie Robertson-produced album Beautiful Noise, Hello Again, from 1980’s The Jazz Singer, and Pretty Amazing Grace from his 2008 album, Home Before Dark. That was one of two songs taken from the recent albums produced by Rick Rubin; the other was Hell Yeah, from 2005’s 12 Songs. Interestingly it seemed that the lesser known songs carried more weight. Perhaps it’s because we’ve become so familiar with the hit singles, that eventually the lyrics lose their impact.

Diamond also featured to covers from his Dreams album of last year, Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine and Midnight Train To Georgia, made famous by Gladys Knight & The Pips and written by Jim Weatherly. Of the two, Midnight Train came across more believably. Earlier hits like Solitary Man, Kentucky Woman and I’m A Believer were performed in the middle of the 105 minute set, while sing-along favourites like Cracklin’ Rosie, Sweet Caroline and Holly Holy were saved for the end. The one misstep was the ultra-patriotic America, from The Jazz Singer; complete with a cringe-inducing video montage…Song Sung Blue would have been a better choice. The evening ended with a rousing version of Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show, then Diamond got on his motorized platform and descended down behind the stage, waving to his fans.

This was a big, slick, production along the lines of what Elvis’ shows must have been like in the 70s. Yes, there were moments of pure corn and over-dramatic singing, but the strength of Diamond’s songs made this an entertaining, if somewhat bloodless, night of nostalgia.

Here’s the set list for the concert:

Soolaimon
Beautiful Noise
Love On The Rocks
Hello Again
Forever In Blue Jeans
Pretty Amazing Grace
Play Me
Cherry Cherry
Solitary Man
Kentucky Woman
Ain’t No Sunshine
Midnight Train To Georgia
I’m A Believer
You Don’t Bring Me Flowers
Crunchy Granola Suite
Sweet Caroline
Cracklin’ Rosie
Holly Holy
Hell Yeah
I Am I Said
America
Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show

DIAMOND in CONCERT Aug. 18

DIAMOND WOW'S EM IN Blaisdell Arena Honolulu!

Neil Diamond Honored At The White House