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.
Marty Duda
Click here to listen to Solitary Man and Kentucky Woman performed in Auckland:
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
See you at the M.E.N. Manchester U.K. on the 4th July Neil……
I Ditto that, Katie!
Neil Diamond is the only MOTR artist I will succumb my ears to and this is the first concert of his I’d attended, having been a bit of a fan for 30 odd years. I’d heard some horror stories about the mix & sound quality at the Vector (Pixies) and went with low expectations of sound quality. A really pleasant surprise then that his voice was super clear althought the band mix was pretty low volume and muddy. Agreed about inclusion of America in the song set Marty, a weird choice for us in the Antipodes.
He really could have gone with more of his earlier material…we know it, love it and it has that transendental appeal which is why I like the guy, rather than the overly dramatic love songs and 80′s cheese.
Skybird and Shilo were sorely missed…having said that, he did do Crunchy Granola Suite…so I ended up feeling pretty blessed.
Neil is 70 years old…what a legend.
I am a great fan for the last 35 years and have tickets for 2 concerts in Rotterdam.
Neil is the best singer ever.
Can’t wait……..
I can’t wait to see Neil in Holland on the 9th of June
Neil love you for ever
What i hear here is still good and i’m very glad Neil is still singing so good at his age
Keep on going
Looking forward seeing Neil in Sydney on March 26th and in Rotterdam on June 9th.
When we planned our journey to Australia we were very lucky that Neil was performing in Sydney when we were there. A few weeks later we saw that Neil was coming to Rotterdam as well. So we will have two Neil Diamond concerts in one year. Lucky we!
As a person who was there, you must understand that these very lo-fi recordings sound nothing like what was heard by the audience – too bad there aren’t higher quality versions!
I’ve been a Neil Diamond fan for the past 40 years and was at the Auckland concert last night – the second time I have seen him live (the first being some 10 years ago). I can assure you he still HAS IT in spades. I came away hoarse from singing and sore hands from clapping. His voice is as good as ever and at times I thought even better than the last time I saw him. A must see for any fan !!!!
Fantastic, can’t wait to see you in Dublin Neil,just wish there were two concerts here. We are in for such a treat, xxxxxx
I am over-the-top to know that “Sooliamon”, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, & “Midnight Train” are in the set this time around. Hope they stay in when he makes the US (hopefully)!!
I want him HOME in the U.S. rested & singing after such a great tour around the world!!!! Funny how we have have to wait, but glad that he shares with the world!!!
Looking forward to seeing Neil here in Hamburg on June 22. So glad he’s coming to Germany again. Thank you for this!
What no Song Sung Blue? Can’t believe that after seeing him 3 times before. Please Neil give us SSB and Shilo when you get to Perth. And would love to hear Say Maybe and Morningside. So many to choose from and a golden performer. Go Neil