Neil Diamond could have sung his way through the phone book and still
delighted the fans who turned out to see him last night at the Arena.
But by sticking to the songs which made him famous and some covers of movie soundtracks,
he proved that, although he is pushing 60, his voice is as good as it ever was. He kicked
off with What A Beautiful Noise and that was enough to bring many members of the audience
to their feet.
The concert was played out in the round and as Diamond strolled round the circular
rotating stage, the whole auditorium was bathed in flashing, coloured lights in a far more
sophisticated display than he used during his last appearance in the Arena.
The tour is a promoting his new album The Movie Album, but before he performed some of the
new songs he gave the audience what he knew they were there to hear - the old, two o'clock
in the morning classics like Hello Again and Love On The Rocks.
From there he moved on to the more upbeat Cracklin' Rosie and the dramatic We're Coming to
America, earning a round of applause as the British and American flags dropped from the
ceiling.
The songs from the new album included the theme tune to the film Ghost and a couple of
Sinatra classics but perhaps the highlight of the show was his rendition of You Don't
Bring Me Flowers. The audience was almost still as he sang the duet with his backing
singer Linda. And as the song reached its close there probably wasn't a woman in the Arena
who wouldn't have swapped places with her.
Neil Diamond
Newcastle Telewest Arena
The Jazz Singer showed he is really an old fashioned, all-American entertainer at the
Arena last night.
From the moment Neil Diamond walked to the cnetre of the auditorium looking every inch the
rhinestone cowboy, dressed all in black with only his shirt studded predictably with small
diamonds, it was obvious this was an evening dominated by the trappings of showbiz.
He looked sprightly as he drawled "C'mon y'all" before launching into What a
Beautiful Noise and as soon as he sang the first line in his familiar rasp it was obvious
that despite his 58 years Diamond's voice has barely been tainted by the years.
From there on the show was the epitome of slick, choreographed all-American entertainment
as the band wore permanent grins and Diamond ended the song under a spotlight, reaching to
the heavens in a pose.
But despite always having a tendency for schmaltz Diamond has always had a craving to be
taken seriously as a singer/songwriter and was not prepared to simply indulge in pure
nostalgia.
There was more quiet among the crowd as he played songs from his more recent albums and
some of the old favourites such as Girl you'll Be A Woman Soon which was revitalised by
Urge Overkill on Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, was given a flamenco treatment.
While it is easy to understand why he would try and revive his own interest in tracks he
has played thousands of times by revising them, some were less successful than others and
it was those which sounded most unchanged, such as Hello Again from the Jazz Singer, that
drew the biggest cheers.
Diamond has always played on and celebrated his roots in song and talked several times of
how lucky he felt to be an entertainer.
Predictably the most obvious moment was during a rabble-rousing version of America, which
saw two Union Jacks and a pair of Stars and Stripes fall from the lighting rig.
At times the show was too seamless and rehearsed, but when he launched into his really old
classics this became irrevelant.
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