Monday 9 June 2008

A diamond sparkles


In The Times on Saturday morning there was a not very good review of a Neil Diamond concert in Glasgow on Thursday evening. The concert was held at an open air venue during a thunderstorm and torrential rain. I think that it would be difficult for any performer to give their best under such circumstances. So my husband and I set off to see Neil Diamond in Manchester with some trepidation, wondering what we would see. For a change everything went smoothly. We managed to leave home at about the time we planned, didn't forget our tickets and arrived at the MEN arena in plenty of time. We had to queue to get in which gave us the opportunity to take in our fellow fans. Amazingly Neil Diamond fans come in all shapes and sizes with ages ranging from late twenties to late seventies.

I had seen Neil Diamond about 25 years ago at Earls Court when I was so far away from the stage that he looked about the size of a match stick but there is no mistaking his distinctive voice. Considering the fact that we only bought the tickets two weeks ago, we had reasonably good seats behind the stage. There was also a screen not far from where we were sitting. As the start of the concert approached the band and backing singers made their way onto the stage then the arena was plunged into darkness before Neil Diamond, himself, took to the stage. From the second that he stepped onto the stage he sparkled. He sang a good mix of new material, old hits and classics whilst moving around the stage. I have never been so close to a pop legend as I was when he moved to the back of the stage. The atmosphere was electric during the classic hits Sweet Caroline and Cracklin' Rosie. The concert was excellent. We need not have worried about what we would see.

9 comments:

debsdigest.com said...

Hi - I could have written your comment word for word (almost did - see www.debsdigest.com) !

cheshire wife said...

From the photographs on your blog I think that you were sitting in front of us.

Gone Back South said...

Wow that sounds brilliant. He is a legend!

david mcmahon said...

I'm a fan from way back. Been to a concert of his, too.

debsdigest.com said...

How funny - you didn't drop a glasses case did you? I love coincidences.

cheshire wife said...

We noticed that somebody dropped something but no we did not drop a glasses case.

debsdigest.com said...

I'm sure you can't be interested in this and I promise it's my final comment - we were M 15 and 16

cheshire wife said...

We were in N 7 and 8. The person that I noticed that may have been you, was in front of us and to our right. Perhaps I should have concentrated on watching Neil Diamond.

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