CONCERT REVIEW: Neil Diamond still doing his sensitive best - News

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Jan. 04, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CONCERT REVIEW: Neil Diamond still doing his sensitive best

Yesterday's singer has come long way

By JASON BRACELIN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

JASON BRACELIN
MORE COLUMNS

REVIEW

Who: Neil Diamond

When: Friday

Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena

Attendance: 11,000 (est.)

Grade: B+

Neil Diamond
67-year-old singer mixed new and old songs in Friday concert

He's the Bedazzler in human form, a walking, talking rhinestone, his voice a husky summation of all that glitters.

Even Neil Diamond's very name sparkles.

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Back to that voice, it's like Old Spice -- familiar, inviting, perhaps a bit much for some. It's something that, at the right moment, can warm the blood like a campfire.

Diamond's brassy baritone powers a repertoire that's become sequin-encrusted comfort food, chicken soup with star-spangled broth, chock-full of velvety platitudes.

"I hear you wonderin' out loud, are you ever gonna make it? Will you ever work it out? Will you ever take a chance?" Diamond sang to a packed MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday night. "Just believe you can."

The song was "Hell Yeah," a ruminative look back on a long life by a self-professed "old dreamer" who mostly sings of love in times of chaos.

"If you're asking for my time, there isn't much left to give you," the 67-year-old sang during a spare, unadorned number that began as a flickering torch song before gradually building into a hard waltz, like a kettle brought to a slow boil. "Been around a good long while."

"Hell Yeah" is one of the centerpieces of Diamond's superb 2005 disc "12 Songs," which marked a bit of a creative rebirth for the singer that continued on last year's equally wizened and winsome "Home Before Dark."

Enlisting rock super-producer Rick Rubin to strip his songs down to their marrow, the albums are mostly stark, acoustic-based, black and white portraits of Diamond at his most unencumbered.

As good as the material is, Diamond realized it was still going to be a tough sell to an audience that expected him to be a classic pop jukebox.

"You can sit back and relax and enjoy, or you can take a potty break," Diamond said by way of introducing a slew of songs from his latest album, forgiving the crowd for any impatience in advance.

It wasn't necessary -- from the understated purr of "Don't Go There" to the subdued whimsy of "Pretty Amazing Grace," Diamond's newer numbers were some of the evening's best.

And besides, the audience never had to wait long before Diamond aired this chestnut or that.

The breezy bop of "Cherry Cherry," ripened with a solo from nearly every member of Diamond's large backing band, the horn-fired swing of "Sweet Caroline," the heart-in-throat clarion call of "America" and the come-as-you-are "Forever In Blue Jeans" were all met with the kind of open-armed embrace that long lost loved ones are greeted with.

Yeah, it's easy to caricaturize Diamond's tunes as being overly maudlin, a Hallmark card with a beat.

And truth be told, the guy doesn't just wear his heart on his sleeve, he practically floats beneath it like it was some giant hot air balloon.

But wistfulness is this guy's stock in trade, and the feeling he attempts to conjure at one of his shows is akin to the ripe sentimentality of flipping through old high school yearbook photos.

He turns memory lane into a bustling highway packed with fellow travelers.

"Look how far we've come," Diamond sang on the sad-eyed "September Morn." "So far from where we used to be."

But on this night, that distance was reduced to the few feet that separated Diamond from his audience's out-stretched arms.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. Eric Davidson wrote on September 17, 2009 08:22 AM: Still, aside from all of this, I was saddened and disappointed by previewing a few cuts from his last album, Home Before Dark, and realizing - by his voice - that he is now - old. Yet, I like him. I remember as a young child my parents bringing home a new record, Tap Root Manuscript. I enquired enough MP3s plus "Best-of" tracks to compile my own copy of the album recently. And now, I'd rather he stayed for as long as possible, for there are plenty in the music business who should quit while they're ahead. I just acknowledge his voice isn't what it used to be. Sad. And of course, RIP Mary Travers. And Michael Jackson but that too is starting to get outdated. ineke wrote on January 30, 2009 12:04 PM: I mist Neil Diamonds "America" in the concert for Obama. I hope he gets in the rock and roll hall of fame because for me Neil Diamond is the greatist performer (sing, lyrics, voice etc.) a fan from holland!! Hal Dixon wrote on January 24, 2009 02:05 PM: Dear Jason, unfortunately I could not make the concert at the MGM, but having seen previous shows, I can only but wonder why is this man, this extraordinary song singer, this excellent songwriter, this incredible superstar -- why is he not In the Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame? His songs transcend time! His lyrics are directly from the heart! His devotion to music speaks for itself! So please Jason, shall we not all gather to sponsor his place in history and honor his devotion to Rock 'n Roll? Please feel free to e-mail me anytime! God Bless Neil Diamond! jutta verworrn wrote on January 12, 2009 03:35 AM: neil diamond was super,we came extra for the show from germany,pls tell me,we like to spent money for this little town,he spoke .. i forgot the name,we need acount and so on thankyou. regards jutta verworrn jutta verworrn wrote on January 12, 2009 03:35 AM: neil diamond was super,we came extra for the show from germany,pls tell me,we like to spent money for this little town,he spoke .. i forgot the name,we need acount and so on thankyou. regards jutta verworrn jutta verworn wrote on January 10, 2009 11:50 AM: neil diamond was super,his voice,music and full power,we come extra only for this concert to las vegas, we friends and i saw him in köln arena 31.may08 but las vegas was special it is not the same when he is in germany live,it is different it was amazing.. mary noll wrote on January 08, 2009 06:48 PM: DEAR JASON BRACELIN..THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS.. AND I REALLY NEED TO SAY: IF NEIL DIAMOND WASN'T AROUND MAYBE THER WILL ONE MORE SUNRISE THRU THE BLEACHERS TO SEA, AND WITH ALL THE PEOPLE IT MAKES A PRETTY SWEET DEAL. AND WE BOTH KNOW BEING A CRITIC THAT H A R D.. TO DO, WHEN GOT PLEASE THE FANS WE ARE DEFINATLY IN NEED OF ANOTHER SUNRISE IN SEATTLE PLAY ME, NO SWEET CAROLINE.. MAYBE BUT BROOKLYN ROADS GOTCHA!!! BYE I TOLD YOU SHE KNOWS!! HAVE FUN IN THE SNOW GOD KNOW YOU NEED IT MORE THAN WE DO R I G H T!!! Neil Fan wrote on January 04, 2009 09:28 PM: NEIL ROCKS! Why don't one of the properties try to get Neil to HEADLINE???