DIAMOND IS FOREVER
Star still shines at age 74
Pop legend Neil Diamond delivered a bouquet of golden oldies to an audience of more than 8,000 nostalgia-seekers at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.
At 74, the multimillion-selling superstar hardly looked a day older than at his last appearance in Ottawa seven long years ago. There was lightness in his step and he was in good shape vocally, his silky tenor soaring over the big, brassy 14-piece band that accompanied him. Backing singers, a horn section, multiple guitars and a pair of percussionists were among the skilled personnel who helped create the deliciously lush sound.
On an elegantly lit multilevel stage, the ageless crooner performed for two hours straight without taking a break for an intermission. But he did pace himself, limiting his exertion with a string of mid-tempo ballads through the first half of the show.
Performing in front of a princess-cut image of a diamond that flickered like a disco ball, the suave New Yorker stepped into the proceedings with the engaging Monkees hit, I’m A Believer, followed by the showy Desiree and the bittersweet Love On The Rocks, its emotional core laid bare in a howl of a saxophone solo.
Although it was a well-paced concert that went off without a hitch, Diamond took a while to generate a palpable level of excitement among the older couples celebrating their Saturday date night.
Diamond cruised through the unctuous Hello Again, the shimmering Pretty Amazing Grace (from his 2008 album, Home Before Dark) and the harmonica-laden You Got To Me before starting to heat things up with the likes of Kentucky Woman, Solitary Man, Red Red Wine and Play Me.
A couple of unfamiliar songs from Diamond’s latest album, Melody Road, created a lull that sent some folks to the concourse in search of refreshments, while the extended round of band introductions during Cherry Cherry didn’t do much to get them back.
But Diamond is a professional entertainer with decades of experience, and he has a not-so-secret combination of tunes that works to win over every crowd.
On Saturday, the glow began with the booming Holly Holy, built through the melodramatic I Am … I Said and eventually swept through the encore, a chunk of tunes that tacked almost half an hour onto the show.
While Cracklin’ Rosie made for an upbeat re-entrance, the song that everyone was waiting for was, of course, his 1969 nugget Sweet Caroline. Diamond may have thrown in a couple of other tunes, but the centrepiece of the encore — arguably the centrepiece of the entire show — was Sweet Caroline, extended as much as possible by the enthusiastic singing along of the whole audience. It made for a satisfying finish.