Neil Diamond Rocks the Xcel

see the above attached review for a professionals take.

The show is stripped back from previous outings and the effect is a stronger connection to the music and lyrics. Anyone who has seen me at a Neil Diamond concert- I am usually the one being told to sit down at one point or another ( once or twice, memorably, by Neil Himself).

There would be none of that here. This crowd was one their feet for most of the show. My ears were literally sore from the decibel level- not from Neil and the band -but from the singing and cheering crowd in the first ten rows on the floor. They still hurt a bit this morning.

That experience makes me wonder- as I frequently do when I read This guy's reviews- "What was he thinking and what show did he see. To his credit- Jon Bream got it right in that this was a emotionally charged show and there was a hint of finality- but mostly he is mostly a putz who tries too hard to find the negative. For one, it makes no sense at all to criticize a scaled back stage and costume selection hwne he and others have been begging for that for years and the desired emphasis on the music is achieved.

There were some misses on the night- the sound cut out completely at: " Hello ...(St Paul)" with complete silence for about ten seconds. But he recovered completely and professionally.

I loved the new take on "Man of God" from "12 Songs" which may have been a main highlight of my night. But, I was undertwhelmed by "Hell Yeah!" which I was really looking forward to. The problem was that he over-reached for his higher register on the last verse "I've been living in a bowl..." and never quite recovered so that the punch-you- in- in the -face energy of the final "Hell yeah he did..." just kind of fell away.

The sound mixing was a bit off as well- most notably from where I was sitting (fifth row stage left on the main floor) Alan's keyboards sounded too strong and actually distorted the speaker bank over my head. Contrasting, and perhaps because of that, Hadley's solo during the band intros almost disappeared.

I had been asked, by someone in the know, on Friday evening How I felt about "Song Sung Blue." I told him then that I could take or leave it but that the less loyal fans might appreciate one of his better known songs. Also, I pointed out that it has been 15 years or more since he has done it live in the US. This morning I have a slightly different take.

This is such an emotionally charged and guitar driven set. People much older and frankly less motivated than I were on their feet and dancing for most of this (just shy of) two-hour show.

Song Sung Blue is a perfect opportunity to slow down some heart rates -while at the same time creating a nostalgic Kum-bu-ya moment where we all looked back to younger days.

Brother Love was a notable and surprising deletion. In fact, I cannot recall ever being to a Neil show where he has not done it (although it has happened on the rare occassion). America did work as a fitting and powerful end. Perhaps it is time to give Bro Love a rest, or perhaps a stripped down reworking and reintorduce it earlier in the show - Maybe as an opening.

The emotional impact of this show was remarkable. It is not like I am a total girl but I actually teared up on more than one occassion. This performance- including the crowd reaction, in spite of what the moron at the startribune might say, will go down as one of my top ten.