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Review: Diamond aims for high drama

Monday, August 29, 2005
By John Young

Neil Diamond worked on his forthcoming album with Rick Rubin. Apparently the producer pushed Diamond to strip down his songs to musical essentials, asking the singer/songwriter to reconnect with his early days simply accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.

It will be all the more interesting to hear the results given Diamond's performance Friday night at Mellon Arena. Diamond led a musical revue worthy of Vegas or Branson, a two-hour, 26-song show played with a 14-piece band. Earnest lyrics and high showmanship defined the big, taut concert.

Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. In fact, the faithful reveled in it. Diamond's "Jazz Singer" soundtrack hit "America" came complete with images of Ellis Island immigrants flashing across two video screens while the singer peppered the song with snatches of "My Country ('Tis of Thee") and talk about his grandparents' arrival here 100 years ago. "Red Red Wine" began as slow, lilting country but built up to a rollicking climax, including Diamond's reworded version of the toasting that British reggae band UB40 added to the coda of their hit version of the tune. Diamond closed the set with "Brother Love?s Travelling Salvation Show," complete with his version of Baptist-style preaching about how we're all God's children.

The only nod to a potential new musical direction came during a two-song interlude near show's end. Diamond sat down to play acoustic guitar, backed only by two other guitars and a bit of keyboard. Rather than trying new tunes, however, he dipped far back into his catalog for "Glory Road" and "The Grass Won't Pay No Mind."

Occasionally Diamond's show veered dangerously close to being overly serious. Maybe it was the way he made the verses sound like shouted dramatic readings during "I'm a Believer" and "Cracklin' Rosie." Maybe it was the introductions for songs that discussed thematic concerns the lyrics would eventually make evident of their own accord. Maybe it was the way Diamond remained straight-faced singing this refrain to a song he wrote expressly for introducing each member of his band:

"Brew the coffee/ring the bell/ play it nasty/give 'em hell."

But no sooner did Diamond indulge a bit too much in his show-biz persona than he became real again. His request that everyone turn to the person on their right and say, "I love you so much" earned hale, awkward laughter as intended. His story about when he stuck his legs out of his hotel window to enjoy the rain the last time he was in Pittsburgh was distinctive if a bit unusual. And when the house lights came up during "Cherry, Cherry" and "Sweet Caroline" so that Diamond could observe the sing-alongs he inspired there was no denying the quality of the material or the genuine joy throughout the room.

Diamond's concert didn't feature the great showman doing anything he hadn't done before. He does schmaltz well, but it's intriguing to ponder what new musical tricks Diamond might still have up his sleeve and how they might impact future shows.

(John Young is a freelance reviewer.)

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