Reviews and Recommendations: 60s

Went to the Liverpool Philharmonic on Sunday to see the show.  Absolutely fantastic - fortunately we were sitting on the back row - danced all night as eventually the rest of the audience did.

Took me back to my youth and have to say the artistes were brilliant -... [more]

Went to the Liverpool Philharmonic on Sunday to see the show.  Absolutely fantastic - fortunately we were sitting on the back row - danced all night as eventually the rest of the audience did.

Took me back to my youth and have to say the artistes were brilliant - totally professional - it's a must see show, I'm still singing today !

Have just booked to go to see the show again at the Southport Summer Classics - don't think you can get a better recommendation than that, do you ?

p.s. Must mention that the audience was of mixed ages which I thought was wonderful - Motown will live on, hopefully forever. [less]

I was one of a few fans to get a ticket to a private show which was being filmed for broadcast on TV.

I was up in the balcony where I guess there were around 60 people in single rows on three sides. Down below there were probably not many more... [more]

Event Date: February 18, 2009
Event Venue: LSO St. Luke’s, London

I was one of a few fans to get a ticket to a private show which was being filmed for broadcast on TV.

I was up in the balcony where I guess there were around 60 people in single rows on three sides. Down below there were probably not many more than 100 people seated among tables – special guests such as Marianne’s friends and family, record company execs, press etc. The stage was 3 or 4 steps up, quite wide and had the imposing church windows up behind it.

There were 11 musicians - organ/piano, 4 x string section, guitar, drums, bass, brass/woodwind, brass/woodwind/accordion/piano, guitar/ukulele/mandolin/viola/saw. And, of course, one Marianne Faithfull dressed in a black suit and white blouse, mostly standing but sometimes seated on a stall. This was the first time she had performed the new songs in front of people and she said she was a bit nervous to start with.

I won’t go into detail about every song - I’ll just pick out some highlights. She started with a nice rendition of the familiar ‘Times Square’ and then quickly into the songs from the new album with ‘Down From Dover’, the merits of the large band already showing with brass, strings and organ all adding their bit to create a rich backing track. ‘Children of Stone’ included some marvellous flute playing – I’m quite partial to a bit of flute. One of my favourites from the new album ‘Hold On Hold On’ moved along at pace and ended in a great fuzz viola solo (or was it violin?). Another of my favourites ‘The Crane Wife’ started up to a shout of “I love you” from the balcony, building to a crescendo of vocals, drums, guitar and accordion. ‘Easy Come Easy Go’ appeared to be a favourite of Marianne’s and her voice was a superb match for it.

Back to an old song with ‘Broken English’, not as raucous as usual but a more sinister, rumbling sound with an appropriate sounding sax solo. It was nice to hear a different arrangement which took advantage of the big band. Possibly my favourite of the new tracks on the night was ‘Kimbie’, with Marianne’s excellent vocals accompanied by guitar and accordion. It seemed like the whole audience was holding it’s breath throughout the song. Then, my most definite favourite new one, the Morrissey song ‘Dear God Please Help Me’. It was every bit as good as I hoped, with the strings really coming to the fore.

Then followed ‘Sister Morphine’ with Marianne doing a very good impersonation of Bob Dylan and threatening to do the whole song that way sometime, ‘The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan’ with an appropriate accordion accompaniment, ‘Why’d Ya Do It’, as good as ever but again a bit different with organ and sax prominent, and a special arrangement of ‘As Tears Go By’. It was apparently the first time Marianne has sung it live to the original backing arrangement, including the Cor Anglais played by one of the very versatile musicians. Strings and piano were added to make it a very special performance indeed.

‘Sing Me Back Home’ was performed as the encore and seemed an apt winding up, going home kind of song.

This was the end of a very special and intimate performance, the likes of which most of us will never see again, and I felt quite privileged to be there. I hope, for the sake of those that weren’t as lucky as me, that there will be a tour later in the year with the same band and similar set list, as I’m sure you’ll think it’s great.

Thanks to Marianne for making some tickets available to her fans and for a night I won’t forget. [less]

Visited our daughter in Blackpool who had booked 3 tickets for the Saturday evening show.  It exceeded expectations with the cast and the audience feeding off each other; the performance being just fab and the involvement from the audience of those dancing in the isles and applause and clapping... [more]

Event Date: April 11, 2009
Event Venue: Blackpool

Visited our daughter in Blackpool who had booked 3 tickets for the Saturday evening show.  It exceeded expectations with the cast and the audience feeding off each other; the performance being just fab and the involvement from the audience of those dancing in the isles and applause and clapping to the beat spontaneously was amazing.  Not a young audience but responsive and invigorating nonetheless.  The whole show predictably ended with a standing ovation as the cast threw itself into the final scene 'At The Hop' with the audience going wild and the cast loving every minute.

Humour underpinned the evening of nostalgia embellished with a first class performance.  We all went home feeling good.  We are thinking of doubling the dose at Northampton this week as we live in Leicester.

A show not to be missed if you were around in the 50s and 60s.  Relive it for the tonic of your life. [less]

Whenever Neil comes to the UK on tour we make a point of booking to see this wonderful, talented artist.  Blending his back-catalogue with new songs and new slants on classic melodies and lyrics, his polished performance is definitely worth any journey you may make. He is a classically... [more]

Whenever Neil comes to the UK on tour we make a point of booking to see this wonderful, talented artist.  Blending his back-catalogue with new songs and new slants on classic melodies and lyrics, his polished performance is definitely worth any journey you may make. He is a classically trained pianist and truly a rock n roll legend. To appreciate this combination we urge anyone and everyone who loves a showman, a showstopper and someone who is genuinely a lovely man not to miss his 2009 tour. His tap dancing is not to be missed!
Last time we had the pleasure of seeing Neil in concert his daughter Dara sang with him by video link and there was also a surprise guest:Tony Christie. (In case it is not widely known Neil wrote "Amarillo" which has been such a huge hit for Tony).
We have seen Neil at The  Royal Festival Hall in London and Birmingham Symphony Hall as they are our nearest venues but would gladly travel further afield, not to miss a performance.  Neil will be at Birmingham Symphony Hall on 1st July 2009 and we have already booked our seats! It is a huge venue, so to get a prime slot don't delay.
We have also had the good luck to have met Neil personally and he is charming and easy-going; he is very interesting to talk to and will happily sign autographs and pose for photos and what's more he LOVES performing in the UK. [less]

I have been lucky enough to have seen Neil Diamond live eight times and each time has been  a unique and unforgettable experience.
He has to be one of the world's foremost live performers and gives his all to his audiences for well over two hours at every show. This... [more]

I have been lucky enough to have seen Neil Diamond live eight times and each time has been  a unique and unforgettable experience.
He has to be one of the world's foremost live performers and gives his all to his audiences for well over two hours at every show. This year I attended his concerts at ther NIA at Birmingham and also at Cardiff Millenium Stadium and although there were thousands in the audience Neil addressed each and every one of us. Neil is the ultimate showman but never above his audience he is definitely with his audience as one. Singing along and dancing is essential to most songs,all his hits are legendary and he just rocks around the stage on numbers like "Cracklin Rosie" and "America" wowing the crowd. The ballads like  "Hello","Play Me" and "Love on the Rocks" just flow out of Neil in his wonderful gravely voice, lyrics delivered with every ounce of emotion. This year we were also treated to songs from his recent highly successful album "Home before Dark" one of his most successful ever including an awesome arrangement of "Pretty Amazing Grace".Neil has a fantastic band of excellent musicians behind him and they themselves are almost an act in their own right sounding fantastic.. It is clear that Neil and his band are closer than close, this comes straight over  to the audience. he always performs "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with one of his backing singers Linda Press and without any disrespect to Miss Streisand their version is equally as good.
The best memory of 'audience participation' I can recall is  "Sweet Caroline"  at Earls Court when, after singing it twice with the band and Neil,all of the 17,000 plus audience proceeded to sing the whole song back to Neil without any music- what dedication ! Neil appeals to young and old alike and anyone who buys a ticket for his show is guaranteed to have a good time. His finale is always  "Brother Loves Travelling Salvation Show", Neil never fails to perform this to perfection and you always leave with a feel good factor and eagerly awaiting the next time the Diamond Roadshow rolls into town. [less]