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.