Durban kept to its tradition of raining on days when we have an outdoor concert. But it didn’t dampen the spirits of the fans who went to see Neil Diamond last night. Sharon Gill was in the 25,000-strong crowd …
As it happened, the clouds dispensed a light shower for a few minutes and then turned their taps off for the rest of the night.
After almost fifty years in the business, Neil Diamond isn’t touring for the money. “I just do it for the fans,” he told his SA tour publicist. No support band, no frills, just the 70-year-old legend and his band on stage.
And what a band he has. If I counted correctly, there were ten musicians on stage, including a brass section, plus three backing vocalists.
I can’t remember what the show kicked off with – Cherry Cherry, perhaps, and we were busy locking our cameras away when he sang Love on the rocks.
At some point in the proceedings he sang the solid gold favourites that got everybody on their feet: Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show, Sweet Caroline and Crackling Rosie, before launching into another string of classics from 40 years ago – I’m a believer, Solitary Man, Shilo and Holly Holy. I don’t remember the order of the songs, I just remember that the voices of the audience echoed around that stadium.
The biggest treat for me was his cover of Bill Withers’ Ain’t no sunshine. I don’t have Diamond’s new album, so to see and hear him perform that song live was really something special for me.
I asked my colleague and long-time concert playmate, Sally Scott, what she thought of the show: “I’ve got nothing against over the top staging, all those top gun light shows and the rest, but Neil Diamond, now in his 70s, didn’t need any frills. Just a great line up of top notch musicians and back up singers to show that he can still deliver a show that can rock a stadium full of fans. Singer/songwriter Diamond is still a legend – with X factor to spare.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself.