Thursday, August 28, 2008
This interview took place via email between Marc Bantel and your intrepid blogger, freebie superstar.
How did you get free tix to see Neil Diamond?
Well, I got them from my day job with the Red Cross in Greater New York.
So how was the concert?Great. The dude is 67 years old and he filled... I mean... FILLED madison square gardens. It was vaguely surreal to go into the show and be the youngest people there, but he came out with tons of energy, didn't take any breaks and sang for over 2 hours.Also, they are taping it for distribution so it would be cool to actually get the video at some point.
Did you dance in the aisle?
Not in the aisle, but he got us up and dancing for the first couple of numbers (holly holy and another uptempo). The crowd went nuts for Sweet Caroline. If I had one nit against the concert, it was that he did the song 3 times in a row. Three times... wtf? Always leave the crowd wanting more... Rule #1 of showbiz. By the end, the audience had shot their collective wad on the song.Did he wear anything sequined or in a jumpsuit style?Nope. Black suit. It was kind of a Johnny Cash look. He was totally fit, though. We sat behind the stage and basically watched his a$$ for 2 straight hours. Mostly I watched the monitors.Did you embarrass your wife?Not really. She danced with me.
What did he play as an encore?
confession time, we left a bit early. It's a pain to get out of MSG and with all the people with walkers, we figured it would take a lot longer. (I KID!!) Best guess, we missed Cracklin' Rosie and Coming to America.
Was anyone silly enough to try and "open" for him?
Dude. Pearl Jam wouldn't even be able to open for him. The dude sang for over 2 hours straight. No intermissions, no breaks. It was pretty damned amazing.
How many cougars did you spot?
Kitty: Have you seen the racks on the ladies here?
Blogger: Store bought or home grown?
Kitty: Store bought. They have 20 year old bodies attached to 50 year old faces...
How long of a show did he put on?
see above.
Did he interact with the crowd well?
Sort of... He definitely talked to the crowd a bit but it was a bit scripted at times. Not a complaint... it usually went with film clips up on the monitors.
Other comments:
Sitting behind him, we got an incredible view of what it was like to be on stage. The bulk of the audience rolled out ahead of us and it was almost like being on stage with Neil.
We wore earplugs and it was the best thing I've ever done. I would have totally gone hoarse and that would have sucked. I could actually hear the details of the music much more clearly because they took out the distortion of the loud volume. That being said, his band was incredibly tight. He's been touring with them for about 30 years and they knew everything cold. They were totally fun to watch. I saw the mike cord running down the drummer's back and for an instant I thought the dude was on oxygen. Wouldn't be surprised... the band didn't age as well as Neil did.
The main reason we left early was that a bunch of younger people (our age) sat behind us and by the end of the night they were completely smashed. They were talking at each other so loudly and being so freaking rude that it killed the rest of the night for us. I was especially pissed because Neil was singing a couple of slow songs about the price of being a star and touring and it was really speaking to me as a musician and I could barely hear because of the yutzes behind us. They were too drunk to reason with them at all. ugh. Downer on the end of the night.
How did you get free tix to see Neil Diamond?
Well, I got them from my day job with the Red Cross in Greater New York.
So how was the concert?Great. The dude is 67 years old and he filled... I mean... FILLED madison square gardens. It was vaguely surreal to go into the show and be the youngest people there, but he came out with tons of energy, didn't take any breaks and sang for over 2 hours.Also, they are taping it for distribution so it would be cool to actually get the video at some point.
Did you dance in the aisle?
Not in the aisle, but he got us up and dancing for the first couple of numbers (holly holy and another uptempo). The crowd went nuts for Sweet Caroline. If I had one nit against the concert, it was that he did the song 3 times in a row. Three times... wtf? Always leave the crowd wanting more... Rule #1 of showbiz. By the end, the audience had shot their collective wad on the song.Did he wear anything sequined or in a jumpsuit style?Nope. Black suit. It was kind of a Johnny Cash look. He was totally fit, though. We sat behind the stage and basically watched his a$$ for 2 straight hours. Mostly I watched the monitors.Did you embarrass your wife?Not really. She danced with me.
What did he play as an encore?
confession time, we left a bit early. It's a pain to get out of MSG and with all the people with walkers, we figured it would take a lot longer. (I KID!!) Best guess, we missed Cracklin' Rosie and Coming to America.
Was anyone silly enough to try and "open" for him?
Dude. Pearl Jam wouldn't even be able to open for him. The dude sang for over 2 hours straight. No intermissions, no breaks. It was pretty damned amazing.
How many cougars did you spot?
Kitty: Have you seen the racks on the ladies here?
Blogger: Store bought or home grown?
Kitty: Store bought. They have 20 year old bodies attached to 50 year old faces...
How long of a show did he put on?
see above.
Did he interact with the crowd well?
Sort of... He definitely talked to the crowd a bit but it was a bit scripted at times. Not a complaint... it usually went with film clips up on the monitors.
Other comments:
Sitting behind him, we got an incredible view of what it was like to be on stage. The bulk of the audience rolled out ahead of us and it was almost like being on stage with Neil.
We wore earplugs and it was the best thing I've ever done. I would have totally gone hoarse and that would have sucked. I could actually hear the details of the music much more clearly because they took out the distortion of the loud volume. That being said, his band was incredibly tight. He's been touring with them for about 30 years and they knew everything cold. They were totally fun to watch. I saw the mike cord running down the drummer's back and for an instant I thought the dude was on oxygen. Wouldn't be surprised... the band didn't age as well as Neil did.
The main reason we left early was that a bunch of younger people (our age) sat behind us and by the end of the night they were completely smashed. They were talking at each other so loudly and being so freaking rude that it killed the rest of the night for us. I was especially pissed because Neil was singing a couple of slow songs about the price of being a star and touring and it was really speaking to me as a musician and I could barely hear because of the yutzes behind us. They were too drunk to reason with them at all. ugh. Downer on the end of the night.
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