Neil Diamond will be featured on CBS News Sunday Morning, this Sunday 5/11/2008. This piece will be about Neil's recent club gig at the historic Bitter End in New York. Click here if you need to find show times in your city.
Also, look for Neil to perform a few songs on Jimmy Kimmel Live, on May 23rd. Check local listings for showtimes.
Look for our next post soon / Monday, with a listing of European Televsion appearances, and more.
From Neil Diamond's Bitter End Show --
Check out our photo gallery here.
Also, here is more on the show from the Village Voice, including a great concert shot, and a shout out on the Brooklyn Vegan Blog.
From our man at the Bitter End....
Tonight's show rocked!! The setlist was comprised of seven songs (see below) and both Neil and the crowd were rocking!
Neil was introduced by Paul Colby, a former owner of the Bitter End. For the show Neil wore black slacks, shirt and a brown leather jacket. Neil played guitar the entire show. Tonight's band was composed of Alan, Doug, Reine, Smokey Hormel and Matt Sweeny.
This was truly a memorable day for our man on the streets and for the other fans who were able to attend this once in a lifetime show. I am sure that all those who attended are truly grateful to Neil for giving them this special evening. All patrons received a numbered Home By Dark/Bitter End poster at the end of the show. Our man on the street received number 296 out of 300.
Final setlist for the show was as follows:
Solitary Man
Don't Go There
Home Before Dark
Pretty Amazing Grace
Kentucky Woman
Cherry, Cherry
Sweet Caroline
From our man who is no longer on the streets but is now sitting inside the Bitter End.....
The written setlist for tonight is as follows:
Don't Go There
Home Before Dark
Pretty Amazing Grace
Solitary Man
Kentucky Woman
Cherry, Cherry
Sweet Caroline
More to come later so stay tuned.
Songs heard during sound check at Bitter End:
Home Before Dark, Pretty Amazing Grace, Solitary Man, Kentucky Woman, Cherry, Cherry and Sweet Caroline
Also, all fans attending the show will receive a free poster at the end of the show. (the poster shown for the show on the myspace secret show website). How cool is that!!
Neil has arrived at the Bitter End.
According to the club owner fans will be sitting up front for the show, there will be no press and only two reps from Columbia will be there. All this is per Neil's request as Neil wants this show to be for the fans.
First two songs that were sound checked - Home Before Dark and Pretty Amazing Grace.
More updates as we get them.
Just seen entering the club were Reine, Alan and Doug. Could it be that these will be the only band members to perform with Neil tonight? Check back later for updates. Neil is expected to arrive at the club shortly.
Show will begin at approximately 9pm and is expected to last approximately 35-40 minutes.
The Bitter Ends holds 171 patrons.
Check back later for more reports from our man on the streets at the Bitter End.
From our man on the street, Joe Imhof, at the Bitter End comes this live report.
Tonight's show at the Bitter End is being filmed.
The show will feature only a few band members, not the entire band.
Fans started lining up for the show today at 11am.
Rehearsal for the Bitter End show is scheduled to begin today at 3pm. Doors open at 7pm.
New CD Release Day Today - May 6, 2008. Neil Diamond's new CD Home Before Dark, is now available in a music store near you. Produced again by Rick Rubin, Home Before Dark is the eagerly awaited follow-up to the critically acclaimed Gold selling 12 Songs, which featured Neil in a stripped down, acoustic setting. Highlights include a duet with Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, and standout tracks One More Bite of the Apple, Act Like a Man (originally written in 1984, but never released before today), and the title song.
The new CD "remains true to the organic blueprint that casts Diamond's gifts in a fresh, gratifying light", reports the Boston Globe (link here).
Diamond's "band, including a few of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, plays immaculately. Memorable melodies are never in shortage" according to Adam McKibbin at Metromix (link), who's 3 star review also reports the interesting fact that "Diamond earned himself a new nickname—“The Basher”—while recording the album, thanks to his hyper-enthusiastic guitar playing".
The Washington Times (link) glows about the new material, noting the song One More Bite of the Apple as a standout track which "is about the joy Mr. Diamond finds in his return to writing original songs. He sings, 1Free the word from the page/ Free the bird from the cage/ Just go out there and face what you did before/ Did it once you can do it once more.' Look for the spare but powerful guitar-and-piano-driven tune to be the showstopper on his next tour." and they conclude that "Mr. Diamond has never sounded so gritty, so wise, so haunted and so grateful to be still alive as he does on this genuinely moving album".
Neil Diamond is interviewed by Steve Baltin of Spinner (link) in a wide ranging discussion of the new CD as well as topics such as favorite cover versions of his songs, and more. In one passage here, Neil speaks to Mr Baltin about the mysteries of songwriting "You write, so you find a phrase -- an idea that just comes to you. You like it, you want to build on it, explore it, see where it takes you. It's a signpost. You can be thrilled by it and how you use it. What does it mean? And does it have to mean anything literally, or can it just be an emotional statement? It defies description. It's work. You just jump in and learn how to swim each time. I've been doing it since I was 16, and I still couldn't possibly describe what the process is. I sit down, try and find something that touches me or moves me, build on that and make it into a fully-realized musical statement"
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune (link) "When he sings with Dixie Chick Natalie Maines on the piano-based ballad Another Day (That Time Forgot), their voices blend beautifully; when he carries an irresistible melody over shimmering guitars on "The Power of Two," it's a refreshing reminder ... and when he turns in the spirited, deeply reflective "One More Bite of the Apple," he seems positively energized".
Martin Bandyke of the Detroit Free Press (link) praises Neil Diamond's "skills as a master craftsman in the art of pop songwriting. In that area, he has few peers" and goes on to relate that "Diamond's previous work with Rubin, 2005's "12 Songs," contained some fine moments, but "Home Before Dark" is far more powerful, from the gripping duet with Dixie Chick Natalie Maines, "Another Day (That Time Forgot)," to the poignant, complex title track. With their intimate tone and mostly acoustic instrumentation, the songs have a warm, feel, with no overproduction or over-emoting in sight."
From the Dallas News (link): "BOTTOM LINE: The exhilarating sound of a mature man truly reconnecting with his younger, hungrier self."
Tripp Laino of Maryland University's Diamondback Online Newspaper (link) opens his article noting how uniquely busy Neil (and us fans) has been over the last exciting week "Neil Diamond has had a hectic week. He played his arguably best-known song, "Sweet Caroline," on the roof of Jimmy Kimmel's show April 29, hopped to American Idol to perform "Pretty Amazing Grace" the next day and saw SIRIUS Satellite Radio launch an all-Neil Diamond channel two days after that" and his consistently positive review later relates the opinion "Despite the quieter feel expected from such an album, Diamond manages to find some upbeat songs in those soft guitar sounds. "No Words" is a love song, but it is not some syrupy-sweet teen love ballad. Instead, it is a profession of love from someone who has been around the block a few times - and it feels different from other songs like it ... Home Before Dark, as a whole piece, is an excellent album."
The Canadian Press (link) is impressed with Neil Diamond's songwriting on the new CD, "...we'll defy any singer-songwriter this year to come up with a run of four stronger songs than the ones that open this album. Bookended by the epic "If I Don't See You Again" and the Natalie Maines duet "Another Day (That Time Forgot)," each song is assured and insightful. Years of crusted bangles and beads prevent many people from taking Diamond seriously as a songwriter".
The New York Sun (link) features a long article touching on songwriting, and inspirations for the new album "Mr. Diamond's new album, "Home Before Dark" (out May 6), was written and recorded in a year. 'You can put in however many hours you want, and I put in every hour that I'm awake. Whether I have a piece of paper in my hand or not, I'm writing until it's done.' " Also here, Neil talks about signing his first record deal back in the 60s "The Beatles ruled the world, and here I was, another guy with sideburns and a guitar, Elvis 10 years later. Nobody was really paying attention, not even my manager."
After his first CD with Rick Rubin, Neil immediately knew he wanted to work with Rubin again, "So after "14 or 15 months" of writing, Diamond hit the studio with Rubin and an improvisational-leaning band featuring guitarists Mike Campbell, Matt Sweeney and Smokey Hormel and keyboardist Benmont Tench. Dixie Chicks vocalist Natalie Maines chipped in on "Another Day (That Time Forgot)," Diamond's first major duet with a female singer since "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Barbra Streisand in 1978." Reports Reuters News Here.
Finally today, the Hartford Courant (link) relates "Like much of Diamond's canon, these songs are rich with melodramatic flare-ups: "We had 10 times the power of one/We had the power of two," he sings on "The Power of Two," and it's almost too much. Yet it's clear he means it, and his sincerity is heartwarming and hard to resist"
Other reviews can be found at Rolling Stone, The Boston Herald, The Louisville Courier-Journal, USA Today, the Washington Post, and Live Daily.
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