Beautiful Noise

Three words, my people: Mr. Neil Diamond.

He's on tour, you know. Has been since 1966 or '67 (as I recently heard from his own lips, as it turns out). Yes, Neil's on tour, and I saw him LIVE last Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium. And although, "See Neil Diamond in concert" has never technically been on my bucket list, I'm half tempted to add it and cross it off, just because his concert. was. AWESOME.

Cameron saw this license plate in the parking lot. Obviously I love it.

 Okay, so maybe his voice isn't as rich as he used to sound on his albums of long ago. And, okay, maybe he did the sing/speak thing a lot more than I'd care to admit. -Sing/speak is one of the many (many!) reasons I cannot handle Michael McLean and his music, but guess what? Neil Diamond is a legend who has been singing and writing music for nearly 50 years. If he wants (needs) to sing/speak sometimes, he can do it, and I shan't judge him (too harshly).

A lovely sunset kept us company as we waited for the concert to start.

Cameron and Aimee

Me and Jami

Anyway, I bought my ticket, like, 10 months ago.

I grew up listening to Neil Diamond, enjoying his soulful tunes since I was just a wee lass. I daresay I love him.

Part of the fun this specific concert is that we were surrounded by baby-boomers and geriatrics. When I looked around and noticed how happy (and..."mature") my fellow Neil-lovers were, I realized, "This will be a FUN concert" and I totally let myself be ridiculous. I sang out loud and swayed with the music, and I felt the music, man!

Right here. This is the moment when the magic began.
(It all started with the mullet-ed man in the hat. And Neil Diamond, of course.)

 Other fun little tidbits from the evening:

-Neil Diamond mentioned that he came out of a semi-retirement in '66 ot '67, starting in SLC, and has been touring ever since.
-He also mentioned that he was recently remarried (within the past few months), and talked about how much he loves his wife, etc. (Know what? Neil Diamond may wax a bit cheesy at times, but it's heart-felt and I love it.) Anyway, he said something like, "I'd like to be able to tell my wife that I wrote this song ("I'm a Believer") for her, but the truth is, she wasn't even born when I wrote it." (This song was made popular by the Monkees in 1966. Neil's wife was born in 1970. Neil was born in 1941. Now you know.) Cameron, Jami, Aimee and I appreciated his honesty and his candor. :)
-Neil sang "Sweet Caroline" and the crowd. went. WILD. I'm telling you, the entire crowd freaked right out. So after he finished, he talked for a second and then told his band, "take it away," and he did a reprise. That was fun. The crowd ate that right up, too. Then he did another reprise. Of the same song. And the crowd went wild again. (Still?) At that point, Neil said, "I couldn't sing that again if I wanted to. Actually, I don't much care for that song any more." (Again, the honesty!) And then...he had his band do one. more. reprise. Without him. He left it up to us (his adoring fans) to keep the song going. That's a total of 4 times. I can't help but laugh, really...
-One of my favorite parts of the evening is when Neil said, "I want to introduce you to the greatest band in the land: MY BAND!" And that was it.
-Cameron and I came up with a list of names for my future daughters (apparently?), taken from Neil Diamond songs: Holly (Holy), Shilo, (Cracklin') Rosie, (Hey) Louise, (Sweet) Caroline, Desiree, Chelsea (Morning)...there may be more.

Anyway, that old man sure can rock it. I am totally thrilled that he's still touring, because  now I can say I've lived a Neil Diamond concert! I sincerely feel like a cooler version of my old self. ("Old self," meaning the "pre-Neil-Diamond-concert-attending-Ginabean." Obviously.)

I love Neil Diamond, and I regret nothing. Going to that concert is maybe the coolest thing I've done all year...

These guys were behind us a bit, and made our concert experience even better.

I feel quite confident that this pic was taken during one of the reprises of Sweet Caroline...

 As the concert drew to a close, I said, "If he doesn't sing 'America,' I'm going to be very upset. Then Neil Diamond walked off the stage, and I was upset. (Do I know myself, or what?) Fortunately, Salt Lake City loves Neil Diamond, and we clapped and cheered until Neil had no choice but to do an encore. And the encore is where Neil had tucked 'America' away. Hidden away for only his loudest, most beloved fans. (Or something.)

I uploaded my view of "Sweet Caroline" onto YouTube, if you care to take a look...

Anyway...

Three words, my people: LONG! LIVE! NEIL!