The Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany;

On stage; 8.16pm
Off stage; 10.06pm
Concert time; 1hr 50mnts.

Neil wore; Dark sparkling jacket, Black shirt with Gold pattern on collar cuffs & shoulders, Dark trousers with silver pattern down sides.

Neil Diamond closed out the first leg of his European tour with a 3^rd and final German show before another passionate audience in Hamburg tonight.

Not for the first time during this extraordinary tour, the crowd that filled this impressive arena were calling for Neil long before he took to the magnificent stage; when he finally did, appearing as nonchalant as if it were just another day at the office, and of course such occasions are for the self-possessed superstar, it was strumming along to One more bite of the Apple. With the welcoming approval still ringing in his ears Neil made the seamless transition into the gospel , flavoured Holly Holy which took bottoms off seats many never to sit down again for the rest of this fantastic show .

A welcome and hello to Hamburg and its people before we were off down the road to the 1970s with Street Life, followed by the title track of that outstanding album Beautiful Noise, that had the desired effect on both audience and troubadour and on into the graceful Lady Oh.

Cherry Cherry flipped the memories back even further to the heady days of 1966 as everyone in the arena worked out hard, the talented band again loving the opportunity to display their own individual and collective skills, all standing, even Alan & Tom with the exception of the hub of the group who maintains an impressive beat that would perhaps be difficult to do even with his talent if he were standing!; Thank the Lord for the Nighttime added considerably to the party atmosphere, and this finely reworked version must surely pass the examination of its credentials as a real rocker.

Love on the Rocks took many down their personal memory lanes amid thoughts of Jesse Robin and his quest for personal and musical acceptance.

One of the most delightful pieces of this unique show is the 3-song presentation from Neil’s latest smash hit #1 album, and the title track Home Before Dark was beautifully delivered and loudly applauded. Don't Go There, a warning perhaps unheeded, goes down particularly well with this great crowd and Pretty Amazing Grace scales new heights of approbation.

Hot August Night is the subject matter as Neil tells with pride of that long ago yet fondly remembered era, then indulges us all as we bathe in nostalgia as he rip-roars through the spectacular Crunchy Granola Suite..

The ultimate autobiographical set develops as Brooklyn Roads with the highly personal Diamond family video gives way to I Am.. I Said.. with the ringing endorsement of its class evidenced by the sound of not so silent thunder from the crowd both to welcome and close the song, with the now obligatory pause for deafening cheers before Neil can move on to the closing of the segment, achieved with distinction by Solitary Man.

Forever in Blue Jeans serves notice that it is time to party again before the sublime You don’t bring me Flowers evolves with Neil drinking at his neat little table only to decamp at the first opportunity for the hypnotic charms of the sensational Linda Press as they dance towards a perfect triumph.

Song Sung Blue then provides a strenuous examination of the staying power of the audience, a test that is passed with flying colours only for a quick re-examination as Neil urges us to ever more effort with the sixties icon I’m a Believer, and for the zillionth time the stomping and cheering both delights and bewilders in equal measures. In the second verse Neil added “when I needed sunshine I got a thunderstorm” which may have been appropriate to the earlier weather in Cologne, but there were no clouds tonight in a sultry Hamburg evening!

The gospel flavoured Man of God continues its ascent to higher ground and the applause at the end of this wonderful song was long and deserved; The stunning Hell Yeah confirms its position as perhaps THE song of the moment; this time Neil did not prowl the stage but sat on his stool and fixed the audience in a kind of hypnosis as he gave another mighty performance, standing up at the climax of the song as the applause was already raining down like leaves in late autumn.

The standing ovation is loud, very loud, and long, so long before Neil is off and away down the back steps of the stage. Anxious seconds turn to fraught minutes

Before he reappears with his impressive new purple shirt, not too different a colour to the Gatefold sleeve of the impressive original Brother Love album, and the fun is restarted in sensational style with the evergreen Sweet Caroline; as the cheers ring around the vast arena Neil hits us with another giant and thunders through Cracklin’ Rosie backed by thousands of the most enthusiastic backing singers in all of Germany!

Barely pausing for a second Neil draws us all into the ragged tent for one more revival meeting as the superlative Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show

guarantees deliverance once more.

And then it is over. The massive stage is all but dismantled before our very eyes, we say our goodbyes to friends, some we will see again in the UK ,others not for a while; we drift out into the now pleasantly cool Hamburg night reflecting on 6 sensational performances we have seen over the last 10 days and our thoughts begin to turn towards the UK and our next adventure!

#1;One more bite of the Apple/Holly Holy; #2; Street Life; #3; Beautiful Noise; #4; Lady Oh; #5; Cherry Cherry (band intro/instrumental); #6; Thank the Lord for the Nighttime; #7; Love on the Rocks; #8; Home Before Dark; #9; Don't go there; #10 Pretty Amazing Grace; #11; Crunchy Granola Suite; #12; Brooklyn Roads; #13; I Am.. I Said..; #14; Solitary Man; #15; Forever in Blue Jeans; #16; You don't bring me Flowers; #17 Song Sung Blue; #18; I’m a Believer; #19; Man of God; #20; Hell Yeah; WALK-OFF; #21; Sweet Caroline; #22; Cracklin’ Rosie; 23; BROTHER LOVE'S TRAVELLING SALVATION SHOW; Final walk-off Band Walk-off

Our remarkable journey through The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Germany again has been simply wonderful. Our thanks to old friends and new for their considerable assistance that helped to make this leg of the tour possible, and
especially to Lesley, Marijke & Carla for all their help & support with our travel and arena planning.