Hampden Park – National Football Stadium, Glasgow Scotland;

On stage; 8.09pm
Off stage; 9.57pm
Concert time; 1hr 48mnts.

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

Neil Diamond kicked off the UK leg of his World tour with a triumphant return to one of his spiritual Heartlands, the passionate city of Glasgow tonight. Performing before 35,000 fans at the world famous Hampden Park Neil continued with another high quality performance that had marked his 6 previous European shows.

On a night of typical Scottish weather torrential rain began a full hour before the show and was still falling heavily an hour after the end. But this unique City has faced much worse and the fantastic crowd simply turned the concert into a rainy day songs party as the street traders selling Ponchos outside the Stadium at Ł3 each probably became instant millionaires! I have never seen such atrocious weather at any outdoor concert before!

This was the first outdoor show of the tour so far and the impressive stadium was necessary to accommodate the huge number of fans who wanted to see the iconic singer songwriter; in the tours of 1999, 2002 & 2005 Neil had performed 3 shows each time at the City’s Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre (SECC) that were the fastest selling UK shows during those tours and the need to provide for the amazing Scottish fans meant that the SECC was simply no longer big enough.

Many visiting teams have come to Hampden over the years and left in triumph (far too many for us Scots to bear at times!) but surely no victory was more emphatic than that enjoyed by Team Diamond tonight!

The roars of approval started even before Neil’s superb band took their places and then as Neil appeared through a curtained doorway at the back of the impressive stage he was greeted by a wall of sound and scenes of delirium and delight that are usually reserved for a Scottish goal!

The weather refused to abate but this is a Glasgow party crowd and everyone was singing in the rain!!!!

As Neil kicked off with One more bite of the Apple the appreciative crowd responded excitedly and when he moved up to Holly Holy the noise level was simply deafening!

The welcome “Hello again Glasgow” was returned a thousand fold and Neil shouted “sorry about the rain, but we’ll stay if you will” the response was deafening in its approval! Then Street Life had the party already in full voice; Neil shouted “Thank you Scotland” and then talked of Glasgow, the beautiful surrounding countryside and the cows he claimed tried to attack him! He then highlighted the differences to New York City everyone was ready for more fun and Beautiful Noise was greeted like a returning hero! The gentle Lady Oh followed stylishly

Rock & roll is something this City knows all about and Cherry Cherry with its high octane delivery and generous showcasing of this supremely talented band again was simply awesome. Thank the Lord for the Night-time provided more of the same and the re-worked version was a real winner with these knowledgeable fans. During this song an enthusiastic fan threw the Scottish Saltire on to the stage and Neil simply draped the National flag around his shoulders and strode the stage like a latter day BraveHeart, to deafening cheers from the crowd. When he had finished the song he draped the flag carefully over a stage railing.

As the spectacular storm continued Neil gave a fantastic Love on the Rocks before introducing and singing the trilogy of songs from his new album, with the beautiful title track Home Before Dark especially well received and the gutsy Don't Go There, and Pretty Amazing Grace equally popular

Neil’s nostalgic talk of his legendary Hot August Night album led into the superb Crunchy Granola Suite during which he again divested himself of his jacket, throwing it across the stage, a brave action given the rain and increasing cold that saw Linda, Julia & Maxine make occasional use of the lovely shawls that matched their attractive outfits so well.

The remarkable crowd stood through the autobiographical trilogy, quite a good move since all our seats were soaked and we were slightly less wet standing! The reception given to these superb songs was phenomenal, especially during Brooklyn Roads with the superb Diamond family video and of course the rousing sing-along to I Am.. I Said.. while Solitary Man also allowed everyone to shake some of the cold and wetness from our bodies.

Forever in Blue Jeans continued to help keep the dampness at bay then the impressive You don’t bring me Flowers had Neil drinking at his neat little table with a changed all white tablecloth as opposed to previous red & white checked ones but yet again he swiftly moved across to join Linda and they enjoyed their dance before serving up ma superb finale.

Local folklore says that Song Sung Blue is one of Glasgow’s favourite songs, and Neil again invited Linda to stay out front and sing with him as he said it might get the crowd to sing, and especially the guys. The strategy worked and when they were joined out front by Maxine & Julia the heavy rain seemed not to matter to the 35,000 strong choir! I’m a Believer, helped keep everyone focused on dancing rather than the storm

The magnificent Man of God simply grows with every performance while the awe-inspiring Hell Yeah has everything, class, passion, gravitas and a simply wonderful arrangement.

The impressive stadium stood as one to salute Neil as he took his leave, only to return in triumph for the love-fest that is Sweet Caroline; during the second verse Neil sang, quite appropriately, “I look at the night and it don’t seem so rainy”! and for the first time on the tour, instead of singing “we fill it up with only 2” he sang “ we fill it up with only about 34,327”!. Then this crazy wonderful crowd really went nuts as the second of Glasgow’s favourite songs Cracklin’ Rosie had the crowd bouncing along in perfect unison, as if on a huge invisible trampoline, defying the storm as they went!

We all needed saving from this storm, indeed an Ark may have been appropriate, or even a Submarine, however who better to rescue us from all kinds of danger than the stunning Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show!

And then once more it was over. Even as the rain continued to cascade down the massive stage was taken apart so quickly it was breathtaking to watch. And we all shuffled slowly, soaked through but happy to the exits to find our cars and seek refuge from the storm.

I thought that Neil’s show in Hull in 2005 was a wet one, but that night the storm abated during Flowers. Tonight it simply went on and on, but the combination of the sublime talents of Neil, his wondrous band of musicians and this truly extraordinary crowd ensured that this night will live long in the memories of everyone present who indeed travelled together through the eye of the storm!

#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

Tonight’s review is dedicated to Ian & Pamela Hardie of Hamilton, Scotland. Both huge Diamondheads, they had been looking forward to attending this show as well as others in London. Sadly, Ian has been very ill for some time and a further additional health complication means he is still in a serious condition in hospital. Our thoughts are with them both as we pray for Ian’s full recovery.