Diamond Pleases Saratoga Crowd
by Pat Childs, The Post-Star, September 5, 1972
“We were here last year,” singer and songwriter Neil Diamond told a large and enthusiastic crowd of 11,376 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center Sunday night, “and because of you, I decided 10 minutes after that show to come back.”
Staunch fans, predominantly youthful, clapped, cheered and gave him three standing ovations. Older, more passive viewers were pleasantly entertained as Diamond delivered his greatest hits.
There was no warm-up group and no intermission, and for a solid hour and a half he belted out with intensity and feeling folk-type songs he had written about his own experiences.
The seven back-up musicians, two on percussion, one organist, three guitarists and a seventh who played both piano and guitar, alternated between highly amplified accompaniment which shook the rafters and quieter background music to such songs as “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon.”
Diamond wore a white cowboy-style outfit, complete with fringes and a pair of cowboy boots, upon which different colored spotlights were alternately shone.
“Five years ago I had a song I loved,” he told the crowd. “Times were different then, and my record company wouldn’t put it out; they said it wasn’t commercial. It came out a little while ago. I loved it then, and I love it at least as much now.” He then delighted his audience with “Shiloh,” a song about a youth and his childhood experiences.
“Almost anyone can sing this song, and now it’s our turn,” Diamond said, introducing “Song Sung Blue.” He was joined by a singing, clapping audience, as he was with several other numbers, including “Holly Holy” and “Cracklin Rosie.”
His final selection and most moving presentation was “Solomaine,” a song with an African beat, which he combined with a verse of “Brother Love.”
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