Neil Diamond breaks a Palace record at his final Auburn Hills concert
AUBURN HILLS, MI – He’s been selling out arenas for longer than many people reading this review have been alive. Neil Diamond has broken a record at The Palace of Auburn Hills at his final concert there.
The 76-year old singer performed to a sold out crowd at The Palace on Friday night, June 2, 2017. Even the seats behind him were filled with people.
This was Diamond’s 17th sold out concert at The Palace and 19th concert at the venue. Both totals are the most for any individual artist who has performed there. Bob Seger is second with 16 sold out Palace concerts.
The concert
At 8:27pm, Diamond made a grand entrance from the back of his huge stage to a thunderous applause. With his band playing the beginning of “Cherry Cherry,” Diamond walked to every corner of the stage and acknowledged the crowd before picking up his guitar and giving the fans their first taste of his signature voice.
The singer was accompanied by two percussion players, two backup singers, two keyboardists, a bass player, a father and son guitar team, and a four piece horn section. When he introduced the band later in the show, he made it known that many of them have been with him for decades.
The two hour concert featured many fan favorites, including: “Love on The Rocks,” “Song Sung Blue,” “Forever in Blue Jeans,” and “I Am… I Said.” Diamond did something different with his Barbra Streisand duet “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” by having his saxophonist perform her parts.
Diamond also played “Red Red Wine,” a song he wrote which became a huge hit for reggae group UB40, “I’m a Believer,” a song he composed which became a big single for The Monkees, and “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” a song he wrote and had a big hit with which you may also know by Urge Overkill from the movie “Pulp Fiction.”
Some other songs Diamond performed were: “Desiree,” “Play Me,” “Dry Your Eyes,” “Beautiful Noise,” “Jungletime,” and “Soolaimon.”
The encore featured the crowd favorite “Sweet Caroline.” Nearly everyone in the arena was singing along. He continued with the hit “Crackin’ Rosie” and with one of his biggest hit songs, “America.”
Final thoughts:
Neil Diamond isn’t the energetic performer like he was in the past. This is his 50th anniversary tour, after all. While his signature voice is still in good shape, the singer walked around the stage like he was in slow-motion throughout the concert. With that said, not many performers nowadays perform for two hours straight.
He may not move it and shake it like the Neil of old, but he still brings in the huge crowds and doesn’t disappoint them.
Diamond acknowledged the Metro Detroit crowd by reminiscing some of the venues he’s played in the area: “I know I’ve played here a lot and a lot of places. Cobo Hall, Joe Louis Arena, Pine Knob and The Palace, soon to be known as The Shack.”
Diamond dedicated “Dry Your Eyes” to the victims of the Manchester concert attack.
The concert did not have an opener nor an intermission.
The Brooklyn native showed a really cool montage of videos and pictures from when he was a child during “Brooklyn Roads.”
For $50, fans could buy a giant Neil Diamond 50th anniversary blue jeans blanket at the souvenir stand. You can see that in the photo gallery at the top of this story.