Buffalo Springfield had Neil Young, Mötley Crüe had Vince Neil and the Pet Shop Boys has Neil Tennant, but there's only one Neil Diamond. In the '60s, the Tin Pan Alley songslinger amassed one of pop's finest catalogs, penning classics such as "Cherry Cherry," "Sweet Caroline" and "Solitary Man." Diamond promised to stay "Forever in Blue Jeans," but his heartlight dimmed in the '80s, when he became a schmaltzy has-been. Turning from adult to contemporary, Diamond returned as a kitschy '90s celluloid star, making a goofy cameo in Saving Silverman and aurally undressing Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction by way of Urge Overkill. But the Neil cat's forte remains the arena, where his cubic-zirconia veneer turns to pure bling bling. Diamond is a showman who hasn't forgotten the days when concerts were events, and his crunchy granola suites sound even better as flashpots explode beneath a lighting rig that makes Pink Floyd's look like a laser pointer. Expect nothing less than spectacle when Diamond brings his traveling salvation show to Kemper for a hot December night.
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