Brother Love's Traveling

I truly believe that music can transport you to another time and place. You hear a song from high school and remember dancing to it at prom. Or you hear a song from long ago and remember sitting on the living room floor while your Dad danced in front of the hi-fi. The first record I ever owned was Prince's Purple Rain and I listened to that album on repeat. Music has changed considerably through the years. Most people no longer buy albums or CD's since everything is available by download. Concerts are still attended but the price of tickets have risen exorbitantly. So when my brother got a sweet deal for Neil Diamond's 50th anniversary tour tickets, we jumped at the chance. For $27 U.S. we would see our Jazz Singer at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan.

We were first introduced to Neil back in 1980. My aunt rented a VCR and two movies for the weekend. The first was Kramer vs. Kramer and the second was The Jazz Singer. We watched these movies over and over until they had to be returned to the video store on Monday morning. The Jazz Singer received critical reviews, even though Neil Diamond never claimed to be an actor, and the great Laurence Olivier starred as his father. The movie itself may have been a flop, but the soundtrack was incredible. By Monday morning, I had all the songs memorized (much to my family's chagrin).

When I moved to Japan after university, I found not one, but two kindred Neil Diamond spirits. The first was Kelly who was also from Ontario and grew up not too far from me. Her and I would listen to Neil's greatest hits CD and belt out Cracklin' Rosie at the top of our lungs. We laughed at how Neil could make anything rhyme and fit into his songs. The second friend I found a few years later, when I moved into a new apartment. Chris and I watched The Jazz Singer on more than one occasion. We loved both the movie and the music.


Neil is now 76 years old and his voice hasn't changed a bit. Why did I wait so long to see him in concert? My Grandparents saw him years ago at PineKnob (now DTE) and this was Neil's 59th show in Detroit. The concert was completely sold out and although a lot of the crowd was older, most people in the audience knew every word to every song. Especially when he sang Sweet Caroline.

So good! So good! So good!

~MT