50 Years with Neil Diamond

"Sweet Caroline, pom, pom, pom..."

I was in Mexico last summer for a trip that John won through work.  They sent us to this resort and there was a band playing "Sweet Caroline".  Everyone in the place was singing.  I was stunned but excited.  I always assumed that it was just the "fans" that knew that song.

My mom is a die-hard Neil Diamond fan.  She'd been to every concert he'd done in a city near her, missing only those shows that it was impossible to get to.  She even went to some concerts by herself and my mom doesn't like to do things like that by herself.  I know of one year where Neil Diamond played two shows in Dallas and my mom went to BOTH shows.  Now that's a fan.

My sister and I grew up listening to Neil Diamond.  My mom had one of those TV/Stereo cabinets from the '70's.  Every Saturday after American Bandstand, my mom would turn off the TV and it was time to clean the house.  She'd put on a Neil Diamond record and the three of us would dance around the house and sing as we cleaned.  My mom even tried to teach us to dance.  She was not successful.

Over the years, my sister and I would go with my mom when Neil came to Dallas, more my sister than me.  When I saw that Neil was doing a 50th anniversary tour, I tagged my sister and my mom on Facebook.  Before I knew what was happening, my sister bought tickets to the show in Phoenix (we were all in Florida when Neil was in Dallas).

John, Mom and I flew to Phoenix...in AUGUST...can you say hot?  The concert was on Friday night.  Kevin got called in to work and John ended up babysitting...Atticus, Harper and Kylie...but does that really count as babysitting?  Atticus is almost 15! 

 

 It would seem that Harper is suddenly shy...

  

Uncle John and Atticus. 

We all had dinner together then the three of us (me, mom and Tres) peeled off and headed to downtown Phoenix.  The show was at Talking Stick Resort.

 

It was a "Hot August Night"....

The Milite women celebrating a tradition.

I think my mom is one of the few fans that have been around for the full 50 years...

In line for souvenirs.

 

A shirt for Tres and a jacket for mom...and a blanket and a program...

She is, she said!

Mom looking snazzy in her new jacket - it says 50 years...with a reference to the song Forever in Blue Jeans.

Waiting for the show to start.  It was very cool.  We talked to several people sitting around us.  Most all of them were serious fans.  Everyone talked about how many shows they'd seen.  Some of the ladies made their own shirts.

There were so many people there!  We saw a couple of older fellas using walkers.  It was mostly women, though.

 

The lights went down and the crowd went wild!  After the first song or two, the people on the floor (again, mostly women!) danced the entire show.

 

He opened with "Cherry, Cherry" and I sang along.  I didn't stop singing until the end of the show.  There were only about two or three songs that I didn't know.  He sang all the hits, including stuff from Jonathan Livingston Seagull (not my favorite) but still not bad. He did "Song Sung Blue", "Cracklin' Rosie", "Forever in Blue Jeans", "I'm a Believer", "Soolaimon"...I could go on.  Two and a half hours with no break or opening act.  Just Neil and his music.  

 

You can't really see him very well but at 76, he looks good.  His voice was strong and he danced around the stage.  He was funny and played with the crowd.  It was a fantastic show.  Being there with my mom and my sister made it that much better. 

 

My sister recently bought a new house and had a pool installed.  John and I were leaving Saturday evening so we spent the day with the kids in the pool.  It's really nice and we had fun. 

 

Atticus' dog was afraid to get in the water so Atticus swam around with the dog on his back.

 

 Harper doing the dead man's float. 

 

Harper wanted to show that she could carry me (gasp!).

 

After swimming, we went in to hang out a bit.  The sun pretty much sapped all of our energy (well, mine anyway.)  Harper and I are mouth-breathing as we watch Mama Mia!  

 

Then we started watching something on her iPad.  

 

Wow.  We both have "pool hair".  John likes to call her my "Mini me".  Poor Harper.

Anyway - there it is.  Celebrating fifty years of Neil Diamond with my sister and my mom with a follow up day at the pool with the kids.  What could be better than that?