Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England

On stage; 8.18pm
Off stage; 10.09pm
Concert time; 1hr 51mnts.

Neil wore; Dark sparkling jacket, Dark Grey shirt with Gold pattern on collar cuffs & shoulders, Dark trousers with Gold pattern down sides.

Another magnificent Manchester Evening News Arena crowd tonight witnessed a second successive show of pure class as the almost hypnotic talents of Neil Diamond and his fantastic band delivered a show of passion energy and Beautiful Noises on this warm sultry Sunday evening.

The merchandise stands again did great business as committed fans descended on this great city to be royally entertained.

Manchester crowds for Neil Diamond are usually noisy and passionate and tonight were no exception as they were calling for Neil long before show time and by the end of the evening they just edged last night’s crowd, though there were many familiar faces so maybe half of the Saturday audience waqs back tonight!.

The opening song One more bite of the Apple again saw Neil appear at the back of this great stage, casually strumming guitar and he quickly changed pace striding down to the front like a confident Brooklyn teenager with attitude staking out his turf, and he had the arena stamping and singing through a supercharged Holly Holy. Master of all he surveyed Neil then took us through the wonderful Beautiful Noise as this great crowd laid claim to being the nosiest most enthusiastic audience of the UK so far!

Hello Again was welcomed passionately and Neil sang this mainly to those crazy fantastic fans who had filled the seats behind the stage, making it a second night of almost in-the round. Love on the Rocks followed to be greeted by even louder cheers both before and after as huge sections of this wildly enthusiastic crowd gave every single song a standing ovation!

Cherry Cherry then rocked the foundations of the building with a huge input from the band as each and every one of these talented musicians displayed their sublime skills to the delight of the faithful masses The rocking didn’t stop there as Neil, seemingly supercharged, roared on into the gospel flavoured Thank the Lord for the Nighttime. Once again the ladies were superb on this great song.

. The great set from Neil’s superb new #1 album was again a thing of beauty with Home before Dark a stunning performance deserving of the ovation it received while Neil really seems to enjoy the cautionary Don't Go There, as did this wonderful audience. Pretty Amazing Grace has become one of those singles that hopefully will still get airplay on radios long after this remarkable tour is over, and is already seen by many fans as a Diamond classic

Reference to the superb Hot August Night engagement again has the musical taste buds on overdrive and the infectious Crunchy Granola Suite with its incredible partner Done Too Soon, fills everyone with feelings of great nostalgia for that classic album and concert series.

This wonderful crowd simply soaked up the quality and screamed for more and there is no greater quality than the autobiographical set; Brooklyn Roads is classic storytelling at its best, supported by a mini-home movie and followed by the jewel in the Diamond crown I Am.. I Said.. again the unbelievable crowd applauding so hard and long that Neil had to wait to finish the song! Solitary Man is another signature song awash with images of the young feisty loner losing and winning at one and the same time and was performed while most of the crowd stood and sang along yet again!

Forever in Blue Jeans is a 100% feel good song and this was a 100% feel good audience, a win double! Then for the first time on this tour, the original version of Red Red Wine, again the crowd stood and swayed along and gave this surprise treat a real Manchester ovation. As if to underpin the triumph Sweet Caroline involved another festival of joy and made everyone feel like lottery winners! You don’t bring me Flowers with the subtle changes, Neil and his little street cafe table with wine, rose and white tablecloth. Linda with her passionate pleading and their wonderful dance all wonderful cameos ultimately weaving together in a complete and enthralling production that deserved the deafening approbation it received.

Neil again asked Linda to stay out front with him again and they conducted the audience through Song Sung Blue, supported again by Maxine & Julia while simply everyone plugged into the energy that I’m a Believer generated!

Man of God is a new star in this great show and it continues to shine brightly before bowing to the gigantic force that Hell Yeah has become, the standing stamping ovation simply what this superbly crafted song deserves.

Watching Neil take his bows before such devoted crowds is an engaging spectacle even though it is a sign that another great experience is coming to a close. He took the hugely deserved acclaim and then left; but only for a few moments before returning in the Plum shirt that has a kind of wet look to it to deliver another rousing Cracklin’ Rosie a great hit song that no Diamondhead will ever tire of hearing.

And then to finish, all fire and passion the massive Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show!

And then it was all over, done way too soon, but as we left the impressive arena to gratefully gulp in the cool Manchester air we could start to dream of Birmingham and the next stop on this amazing tour.

Once again this proud city has welcomed Neil and cheered him on in sensational style over 2 fantastic nights, with tonight by just a whisker the louder and crazier crowd!

#1;One more bite of the Apple/Holly Holy; #2;Beautiful Noise; #3; Hello Again; #4; Love on the Rocks; #5; Cherry Cherry #6; Thank the Lord for the Night time #7; Home Before Dark; #8; Don't go there; #9 Pretty Amazing Grace; #10; Crunchy Granola Suite; #11; Done Too Soon; #12; Brooklyn Roads; #13; I Am.. I Said..; #14; Solitary Man; #15; Forever in Blue Jeans; #16 Red Red Wine #17; Sweet Caroline; #18; You don't bring me Flowers; #19 Song Sung Blue; #20; I’m a Believer; #21; Man of God; #22; Hell Yeah; WALK-OFF; #23; Cracklin’ Rosie; #24; BROTHER LOVE'S TRAVELLING SALVATION SHOW; Final walk-off Band Walk-off

Further great news for Neil tonight is that in its 4^th week on the UK album charts Home before Dark remains for a 2^nd week at the #3 position while the often reissued MCA collection The Best of Neil Diamond, originally released in 1996 during the Tennessee Moon tour and now with a Gold cardboard slip cover replacing the 2005 White cardboard slip cover is up to #7 in the UK album charts