DIAMOND DOES IT FOR CROWD OF 400.Byline: PHIL ROSENTHAL This article is about the columnist. For the television producer, see Philip Rosenthal Phil Rosenthal (born 1963) has been media columnist for the Chicago Tribune since the spring of 2005. Neil Diamond came down the stairs Adv. 1. down the stairs - on a floor below; "the tenants live downstairs" downstairs, on a lower floor, below from the video section of the Virgin Megastore on Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. in Hollywood on Thursday night, stopping to grab a microphone before he reached the crowd waiting for him by the world music racks. No longer forever in blue jeans blue jeans also blue·jeans pl.n. Clothes, especially pants, made of blue denim. blue jeans npl → tejanos mpl; vaqueros mpl , the 55-year-old singer in black who sold out 10 shows at the Inglewood Forum seven years ago - still a Los Angeles-area record - did his thing for a mere 400 or so Diamond-heads who camped outside the store last Sunday to get invited and again on show day simply to see the free performance. "Thank you very much for coming down here," he told them. "This is really a treat for us." OK, so maybe Diamond also was doing his thing for the video crew from Columbia Records For the Columbia Records label which was a unit of EMI, see . For the Columbia Records label in Japan, see . Columbia Records is the oldest surviving brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as , which looked to turn the appearance into promotional footage for his just-issued CD, "Tennessee Moon," and his coming world tour. It didn't seem to matter to the audience - a crowd, ranging from preteens to senior citizens - who did not look as if it got this excited that often. Like the "Tennessee Moon" album, which debuted at No. 14 on the pop chart and No. 3 on the country list, this was an attempt by Diamond to reach back to his roots as a singer-songwriter. By his own admission, Diamond hasn't been in a lot of record stores in the 30 years since he first recorded "Solitary Man," "I've Got the Feeling" and "Cherry Cherry," one of the numbers he did Thursday. Instead, he has been a stadium and arena staple. That's where the money is. His current campaign begins later this month in Australia and returns to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, with an Aug. 20 appearance at the Anaheim Pond, for which tickets go on sale Monday. But at huge venues like the Pond, Diamond is lucky if he can make out even the first few rows, several yards away in the dark. Here, he practically was shopping for CDs with them. "This is much more fun," Diamond said after the 25-minute mini-concert, as he spent another two hours autographing photos, guitars and other memorabilia for each fan. "People are standing 2 feet away from me, and it reminds me very much of the old days. "I get a chance to meet the fans close up. I mean, this is something that I haven't done in a long time. Just being able to say hello to people is wonderful. It's nice." When he sang old standards, such as "Kentucky Woman "Kentucky Woman" by Deep Purple was their second single release in 1968, although not as high charting as "Hush" in the U.K. or the States it did reach top 20 chart status in Australia, as this was their first major hit in that country. " and "Cracklin' Rose," Diamond had no problem at all with the lyrics he wrote so many years ago. For newer songs off the "Tennessee Moon" album, such as "One Good Love," "Talking Optimist Blues" and "Can Anybody Hear Me," he had cue cards cue card n. A large card held out of the audience's sight, bearing words or dialogue in large letters as an aid for a speaker or actor chiefly in television broadcasting. for a backup. But, if the new material wasn't yet completely familiar to him, his fans, who have had a week to wear out their CD players with it, already knew when and where to scream when Diamond sang the lines "Is there anybody out there?" or "Can anybody hear me?" Afterward af·ter·ward also af·ter·wards adv. At a later time; subsequently. Adv. 1. afterward - happening at a time subsequent to a reference time; "he apologized subsequently"; "he's going to the store but he'll be back here , each had a story for their idol, who listened and nodded with unblinking intensity. "They (say they) have been fans for a long time," Diamond said. "They want an autograph autograph Any manuscript handwritten by its author; in common usage, a handwritten signature. Aside from its value as a collector's item, an early or corrected draft of a work may show its stages of composition or “correct” final version. for their husband who's sick, or they knew me in 1986, or they worked security at the Greek Theatre. All kinds of things." What he told them, only they would know, but they weren't likely to forget it. "This was a great idea," Diamond said. "All artists should do it. It brings them right close up to their fans. I'll probably do it again." |
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