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Spokesman Review
June 27, 1970
Neil Diamond Brings Down House at Coliseum
By Jerry Wigen
The Spokane Coliseum rocked Friday night to the contemporary sounds of pop artist, Neil Diamond, who entertained some 2,000 persons with a medley of his hits.
Diamond, a recording artist and composer, and his trio of musicians performed such popular numbers as “Solitary Man,” “Thank the Lord for the Nighttime,” “Cherry Cherry” and “Sweet Caroline.”
Diamond played mainly to an audience of young persons, but sprinkled here and there, were a few of the “over 30” set who seemed to enjoy the youthful artist as much as the teenagers.
Diamond evoked laughter when he told the audience that someone had told him Spokane was an Indian word meaning “dead fish.”
Comedian Warms Crowd
The first half of the show was devoted to comedian, Sandy Baron, who warmed the audience up with a variety of jokes and comedy routines. Baron’s repetoire of comedy poked fun at religion, sex, dating and southern bigotry. Some of the jokes would have been more appropriate on a nightclub stage, but no one appeared to be offended.
Many Feel Snubbed
Many, however, may have felt that too much time was taken up by Baron and too little devoted to the man the audience came to see–Neil Diamond.
Diamond came on stage against a background of blue light following the intermission and left the stage at the end of his performance with a standing ovation. His final song was “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show.”
The crowd really warmed up to Diamond when he left the stage in a mock ending to the performance. Claps and cheers brought him back, and he went to play “Kentucky Woman,” which literally brought down the house.