NEIL DIAMOND IN JERSEY By STEPHEN HOLDEN March 12, 1982 LIKE a barnstorming evangelist in gladiatorial garb, Neil Diamond roared onto the stage of the Brendan Byrne Arena Monday in the first of three sold-out performances. Mr. Diamond and his eight-man band then proceeded to bring off the sort of swashbuckling extravaganza that only Elvis Presley, in his Las Vegas prime, might have attempted. Its success was as much a matter of attitude as it was of music. For Mr. Diamond combines the strutting machismo of a rock star with the dramatic gesticulations of a Technicolor-style Old Testament prophet. And his booming bass baritone,...