Invasion of wrinkly rockers PETER HOLMES August 29, 2004 ROCK fans will have some tough choices this summer as a string of big name "wrinkle rock" performers strut their stuff on Australian stages. Acts on tour include The Eagles, Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, Natalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley's TCB Band, George Benson, The Stranglers, and Tom Jones who will team up with John Farnham. Veteran music promoter Michael Chugg has warned that the entertainment dollar would run out well before the end of summer and that it could be a financial "bloodbath" for promoters. Ticket prices range from $55 (The Stranglers, The Tiv...

L.A.'s Greek Theater Gets a Face-Lift Sat Aug 28, 7:57 AM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Jill Kipnis LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - The Greek Theater is celebrating its anniversary in style. In anticipation of its 75th concert season, the 6,162-seat outdoor amphitheater underwent an $8 million renovation project, including a new JBL sound system and upgrades to the original facade. The venue's renovations, completed in April, also included a new plaza and improvements to concession stands and the backstage. The Greek -- which has been managed, operated and promoted by the Nederlander organization for alm...

Edited By Jonathan Cohen. August 26, 2004, 3:30 PM ET Diamond Drops In Down Under After an extended break from the road, Neil Diamond has lined up a seven-date tour of Australia and New Zealand for next spring. The trek will kick off March 5 in Wellington, N.Z., and wrap March 26 in Adelaide, Australia. Tickets go on-sale Sept. 3. The shows will be the first in six years for Diamond in Australia, where he has racked up 19 top-40 pop hits. At deadline, it was unclear if the dates will be precursors to additional touring in 2005. Diamond's lone show of 2004 came in late June as part of a Los Angeles fundraiser for Democratic pr...

G.O.P.'s Southern Strategy? Cranking Up Lynyrd Skynyrd By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON Published: August 25, 2004 f the political right has a soundtrack, perhaps it used to be Bach's "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 2, the piece that introduced William F. Buckley Jr. on his program "Firing Line." But in 2004? Two words: "Free Bird." On the Sunday night before the first day of the Republican National Convention, the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd (or its latest incarnation) will be performing at the nightclub Crobar in Chelsea for a party honoring Southern Republicans in Congress. There are only two original members left in the band, bu...

Dinkum Diamond barracks for Lions PAUL STEWART in Los Angeles 22aug04 FAN: Neil Diamond and Rachel Farley AMERICAN music superstar Neil Diamond has been converted to a Brisbane Lions fan. And he also gets to his feet to sing our national anthem when an Aussie wins gold in Athens. Diamond, 63, said his "indoctrination" was thanks to his girlfriend – marketing executive Rachel Farley, 33, from Brisbane. Diamond, who will play at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on March 15, met Farley during his 1996 Australian tour when she was marketing his merchandise. "Every time Australia wins gold she makes me stand to attention...

Diamond's gold salute By PAUL STEWART 22aug04 AMERICAN music superstar Neil Diamond has found himself supporting the efforts of the Australian Olympic team. "My girlfriend is from Brisbane and every time Australia wins gold, she makes me stand to attention with her, salute and sing Advance Australia Fair," said the world renowned singer-songwriter in Los Angeles. "Honestly, she is a typical Aussie who loves her sport. She is quick to remind me if an Australian is taking part in the competition we are watching. "She is also indoctrinated me to Aussie Rules and the Brisbane Lions." The twice-divorced Diamond, who has announ...

Promoters dare to back big rock acts By Iain Shedden, Music writer August 21, 2004 AUSTRALIA'S rock and pop promoters could be flirting with disaster this summer as they compete for the public's ticket money. With acts such as the Eagles, Rod Stewart, and REM already confirmed for the summer, new tours are being announced weekly by leading promoters. But the congestion of rock and pop acts eager to come to the southern hemisphere at the same time means promoters will be scrambling to sell tickets. "Someone's going to get burned," veteran rock promoter Michael Chugg said yesterday. "Once you start asking $140 or $150 for a...

By Shane Igoe Special to Page 3 "Even if we play so far above our heads that our noses bleed for a week to 10 days; even if God in Heaven above points his hand at our side of the field; even if every man, woman and child joined hands together and prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter because all the really good-looking girls would still go out with the guys from Mohawk because they've got all the money! It just doesn't matter if we win or if we lose. It just doesn't matter! It just doesn't matter!" Who needs Philip Rivers when you can have "Cush"?-- Tripper Harrison (Bill Murray) "Meatballs" (1979) Who would have though...

Neil Diamond tour on August 16, 2004 - 10:11AM Singer Neil Diamond will tour Australia in March next year. Diamond, who last toured Australia six years ago, will begin the tour at the Sydney Superdome on March 11. He will then perform in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide. Promoter Paul Dainty said Australia's love affair with Neil Diamond began in 1966 with his first Australian hit, Cherry Cherry. "Neil Diamond's concerts are events not to be missed," Dainty said. "He is one of the world's greatest entertainers and his success in Australia is especially highlighted by being the only international artist to h...

Neil Diamond keeps his concert prices affordable! Sydney | August 15, 2004 2:32:11 PM IST Music legend Neil Diamond wants to make sure that his fans have an equal chance to attend his concerts. He has reportedly asked organisers to keep the ticket prices of his upcoming concert at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena within 99 dollars. According to the Sunday Herald Sun, the "Sweet Caroline" singer also criticized many big performers like Barbara Striesand, whose tickets cost upto 1,530 dollars. Diamond is visiting Australia after six years and is famous for ability to draw in the crowds. "It is all totally driven by Neil himself. "H...

Diamond cuts cheap deal By Paul Stewart 15aug04 NEIL Diamond has lashed out at big-name performers who "rip people off", vowing no one will pay more than $99 to see him live in Australia. The move contrasts sharply with the $580 for best seats for the Eagles tour in November and the $1530 ticket for Barbra Streisand in 2000. The $99 deal was set after Diamond intervened to keep prices within the range of most concert goers. The move, revealed exclusively to the Sunday Herald Sun, reflects the US superstar's disgust with exorbitant prices charged by some of his peers. Diamond, touring Australia for the first time in six ye...

Neil Diamond to bring hot August to NZ in February 10.08.2004 1.00pm Hard-core Neil Diamond fans can look forward to a hot August night -- next February. The singer is set to rock Westpac Stadium for a one-off show. It will be the first time Diamond has performed in Wellington. It is understood promoters will announce the concert next week. A show is also planned for Christchurch. Speculation has been rife on who the stadium's next big act would be after the huge David Bowie concert in February. The official Neil Diamond website states the singer has no concerts planned this year, but he expects a world tour early nex...

A hot August night coming 10 August 2004 By ROBYN MCLEAN Wellingtonians can look forward to a hot August night – next February. Singer Neil Diamond is set to rock Westpac Stadium for a one-off show. It will be the first time Diamond has played the capital. It is understood promoters will announce the concert next week. A show is also planned for Christchurch. Speculation has been rife on who the stadium's next big act would be after the David Bowie concert last February. The official Neil Diamond website states the singer has no concerts planned this year, but he expects a world tour early next year. Diamond h...

Delta talks tour as stars flood market By Nui Te Koha 07aug04 DELTA Goodrem is in talks to make her long wished for tour debut as the summer of rock gets hotter. Goodrem, 19, is set to be the hottest concert ticket in town, amid looming visits by superstars Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart and Sting. Goodrem's mother, Lea, yesterday confirmed plans for Delta's first tour. A concert industry source said promoters have earmarked Goodrem as the must-have tour for next year. "This, really, is the moment Delta fans have been waiting for," the source said. "All Delta has to do is name the dates." Goodrem's tour plan to support...

Posted 8/5/2004 8:30 PM Updated 8/5/2004 9:27 PM Cherry Bombs burst back on country scene By Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAY Outside Nashville, the Cherry Bombs might not carry much cachet. But inside Music Row, it's the name of legend, a mythic backing band mentioned in the same breath as Buck Owens' Buckaroos, Merle Haggard's Strangers and Ernest Tubb's Texas Troubadours. (Related story: Roster reads like Who's Who) The band releases its first album this week, but its history goes back nearly 25 years. Formed early in the 1980s to back Rodney Crowell and his then-wife Rosanne Cash, the Cherry Bombs took the co...

Sony Music Entertainment and BMG Unite to Create Sony BMG Music Entertainment New Joint Venture Brings Together Premier Worldwide Labels and Top Global and National Artists NEW YORK, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Music Entertainment and BMG have completed the creation of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a global recorded music joint venture with a roster of current artists that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars, as well as a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history. The announcement was made today by S...

Jennifer Diamond regatta, gala raised $100,000-plus BY LYNNE HAMMETT The recent Jennifer Diamond Celebrity Regatta and Jennifer Diamond Foundation Gala held in the Marina raised more than $100,000. The Second Jennifer Diamond Celebrity Regatta was run Sunday, July 18th, from Del Rey Yacht Club and enjoyed an increase in participation over last year. The Jennifer Diamond Foundation Gala also celebrated its second anniversary Saturday, July 24th, in the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel California Ballroom. Harvey and Alice Diamond, parents of Jennifer Diamond, and Jennifer's brother, Matthew Diamond, explained why these events hono...

VH1 Sizzles This Summer With a Scorching Slate of New Series Premieres Friday July 23, 4:01 pm ET VH1's Summer Sizzler Heats Up With New Programming 'Totally Obsessed,' 'A2Z' and 'Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story' LOS ANGELES, July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Break out the Coppertone, VH1 burns up the UV scale with a summer of scorching premieres. "I Love the 90s" VH1 is bringing its highly successful and hilarious "I Love the 80s" and "I Love The 70s" approach back for "I Love The 90s," proving no decade is off limits. Viewers will get a '90s style dose of the music, movies, TV shows, products, fashions, fads, trends, sca...

Posted on Tue, Aug. 03, 2004 On a trip to the ballpark, good times roll By RON MORRIS Sports Columnist BASEBALLVILLE, USA PLACE THE BLAME anywhere you want. Start with commissioner Bud Selig, who despite his best efforts cannot convince baseball fans that the game is in horrible shape. Team owners deserve to be a target since they continue to insist that every franchise is on the brink of bankruptcy, but they won’t open their books to prove it. Then there are the players, who work for the strongest union in professional sports yet continue to tarnish the game with childish behavior and illegal uses of performance enha...

Relax, don't do it! Jul 27 2004 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner SINGERS Dionne Warwick and Neil Diamond are helping to fight crime and anti-social behaviour at Huddersfield bus station. They are among the artists specially selected by station manager Helen Schofield for her `easy listening' collection, which is now broadcast to waiting passengers throughout the day. Helen, who has managed the station for two years, chose the CD collection with the help of the manager of a Leeds record shop. "They have been selected very carefully," she said. "Surveys have found that if you play easy listening music it creates a relaxing...

It's a Dirty Job, Connecting With the Past By ASHLEI N. STEVENS Published: July 25, 2004 A cluster of teenage girls, some in designer Rocawear jeans and some wearing elaborate gold earrings, were gossiping over the latest episode of "Oprah" as they sifted through dirt, uncovering hidden treasures and the occasional slithering worm. Their mission: to unearth artifacts from the grounds of a 217-year-0ld school that has earned its place in New York City history as the alma mater of celebrities like Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond and Bobby Fischer. For three weeks, 22 boys and girls from the Science, Technology and Research High S...

Once maligned, refreshing rosé wine finally gets its due By Maria C. Hunt UNION-TRIBUNE FOOD WRITER July 21, 2004 When the air turns warm in France and Spain, people who drink wine with meals know it's time to start those meals with a dry rosé. Beautifully colored from salmon pink to pale ruby, refreshing rosé wines are imbued with notes of berries and perfume, and structured enough to pair with foods. But in America, we have a conflicted relationship with rosé wines. Here, the word rosé is mistakenly translated as "sweet pink wine drunk by the unsophisticated." Suggest that others drink a rosé and you're opening your...

AVIOM 16/o-Y1 A-Net Output Card To Be Featured At AES 2004 Output card now available for market distribution (July 20,2004) Aviom, Inc., manufacturer of the Personal Monitor Mixing System, announced that the AVIOM 16/o-Y1 A-Net Output Card is now shipping for market distribution and will be featured at AES 2004. Aviom developed the AVIOM16/o-Y1 output card for the Yamaha consoles, which allows audio in the form of the company’s proprietary A-Net protocol to be distributed via Cat-5 cable directly from the console to Aviom Personal Mixers. No analog input device is required. “This is a major technological breakthrough for use...

Neil Diamond Fans Cruise 8-Day Exotic Southern Caribbean December 5-13, 2004 Neil Diamond impersonator Tom Sadge will join us on this fabulous cruise to exotic ports of call across the Caribbean, including St. Maartin, Barbados and Martinique aboard the NEW ship - The Carnival Legend! Cruise also includes two private cocktail parties, prepaid shipboard gratuities, and much more! The cost per person is based on double occupancy and includes port taxes, fees, transfers and gratuities. Cabin Double Triple Quad Category 4A/Inside, Riviera deck $775 $710 $675 Category 8A/Private Balcony, main deck $1,025 $885 $815 Additi...

Known for guitar solos, Bennett goes solo for a change By PETER COOPER Staff Writer Richard Bennett worked for decades to make sure nobody knew who he was. That's not to say he didn't make a name and reputation for himself. It's just that the name could signify so many different things that it ended up signifying little in particular. ''Richard Bennett'' was the guy playing buttoned-down Los Angeles sessions with Peggy Lee. ''Richard Bennett'' was Neil Diamond's lead guitarist, and the guy who co-wrote Forever in Blue Jeans. His guitar work was the low, rumbling twang on Steve Earle's Guitar Town, or it was the choogling acou...

Thursday, Jul 15, 2004 Email this to a friend print this page Rockin' like Neil The Coast Bastion Inn turns into Diamondville next week as Neil Diamond takes centre stage. Not the real Neil, mind you. Parksville's Douglas Kew in disguise. Kew brings his Neil Diamond tribute, Solitaire, to the Nanaimo hotel July 17 at 8 p.m. for a dinner show. The 45-year-old singer has been performing on stage since he was a teen in England and has taken his knack for Neil to several Vancouver Island festivals and dinner theatres over the past year, including the Whiskey Creek Music Festival last week in Coombs. A pair of Kew's Sol...

07/15/2004 Lifebeats feature By JOE KERNAN The Edwards Twins started an extended run at the Odeum Theatre in East Greenwich Monday night and pretty much blew the roof off the joint. If you are one of those people who would love to see a fabulous Vegas-style show but never had the chance, this one is for you. The identical twins are widely acknowledged as the best and most varied impersonation act to come out of Las Vegas in decades. Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel and dozens and of other voices parade through the small theater like a who’s who of popular entertainment. The two musical brothers, with aid of ...

Last Updated: 4:54 pm, Wednesday, July 14th, 2004 "Anchorman," "King Arthur," "Sleepover" By Linda Cook . Anchorman” is a strange, funny movie about a strange, funny guy. . Will Ferrell stars as Ron Burgundy, an anchor for the evening news on a San Diego television station. But Ferrell isn’t the only thing the movie has going for it — not by a long shot. . The show also works as a not-so-nostalgic glimpse back into the 1970s and the challenges that women faced in television journalism at the time. . Burgundy is a shallow fellow who just can’t get enough of himself. It’s all about Ron, and he knows it. He’s surrounded by his...

Concerts run into a summer slump Cancellations, low turnouts have made it a bad season for big touring shows Wednesday, July 14, 2004 By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette When it was hyped in the spring, the summer concert season sure looked rosy. The live music industry was coming off a record year for revenue in 2003 and a strong first quarter in 2004, and there was no reason to think that wouldn't continue through the summer. But between canceled tours and low turnouts, it's gotten to the point where Clear Channel might be longing for those good old days of Steve Miller sellouts. A midyear business analysis just rel...

I suppose after playing on thousands of recordings by other artists I should have been satisfied with that, but no I had to go and make a record for myself. What's it like? Well, I grew up at a time when instrumentals were a regular part of pop music play lists all over the world. Yeah, hit instrumentals that charted and sold millions of records! Things like Stranger On The Shore, Last Date, Swingin' Safari, Cast Your Fate To The Wind, Route 66, Alley Cat, Theme From A Summer Place, so many more and that's just from the 1960's! I really missed melodies that you could hum or whistle after you'd heard the record. With that in mind, I sta...

Marshalls at work on family-oriented feature Tue Jul 6, 9:18 PM ET Online Staff, STAFF GOOD MORNING: I was visiting the home of George W. Bush's top California fundraiser, but I was talking with John Kerry (news - web sites)-John Edwards (news - web sites) supporter Garry Marshall. The palatial Brentwood home is owned by Bradford Freeman, who loaned his $10 million house to the "Lucky 13" movie company. I was talking politics with Marshall between takes of the family-oriented film being directed by his son, Scott, his first feature-length helming stint. He has done TV and directed the second unit of his father's recently comple...

Marina del Rey News Features Skater Scott Hamilton to be honored at dinner by Jennifer Diamond Foundation Scott Hamilton, Olympic Gold ice skating medallist, four-time World Champion, and cancer survivor will be honored by the Jennifer Diamond Foundation in Marina del Rey Saturday, July 24th. The foundation assists people afflicted with cancer and will honor Hamilton at the Second Annual Jennifer Diamond Celebrity Sailboat Regatta dinner at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 24th, at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel. Musical entertainment will be provided by The Tokens. Veteran disc jockey and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honoree Lee Ma...