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 presidential candidate John Kerry. His last tour, which started in late September 2001 and closed New Year’s Eve 2002, grossed close to $80 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. At 117 shows in 89 cities, it was the longest continuous outing of his career.
“The reality is I’m going to keep doing it until the audience tells me to hang it up,” he told Billboard last year prior to the release of the concert boxed set “Stages.” “I know that’s what the bottom line is.”
Here are Neil Diamond’s tour dates:
March 5: Wellington, N.Z. (Westpac Stadium)
March 7: Christchurch, N.Z. (Westpac Centre)
March 11: Sydney (SuperDome)
March 15: Brisbane, Australia (Entertainment Centre)
March 19: Perth (Subiaco Oval)
March 22: Melbourne (Rod Laver Arena)
March 26: Adelaide, Australia (Oval)
— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.