Neil Diamond will kick off his North American tour later this week in St Paul Minnesota and despite a marathon 37-city run; he doesn`t expect the tour to stop after the American dates are over.
“I want to keep going with the tour as long as I can. I want to play Australia,” Diamond tells Undercover News in a hook-up today.The Australian tours are special for Neil Diamond. He evens barracks for an Australian football team, The Brisbane Lions.
Diamond`s love -affair with Australia goes back to his first tour down-under in 1976. He was last here in 2006. “They have been so loyal to me and so great to me,” he says. “I think I want to play Australia. We are talking to promoters about that now and hopefully they will be able to work that out”.
Being 67-years old hasn`t slowed down the veteran performer. A few weeks back, he played the Glastonbury Festival in the UK had had tens of thousands of fans half his age singing along to his hits. “I want to keep going and keep presenting the show and seeing all those happy people out there. It is joyful for me and maybe a little selfish. Maybe I should lock myself up in the studio again for another year or two but I don`t want to right now. I want to be out there and having fun. Australia has always been part of my itinerary and it will always continue to be a part of my itinerary”.
His newfound youthful fan base has been fuelled by a renewed interest with thanks to producer Rick Rubin. Diamond`s Rubin produced last album `Home Before Dark` was his first ever number one album in the US. That surprised even Neil. “I thought Hot August Night was a number one album, until I found out it wasn`t”, he said sounding surprised.
Neil Diamond is expected to swing by Australia in the first quarter of 2008.
North American dates are:
7/19/2008 St Paul, MN
7/22/2008 Sioux City, IA
7/24/2008 Omaha, NE
7/26/2008 Chicago, IL
7/29/2008 Indianapolis, IN
7/31/2008 Auburn Hills, MI
8/3/2008 Cleveland, OH
8/5/2008 Washington, DC
8/7/2008 Hartford, CT
8/9/2008 Philadelphia, PA
8/12/2008 New York, NY
8/14/2008 New York, NY
8/18/2008 Pittsburgh, PA
8/20/2008 Albany, NY
8/23/2008 Boston, MA
8/25/2008 Columbus, OH
8/27/2008 Green Bay, WI
8/29/2008 St Louis, MO
9/14/2008 Winnipeg, MB
9/16/2008 Edmonton, AB
9/18/2008 Calgary, AB
9/20/2008 Vancouver, BC
9/22/2008 Portland, OR
9/24/2008 Seattle, WA
9/26/2008 Sacramento, CA
9/28/2008 San Jose, CA
10/1/2008 Hollywood, CA
10/2/2008 Hollywood, CA
10/7/2008 San Diego, CA
10/10/2008 Glendale, AZ
10/12/2008 San Antonio, TX
10/14/2008 Houston, TX
10/16/2008 Dallas, TX
10/19/2008 Oklahoma City, OK
10/21/2008 Tulsa, OK
10/24/2008 Tampa, FL
10/26/2008 Ft Lauderdale, FL
10/28/2008 Orlando, FL
10/30/2008 Jacksonville, FL
