Diamond In The Rough

A couple of weeks ago, I think the entire state of Hawaii heard about the Neil Diamond concert in Honolulu. I can think of few musical superstars who have his kind of staying power. When I was in my teens I wasn’t a huge fan of Diamond, but over the years I’ve come to appreciate his music. I was a rocker and saw his music as more Barry Manilow, but with an edge and much more depth.

Plus, my mom saw his last concert here some 35 years ago, which kind of puts me off as I can’t see me and my own mother enjoying the same kind of music. Again, that’s not to say the music isn’t good she also saw Elvis. I guess I just don’t want to be compared to that generation. That would age me by 20-something years.

Anyway, I eagerly anticipated his concert this go-around and got tickets so I could take my wife. She’s a huge fan of Diamond, and the concert would help to round off Valentine’s Day week. I knew the concert would be a sellout, but I had no idea how popular he was with those of my mom’s generation. It started when the parking lot was full and I noticed people street parking and walking to the venue.

They all had gray or white hair, and while I didn’t see any walkers, it was a preview of what I was to see when we entered the concert arena. When we got in nearly everyone was our age or older! I turned to my wife and said, “What is this? An AARP convention?” Yes, I was stereotyping, but really I was making an observation about my own age. I thought 50s was the median age and it scared me.

I couldn’t admit to myself that I perfectly fit in, so much so that I nervously made jokes to my wife. I quipped, “What are they serving at the concession stand, Cream of Wheat?” Well, the concert was amazing, as was the crowd. For all I knew I could have been in a Bruno Mars concert. Diamond made everyone young again. I guess age is just a state of mind. Just ask my wife. She’ll tell you that sometimes I act just like a baby.