When we saw the best-ever (link) Elton concert, last summer, I thought to myself, "Self, Neil will be here soon." As Mr. D. announced 2012 tour dates, there it was... a two-week opening, at the end of August. "Ah," thought I... but it wasn't meant to be.
So, off to the Jones Beach Nikon theater we went, to see (link) Neil Diamond... again... still. The show was fantastic... the venue beyond gorgeous, just like Bethel Woods. Little did I realize that I was not the only one... um... thinking along similar lines. Check out Barry Lewis's words, as per yesterday's RECORD:
"For months, I’ve heard how bad a season this has been at Bethel Woods. What a terrible lineup they have. Missed out on getting all the good acts. I agree. Could have been better.
Up in Albany, they got Springsteen. Down at Jones Beach, there’s Neil Diamond. For two shows. And it seems you can’t pry James Taylor away from Tanglewood.
Matt McNeil, senior director of programming and marketing at Bethel Woods, admits those were the names they went after. What, you don’t think they tried? They knew what was expected.
'I knew the year after three sold-out Phish dates and a once-in-a-lifetime concert from Elton John would be tough to top. It’s like the ‘Seinfeld’ moment of going out on top, but we have to do it again every year.'"
