WINNIPEG SUN September 15, 2008 Beautiful Noise 'Jewish Elvis' holds sway with decades of professional panache By DAVID SCHMEICHEL (Jason Halstead/Sun Media) In the movie What About Bob? Bill Murray posits there are two kinds of people in the world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't. The philosophy is his way of explaining why he left his ex-wife (she was a fan, he wasn't). But ol' Billy definitely would have found himself in the minority had he popped by MTS Centre last night, where Brother Love was holding sway over a packed house of proudly Neil Diamond people. That the so-called "Jewish Elvis" puts on a heckuva great show is something of a given by this point. A top-selling concert draw for decades now, he's had plenty of time to perfect his smooth operator stage mannerisms, sensitive guy sex appeal, and especially the pop-and-rock masterpieces that make up his intimidatingly awesome back catalogue. The very definition of the term "consummate pro," Diamond -- now 67 --looks like he's completely at home on stage, maintaining an easy rapport with the crowd while still delivering rock solid versions of his often underrated tunes. And though his show can sometimes get a little schmaltzy, his songwriting is so strong we're willing to forgive the occasional burst of fromage. Scoring his entrance to a round of flashy fanfare from his 14-piece backing band, Diamond opened with the rousing hit Holly Holy, strumming a black acoustic guitar at the front of a huge stage comprised of moveable risers that kept re-arranging themselves throughout the set. And just in case that tune wasn't enough the get the adrenaline flowing, he followed with the equally spirited Beautiful Noise (complete with New Age-y spoken word intro) before scaling back a bit for the ballads Love On the Rocks and Play Me. The latter track gave him a chance to slowly wander the perimeter of the stage ("There are people back there!" he quipped, while addressing the seats facing the rear). But he kicked things into high gear again with clap-along fave Cherry, Cherry, here afforded an extended middle section to allow for solos by his pianist, his drummer, and his extremely enthusiastic backup singers. Thank the Lord for the Night Time was marred only slightly by an incongruous electric guitar solo, but Diamond rebounded with a trio of tracks from his 2008 disc Home Before Dark, which he introduced by saying, "That was yesterday. And this is today." The tunes -- produced by comeback king Rick Rubin (he's the guy who orchestrated Johnny Cash's late-career makeover) -- stand up nicely alongside Diamond's earlier work, and served as a sweet counterpoint to Crunchy Granola Suite and Done Too Soon (both of which appeared on the seminal live album Hot August Night), and the tender Brooklyn Roads, which Diamond introduced with a story about his parents. And of course, no Neil Diamond show would be complete without showstoppers Solitary Man, Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon, I'm A Believer, You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore (in a neat theatrical interlude, one of the backup singers filled in for Barbra Streisand), and Sweet Caroline, which earned Diamond a mid-show standing-O. To paraphrase that last one, good times never seemed so good. NEIL DIAMOND Where: MTS Centre When: Sun., Sept. 15 Sun Rating: 4 out of 5