THE NEIL DIAMOND STORY – WEYMOUTH PAVILION by Mike Davis

THURSDAY evening sprang into life as Bob Drury, right, known as ‘the UK’s Voice of Neil’, burst onto the stage at the pavilion and explained how he would recreate some of Neil Diamond’s incredible 48 years as a singer/songwriter.

He started from Neil’s upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, and moved on to Los Angeles where Neil became the world’s highest paid entertainer in the 1980s.

Neil started his career as a music writer, and wrote for groups such as The Monkees, which led Bob to start singing I’m a Believer. The progress of Neil Diamond’s career and his songs were expertly illustrated by the backing screens, showing superb photography such as the Statue of Liberty, when Bob started singing America.

Bob’s voice is similar in timbre to that of Neil Diamond, complete with the drawn out notes in all the right places but lacking the Sweet Caroline singer’s deep, rich, tone.

What Bob does with aplomb though, is interact with the audience with enthusiasm and charisma, plus good humour.

There was a lot of laughter as Bob told of the time he wore a wig to match Neil Diamond’s hairstyle, but quickly abandoned the idea when told he looked like Roy Orbison. And the songs – there were plenty, all plucked from the huge range of Neil Diamond album covers – flashed on the backing screen.

A most unusual choice of song by Bob was Shilo, Neil’s imaginary friend when he was a child. As Neil’s career progressed to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, so did Bob’s choice of songs, and Bob was soon belting out songs such as Sweet Caroline, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers and Soolaimon. The audience were clapping along to the familiar songs, and by the end of the evening people were up dancing, enjoying the evening’s entertainment. The lighting effects provided by chains of blue and yellow fairy lights reflected gloriously off Bob’s diamond studded jacket.

Bob dealt very methodically with Neil’s life story and touched on periods of his life in the 1990s when he was less famous, ending with one of his lesser known romantic songs, This Time.

The whole evening was smoothly held together by the hard working smiling staff and volunteers at The Ocean Room, keeping everyone happy.

The beautiful summer weather, the effective lighting and the audience participation all contributed to the most enjoyable tribute to Neil Diamond.

See his website at bobdrury.co.uk for more information.