Tony Starlight shall Neil before thee!
Tony Starlight’s wildly popular Neil Diamond Experience is back this October with a special tribute to Neil Diamond’s classic double-live album Hot August Night.
WHY IS HOT AUGUST NIGHT SO IMPORTANT?
Any great concert performance elevates the source material. Most concerts today are a visual medium and although they might put on a great stage production with dancers, explosions and video screens, you'd never listen to the concert independently because its basically indistinguishable from the recordings (or IS the recordings!) From the first song on Hot August Night, "Crunchy Granola Suite", the music is the star and the live versions unanimously outshine the original recordings. The emotion of performing to and connecting with a live audience is a special gift that not all artists have. Hot August Night captures Neil at just the right time, where he has a writing and performing history that makes him professional, but he is not yet an icon caught in the trappings of fame and fortune. There's a hunger and urgency to the performance that it is rare to capture on tape.
Read what Tony prophetically wrote in 2012…
“Hot August Night is my favorite Neil Diamond album for these reasons. The 40th anniversary is significant because the original artist is still touring and there's only a handful of artists who can still be so vibrant 40 years after their pinnacle. By the 50th anniversary in 2022, Neil will be 81 and it's unlikely he'll be touring or have much voice left to sing his style of songs. Neil Diamond is one of the few elite artists like Frank Sinatra, Elton John and The Beatles who transcend generations. Three or four generations can come to a concert and each can connect to the music on their own terms." - Tony Starlight
The Tony Starlight Neil Diamond Experience differs from similar tributes in three key ways.
1) Musically it is a faithful rendition of Neil in his heyday with no prerecorded tracks. Tony’s Neil voice is spot on, in both tone and inflection. Hear for yourself!
2) The show doesn’t take itself too seriously. Tony is a musical comedian, so the show is a fun mix of music and comedy. And sing-a-long!
3) It is in a seated concert setting, NOT a “stand-like-sardines-for-two-hours-in-a-venue-that-thinks-all-you-want-to-hear-is-drums-and-bass.”
Songs you can expect to hear from Hot August Night: Crunchy Granola Suite, Done To Soon, Solitary Man, Play Me, Holly Holy, Sweet Caroline, Cracklin’ Rosie, Shilo, Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon, Song Sung Blue, Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show and more. Other Diamond hits in the show include: America, Forever in Blue Jeans, Hello Again, and more.
Tony Starlight: Vocals and guitar
Craig Bidondo: Piano
Frank DiGiovanni: Keyboards
Nick O’Donnell: Guitar
Dennis Caiazza: Bass
Barbara Ayars: Vocals
Thea Enos: Vocals
Neil Diamond’s music unites people from multiple generations. It speaks to people’s soul. Of all the music that I sing, across multiple genres, nothing gets an audience going like a Neil Diamond song.” – Tony Starlight
ON SALE SOON
$35 General Admission
$45 At the Door
$50 Preferred Seating (seating in the first 7 rows of the center section)
Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 N. Alberta St.
Portland, OR 97211