Diamond is Forever! Brings 'Neil Diamond Experience' to Poway

If you haven’t had a chance to see a Neil Diamond concert yet, the next best thing is headed to Poway this week.

As part of the Sharp Memorial Hospital Summer Concert Series, Diamond is Forever!, a Neil Diamond tribute band, will perform on Sunday at .

David Sherry, the band’s leader, said he is excited to return to North County, where he resided for 10 years before moving to Los Angeles a few years ago.

“That’s kind of home for me,” Sherry said. “Doing things for people in the area is really special for me. It’s like coming home.”

This is the first time the eight-member band will participate in Poway’s Summer Concert Series. Sherry said the band has a special set list for the upcoming concert. In fact, he said the band changes its set list for every concert.

“With Neil having so many songs, so many ballads, we pick and choose,” Sherry said. “It’s a little bit more work—a lot of bands don’t do that—but we like to make it so the fans always experience something new.”

Diamond is Forever! will perform Neil Diamond classics like “Sweet Caroline,” as well as material from the singer’s newer albums.

“There's quite a bit to pick from,” Sherry said. “I’m not just confined to what the record was, because Neil has so many different performances and versions of things. We find the ones that please us the most and seem to get the best audience response.”

While Neil Diamond fans often attend the band’s shows, Sherry said the band has also gained its own following since it was founded in San Diego County in 2005.

“The Neil Diamond fans are just incredible; they really are,” Sherry said. “But we also have some of our own Diamond is Forever! fans, and they’re people who are either hardcore Neil Diamond fans or people who have never really seen or heard Neil Diamond music until they heard our band, and they really love us.”

Sherry added that attendees don’t have to know Neil Diamond music to enjoy the free concert.

“There are a lot of people who are not familiar with his music and think it’s just going to be some middle of the road thing,” he said. “They’re pretty surprised to see that it really rocks. This is ’60s, ’70s, ’80s rock music. There’s some reggae and ballads. We really get every era of music.”

Concert attendees can expect costumes and other Neil Diamond “magic and effects,” but Sherry insisted that his band is not an average tribute band.

“We use that tag because that’s how people recognize what it is we’re doing in the industry,” Sherry said. “We really like to call ourselves Diamond is Forever!, the Neil Diamond Experience, because we really feel the people who have been to a Neil Diamond concert will relive some of that experience, and those who never have will really get to experience some of the excitement of not just somebody playing and singing Neil Diamond’s music, but really bringing the experience of Neil Diamond, which is a passionate show that really grabs you.”

Sherry added that he will introduce himself as David Sherry, a Neil Diamond fan, not a Neil Diamond impersonator.

“I think that’s really what makes us different from the average tribute band,” he said. “They’re trying to fool you, or they’re trying to be that person. This is ourselves. What this is really about is the music.”

Powegians can check out Diamond is Forever! in concert from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Sunday at Lake Poway. 

Admission is free. Parking at Lake Poway is also free for Poway residents and active duty military with ID. Parking is $5 for non-residents. A free shuttle service will be provided from the north parking lot of to Lake Poway. 

In other arts news:

• The  is offering a two-part mask-making workshop. MASK-Querade will be held from 1-3 p.m. on July 10 and 17. For more information about the workshop and other arts programs, call Bonnie Stromer, the center’s founder and director, at 858-679-2787. The Xpressive Arts Center is located at 12257-B Old Pomerado Rd.
• The Poway Folk Circle is holding its monthly bluegrass jam session on Monday. The jam begins at 6:30 p.m. at Round Table Pizza, located at 16761 Bernardo Center Drive in San Diego.