What a diamond geezer!
Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond gave an Alexandra woman a special memento of his Dunedin concert on Saturday night.
Glad Barnes (83) attended the concert alone and after taking her seat - which the stadium management had upgraded - she was given a signed tour programme.
''I've been thoroughly spoilt,'' she said yesterday.
The pop star's wife, Katie McNeil, had read in the Otago Daily Times that Mrs Barnes would be there by herself and arranged the memento.
Her husband wrote on the front of the programme: ''To Glad - Keep the faith! Neil Diamond '15''
Mrs Barnes believed the ''keep the faith'' reference was in response to the revelation in the ODT that she owned almost the singer's entire back catalogue.
Her seat was five rows from where the 74-year-old American singer-songwriter performed and she spent much of the concert singing and dancing.
''It was a fabulous concert. It was a happy crowd and we were all up and jigging around and had a bit of a sing.''
Songs she danced to included Beautiful Noise and Holly Holy but the most enjoyable sing-along was the final encore - 1969 hit Sweet Caroline.
''Everyone went mad.''
After the concert, she returned to her friend's home in Waverley ''on a high'' and needed a hot drink to calm down.
She would never forget her concert experience.
''It's a bit like a dream.''
