Superb concert! Neil Diamond looks and sounds great! His voice has not changed! This DVD was recorded in 2008. The quality of the DVD is absolutely perfect in audio and video! He sang ALL his oldies, EXCEPT Hello Again, Shilo, Desiree, Longfellow Serenade, Heartlight, and September Morn. The audience at Madison Square Garden was clearly delighted!. I've been waiting for this since the Neil Diamond, Greatest Hits Live DVD of 1988 and I certainly was NOT disappointed!

Superb concert! Neil Diamond looks and sounds great! His voice has not changed! This DVD was recorded in 2008. The quality of the DVD is absolutely perfect in audio and video! He sang ALL his oldies, EXCEPT Hello Again, Shilo, Desiree, Longfellow Serenade, Heartlight, and September Morn. The audience at Madison Square Garden was clearly delighted!. I've been waiting for this since the Neil Diamond, Greatest Hits Live DVD of 1988 and I certainly was NOT disappointed!

The included CD, titled "Neil Diamond 10 Favorites", includes:

Cherry, Cherry

Shilo

Sweet Caroline

Hello Again

September Morn

Forever in Blue Jeans

Play Me

Pretty Amazing Grace

Love on the Rocks

America

In the "Welcome Home Neil" segment on the DVD, Neil Diamond revisits his childhood neighborhood and home in Brooklyn. It was cute that when he chatted with four African-American guys in their late teens, they "didn't have a clue" who he was. Later he chatted with his team and planned the concert.

Neil Diamond videos have been sort of hit or miss affairs over the years. Even though Diamond is known for doing great shows their power has not translated to video very well (see Greatest Hits Live). It can now be said that there is a Diamond concert video that captures the intensity of an actual show.

Shot by Hamish Hamilton,Hot August Night:NYC gives us a glimpse of the 2008 Tour in front of a hometown crowd who is in love with the entertainer. The show capures twenty-eight songs in just over two hours as Diamond takes us through most of his catalogue from his earliest hits to his latest Home Before Dark material. Backed by the band that has supported him for the past thirty years or so Diamond makes it look easy. The high point of the show is a rousing mid set Sweet Caroline that has the entire arena on its feet.

The only bonus feature is Neil Diamond Coming Home which takes the singer back to his old Brooklyn neighborhood and apartment fifty years later.

This is a worthwhile DVD to watch if you have an interest in one of America's most known singer songwriters.

First off, let me say this, never mind what else you've read, this blu ray disc's surround audio is very good, not perfect but say a 4 or a 4 1/2 out of 5. I played it on a PS 3 connected HDMI to a digital amp with ability to decode the usual and the more recent audio formats and have this to report. The LPCM 2.0 output played through the stereo mode of the amp is satisfactory but nothing to shout about -- stable sound imaging, but congested with slightly boomy bass at higher volume. The Dolby True HD 5.1 output when I perversely played it through the 2 channel mode of the amp sounded worse. The sound was muffled with poor stereo image and sounded awful enough for me to switch off in a hurry. But this same True HD 5.1.output when properly decoded and played through the 5.1. mode of the amp brought back the smile to my face. The differential output through the various speakers varies of course with the track played but generally is about 20-25% each from R and L front, 15-20% subwoofer, 10-15% each from R and L rear speakers and only 10-15% from the central speaker. Despite this timid output from the centre however, the stereo imaging from the 2 front speakers is excellent and the vocals from Diamond and the backup singers are easily discernible even with the full band playing, down to the last p's and t's and sibilants. This type of mix is much preferable to one with a strong centre speaker output which overwhelms and destroys the stereo illusion (for audiophiles getting a centre speaker is akin to getting the bubonic plague). The interesting thing about this particular 5.1 mix is that whilst it uses the centre sparingly as an in between "filler", it uses it more as an ambience channel. Listen to tracks with strong audience noise like claps and whistles and sing-alongs and you'll notice strong ambient noise coming from the centre. This, I think is to convey the illusion of sitting in the front row facing the stage in the gold fish bowl that is Madison Square Garden where of course the ambient noise surrounds you 360 degrees ! Good sound then and not a bad sound stage either.

The video quality is more of a mixed bag. When the lighting is just right you get the high def picture you expect from a blu ray but oftentimes when Diamond moves to a darker area the picture is noticeably softer and some long shots of the audience in poor light show up fuzzy and grainy. A 4 out of 5 perhaps.

But nitpicking aside it is the performance that matters most, and man can this guy perform ! Whether it is in the all out sock-it-to-'em numbers such as Holly Holly, Cherry Cherry, Crunchy Granola Suite and Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show, or in the declamatory I am...I Said, or the syrupy Sweet Caroline or the intimate You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Neil Diamond sizzles, the band is hot and the audience laps everything up clamoring for more, more. What a night. Diamond seldom ever disappoints in a live concert, and this performance is a real gem, 5 carats and all of flawless.

Oh my, what an incredible experience. I have always loved his songs but for the first time "I am...I said" and "Brooklyn Roads" brought tears to my eyes.

People comment on the sound and HD quality (which I believe are excellent) instead of immerising themselves in this moving and wonderful experience. The mood and camera work are excellent. Crowds are not shown crying or fainting, but the pure joy and happiness of the audience is infectious.

One of the best music concert Blu-rays that you will possess.

I have two other Neil Diamond DVD but this is by far the best!!..The video and audio quality..and the performace are without equal.!! If you are thinking of owning one Neil Diamond DVD, This is the one !!!