Neil Diamond tribute opens WCMA season
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Warren Civic Music Association subscribers may think that the guy singing Neil Diamond songs next week looks familiar.
There's a good reason -- last year he was Paul Simon.
The tribute act A Little Bit Diamond opens WCMA's 2026-27 season on Sept. 10, and the band is led by Nick Foresman, who sang the Simon parts for last season's show Simon & Garfunkel 1981-The Concert. Many of the same musicians will be with him as well.
"We just had a great time," Foresman said. "It’s an awesome venue, and the crowd was so nice. I think we shook everyone’s hand."
Most tribute bands have a similar origin story. They were started by someone who was a lifelong fan of the artist. That's how Foresman feels about Simon, but the path to Diamond was a little bit different.
He got a frantic phone call about four years ago from a promoter in Detroit that he'd worked with in the past. The promoter booked a Neil Diamond tribute act for a theater there, and the band backed out after the show had been announced.
"He’s like, 'Nick, I know you can do it. You got like three months, and I don’t even care if you dress like them or if you just play four or five Neil Diamond songs and then just play some other songs,'" Foresman said. "He was in a panic, and I kind of felt bad. But I really hadn’t been a big Neil Diamond fan. I mean, my parents had a couple of his albums, and I knew his songs, but I just couldn’t see me dressed up in a sequin vest and doing it."
He contacted other musicians he knew, trying to pass the gig off to someone else. No one bit, and Foresman's wife encouraged him to try it. The musicians he normally plays with were as ambivalent as Foresman was initially.
"I put a set list together, and just said, 'Okay, here’s the deal. I’m gonna send you a set list. You guys listen to his songs, and just tell me what you want to do.' And one by one, each of the guys in the band would text me or call me and say the same thing -- 'You know what? Neil Diamond’s pretty awesome.'"
A Little Bit Diamond takes a similar approach to Diamond's catalog as Foresman did with Simon & Garfunkel's career by focusing on a particular performance. In this case, it's Diamond's Aug. 24, 1972, show at Los Angeles's Greek Theatre, which was recorded and released later that year as the live album "Hot August Night."
"People forget that he wrote 'I'm a Believer' (a hit for The Monkees), 'A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,' 'Cracklin' Rosie' and 'Cherry Cherry' and 'Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon,'" Foresman said. "When Neil Diamond was in his 20s and 30s, he was kind of a rock 'n' roller. He was the ultimate singer songwriter. We just decided to base the show around that. We also do the later hits because you can’t do Neil Diamond without doing 'America,' but the first part of the show is almost note-for-note 'Hot August Night.'"
The Simon & Garfunkel show might be more popular because they've been doing it longer and there aren't many other tribute acts filling that niche, but Foresman said Diamond has a devoted fan base that rivals acts like the Grateful Dead or Bruce Springsteen, and those fans are just as enthusiastic at the tribute shows.
"Neil Diamond has these die-hard fans that just absolutely love him," Foresman said. "Sometimes I joke on stage that, 'You guys know that I’m not really Neil Diamond, right?' I had some lady come out to me after a show and tell me that she saw me back in ’76 and just loved it and it’s so great to see I’m still playing. I’m like, 'Okay, I love you too.' That’s all I said."
And if WCMA subscribers enjoy A Little Bit Diamond, Foresman has three other tribute shows he can bring to Warren -- a show focusing on Simon's solo career; Coconut Telegraph, a Jimmy Buffett tribute; and Lonely Ol' Night, a John Mellencamp tribute.
Warren Civic Music Association's 2026-27 season
• Sept. 10 -- A Little Bit Diamond (Neil Diamond tribute)
• Oct.13 -- Seals & Crofts 2
• Nov. 11 -- Taylor Simon King: Celebration 3 American Troubadours (James Taylor/Carly Simon/Carole King tribute)
• Dec. 9 -- Michael Cavanaugh: A Merry Rockin' Christmas
• March 4 -- The StepCrew
• April 7 -- The Buckinghams
All concerts start at 7 p.m. at Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren. Season tickets good for admission to all six performances are $145. For more information, go to warrencivicmusic.com, email info@warrencivicmusic.com or call 330-399-4885. Single tickets are $45 and are available at the Packard box office and through Ticketmaster.