It has been five long years since Toronto has seen fervent pop singer Neil Diamond -- who falls somewhere on the schmaltz-o-meter between Barry Manilow and Elton John -- in all his glorious showmanship.

And so last night's diverse crowd at Diamond's sold-out show at Maple Leaf Gardens -- ranging from rowdy frat boys to older couples -- didn't waste any time in letting the 57-year-old artist know he had been missed.

As the lights dimmed and an overture of Diamond hits played, the crowd jumped to their feet and roared as the singer took to his impressive stage -- a rotating theatre-in-the-round which supported his veteran nine-piece band beneath him.

Talk about basking in the glow.

Unfortunately, that level of excitement couldn't be maintained over the next two hours.

The arm-sweeping and finger-pointing Diamond -- think of him as the Charlton Heston of pop music -- had the audience right in the palm of his hand for most of his staggering 32-song set.

However, some of Diamond's show got dragged down by slow-moving sections that would have been better left out, including a four-song set from his soundtrack for the 1973 film Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the song Sabre Dance, which was just performed by his band, and another four tracks from his most recent release, The Movie Album -- As Time Goes By.

When the singer announced: "I think we're going to try some Neil Diamond songs!" following his own emotional outpouring into new/old material like Unchained Melody and Can't Help Falling In Love, you could hear and feel the restless crowd's energy level take a swing back up again.

Particularly since Diamond, prone to blowing kisses at the audience, then jumped into three of the biggest singalongs of the night, Song Sung Blue, Cracklin' Rosie and Sweet Caroline.

But let's not forget the other classics up to this point.

Most of the evening did consist of Diamond's legendary songbook from the '60s and '70s, although after opening with Beautiful Noise, he jumped ahead 20 years to Can Anybody Hear Me from his 1996 country-influenced album, Tennessee Moon.

However, he didn't stay in the '90s for long.

The first barn burner of the night was the oldie-but-goody Thank The Lord For The Night Time, which was followed by the delightful Cherry Cherry, a song that saw Diamond play the acoustic guitar, raising his cool quotient considerably.

Also good was Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon, although it was hard to completely wipe out the sound of Urge Overkill's more recent and excellent cover. The same went for Solitary Man, which Chris Isaak has sufficiently crooned.

It was only when it came time for Diamond to belt out Play Me, as in: "You are the sun, I am the moon, you are the words, I am the tune, play me," that his on-stage melodrama finally made complete and utter sense.

An even bigger fever pitch was reached on his foot-stomping, hand-clapping renditions of Forever In Blue Jeans and America, the latter song which featured the unfurling of several Canadian and U.S. flags.

There are several reasons that Diamond -- who plays a sold-out show at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton tonight -- has sold 110 million albums over his 30-year-career, and not being afraid to perform when the song calls for it is right up there.

JAM! Rating: 3 out of 5