For the last three years, the closest fans could come to seeing a live Neil Diamond [ tickets ] performance was to catch one of the many Diamond impersonators on the club circuit. The real thing has returned to the road, however, and will visit nearly 30 cities by the end of the year.

Diamond is on tour to support his first album of new material in five years, "Three Chord Opera," which reached stores in July. The album was produced by Peter Asher (Cher, Linda Ronstadt, Sarah Brightman) and Alan Lindgren (whom Diamond has often enlisted as a keyboardist and arranger).

"Three Chord Opera" entered the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 15 nine weeks ago, and has since slipped to No. 138.

Diamond has never had a No. 1 album, but he is well established as a top draw on the concert circuit. According to Amusement Business, his 1996 tour was the fifth-highest grossing of that year, pulling in $25.3 million. His last tour, which ran from late 1998 through early 1999, grossed more than $42 million over 85 shows.

It doesn't appear that Diamond's three-year layoff from the road has cost him at the box office. Nearly all of his upcoming dates are essentially sold out, though single tickets are available in some markets. Diamond plays multi-night stands in more than a dozen cities.

Though Diamond was known for his "in the round" shows of the '80s, his current tour uses a traditional end-stage setup.