Sound problems take shine off Neil Diamond's performance

Neil Diamond's Wellington concert was dubbed a sound-disaster after a bad echo saw some angry fans walking out - and demanding refunds.

Many of the 33,000 concert goers - who had paid $60 to $100 a ticket - were forced to move, while others left the Westpac Stadium early into the sold-out two-hour show on Saturday night saying they would be asking for their money back.

The echo made Diamond impossible to understand in some areas of the stadium and the first few songs virtually unrecognisable, said one fan who was forced to change seats.

"We're so mad. We paid heaps for these tickets and the security people are telling us to stay still. Bugger them, I couldn't hear a thing."

The sound system had been organised by the tour organisers, not supplied by the stadium.

People on plastic chairs on the turf snapped off their linked chairs so they could move their seats. Security guards initially tried to stop people moving but were later instructed to let fans relocate if they wanted to by Diamond's management team.

"During the first song a large block of the audience looked at each other horrified then moved en masse to alternative areas," wrote one fan on a Diamond website.

"Neil must have wondered what on Earth was happening. From his vantage point all he would have seen were large numbers of fans walking out."

The sound problems, which were not apparent during a full dress rehearsal the previous night, were fixed a few songs into the concert, a spokeswoman for Australian-based promoter Paul Dainty said.

She said a small number of fans had asked for refunds.

- NZPA