As you look across Argyle Street from the front of the Chronicle-Herald newspaper building, you will see a lovely block of facades, “heralded” as it were, by their distinctive signs. To the left, you’ll see the now-famous Economy Shoe Shop sign, to the right of that is the delicate copper one signaling the entrance to The Backstage. To the right of that, is another neon number and its beacon directs you into the venerable Diamond.

The Diamond was constructed at the same time as the Backstage and opened on the same day. Although it is connected to The Backstage it has always had it’s own personality – it’s a character, just like its patrons.

This is an all-day place. As comfortable in the winter, hunkered down out of the cold, as it is in the summer, all brightness and light. The massive mirrors over the long, chintz banquette reflect an image of the Mona Lisa from the opposite wall, painted by local artist Mike Lewis. The high tables across from the bar are made out of slabs (and I do mean slabs) of good old Nova Scotian birch. Across from the bar are large, backlit, stained glass hexagons; further gems from Victor Syperek’s fabled “treasure chest” of collected stuff.

Past the bar, the main, wide-planked floor gives way to a raised back area with wrought iron railings, surrounded by leaded glass windows that look into the bustling Backstage restaurant, the lights of the Backstage’s tree are clearly visible. In one corner of this area is “The Confessional,” a tiny nook for two that could exist nowhere else. There are stories about things that have happened in the confessional but you know what they say: “what happens in the confessional, stays in the confessional.”

If you’re sitting on the barstool closest to the Argyle Street entrance, it likely means you’re a music fan. That’s because that stool is right next to the coolest jukebox in the country, and maybe even the world. Sure, why not? It is the coolest jukebox in the world. Eclectically stocked, you’ll find no vinyl 50’s oldies on this one (it’s not that kind of cool) but you will find CDs from many of Nova Scotia’s brightest musical talents (like The Trews, Matt Mays, Joel Plaskett, Buck 65) as well as stuff from the likes of Lucinda Williams, Led Zeppelin, Guided By Voices, The Kinks, The Flaming Groovies and… you get the drift…

If the Shoe Shop is the hang for writers, poets and actors, The Diamond is the hang for musicians. Sometimes things just work out that way. Recently, with the advent of new smoking legislation, The Diamond has become the designated smoking area for the Shoe Shop/Backstage/Diamond complex.

Given that we think smokers are just as worthy of a civilized place to be as other humans, this 86 seat room is a perfect place to relax. Maybe the smoking thing is why musicians love this place so much!

The Backstage kitchen serves the Diamond lunch, dinner and a late-night Tapas menu.