Paul Simon

Last night we added another concert notch to our belts when we saw the Great-with-a-capital-G Paul Simon perform at the PPG Paints Arena as a part of his Farewell Tour as a performing artist.

In the pantheon of American songwriters and performers, I don't think it can be argued that Paul Simon ranks at the highest levels of excellence and genius, and this includes all levels of music and performance, not just rock and roll or pop music (however one might define that term).  And all levels of Simon's genius were put on display at the Arena last night.  Only one month short of his 77th birthday, Simon performed for almost two and one-half hours, much of the music was from his catalog as a solo performer, not so much from the Simon & Garfunkel days, and if I were to be critical of anything about this show that would be it, but, hey, the Paul Simon oeuvre is so great and so extensive, the guy just can't do everything.

So many highlights...

• A rendition of "Mother and Child Reunion" that slipped right into "Me and Julio Down by The Schoolyard"
• Simon performing several numbers with, essentially, a mini-chamber group/orchestra that concluded with "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
• A rousing conclusion that featured "Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes" and "You Can Call Me Al"
• An encore with his simply fabulous back up band that featured "Late In The Evening", "Still Crazy After All These Years", and "Graceland"
• But perhaps the best was saved for last, a second encore that was Paul Simon alone on stage with just an acoustic guitar singing these five songs..."Homeward Bound", "Kodachrome", "The Boxer", "American Tune", and, you guessed it, "Sounds of Silence".

Early on Simon said, and he conversed quite a lot during the concert, that this tour would be "the last kind of iteration of these songs...it's actually quite exhilarating."  

Yes, "exhilaration" was definitely one of the emotions felt last night watching Paul Simon perform.

In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's online review of the concert, the headline said "Paul Simon Says Farewell to Pittsburgh With  A Concert For The Ages", and PG rock critic Scott Mervis concluded his review as follows:

"..Paul Simon, in his eighth decade on the planet, left us with what will be remembered as — look out, here comes an unfettered rush of superlatives — one of the best sounding, best arranged, best played, most sophisticated and most poignant shows we’ve ever seen in Pittsburgh."

Yep, that says it all.  Definitely one of the best concerts that The Grandstander and his Better Half have ever seen.