......in Flushing Meadows Park [ hometown crowd ]......final song was 'Sound of Silence'......

.....he said doesn't mean he won't perform.....he just won't be touring anymore.....


Paul Simon Closes Out Farewell Tour With Euphoric Hometown Show

Simon did everything possible to make his final concert a joyful affair, but by the end he was fighting back tears as he sang “Homeward Bound”

....Two songs into his set at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on the final stop of his Homeward Bound Farewell Tour, Paul Simon put down his guitar and put on a black baseball glove. “This is like two miles from where I played high school baseball,” he said. “It’s little dark out, but you know what? I’m going to play a quick game of catch.” He then lobbed the ball into the New York crowd and urged whoever caught it to throw it back. It took three attempts, but he eventually found a fan capable of hurtling it right into his glove with a satisfying smack. The crowd cheered with delight at the moment of impact and Simon let out a smile big enough to be seen from about 1,000 feet back.

It was a typically joyous moment on what could have otherwise been a pretty melancholy affair. After all, everyone there was watching one of New York’s greatest songwriters play the last stop of his last tour. But instead of turning it into an evening of sad reflection about the cruel passage of time, Simon – just a few weeks away from his 77th birthday – turned it into a party in the park where complete strangers could groove together to “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” harmonize on the “lie la lie” chorus of “The Boxer” and jump up and down while screaming out every word to “You Can Call Me Al.” At almost no point in the night did Simon even hint at the fact that it was the end of his last tour, even if his eyes looked a little misty near the end of “Homeward Bound.”

Like every show on this tour, it began with a rearranged rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s classic “America.” It’s a durable song that has managed to work in everything from David Bowie’s set at the post-9/11 Concert For New York City to a 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign commercial. And now in the Trump era, the “empty and aching” kid on the bus seemed to be speaking for many Americans. The president’s name was never uttered, but after a haunting “American Tune” near the end of the night Simon said, “Strange times, huh? Don’t…Give…Up.”

“America” went right into “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover,” “The Boy in the Bubble” and “Dazzling Blue” from his 2012 overlooked triumph So Beautiful or So What. It set the stage for an evening where he toggled between his greatest hits and album cuts only familiar to the true devotees. “Most of these songs that I’m going to play tonight I think you’ll be familiar with, maybe a few you’ll be less so,” he said early on. “But the rhythm tunes are all written with the idea you’ll get up and dance.”

They certainly did dance, especially when he kicked into the opening chords of “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard” and everyone had the unique chance to sing about “Rosie the Queen of Corona” in Corona. His wife Edie Brickell even came out to deliver the famous whistle solo with impressive skill. The mood then quieted down when the chamber ensemble yMusic came to the front of the stage to accompany Simon on “Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War,” a fantastically obscure Hearts and Bones song that he’s resurrected on his new album In the Blue Light. That album was a commercial dud in 1983, but time has been very kind to it.

“I have a strange relationship to this next song,” Simon said. “I wrote it a long time ago and when I finished it I said to myself, ‘Hmm, that’s better than I usually do.’ Then I gave it away and I didn’t sing it for a long time, though occasionally I’d try it on tours, though I never actually felt like it was mine since the original versions are so unique. But this being the final tour, I’m going to be playing my lost child.”

He was talking about “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and when he says “gave it away” he means that he let Art Garfunkel sing lead on it. That was the only time he came close to acknowledging his estranged singing partner the entire evening, though his image did briefly appear a few times during a photo montage paired with “Homeward Bound.” Garfunkel booked his own show in Rochester, Minnesota this very night, completely ruling out the slim possibility they were going to come together for the encores. But even though living up to the Garfunkel original is a very difficult task, Paul’s stripped-down arrangement was still quite lovely and one of the high points of the evening, especially when a Spirit Airlines jet flew right over the crowd en route to Laguardia right as he began the climactic “sail on silver girl” verse........


the sound............of silence........?!

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2018 08:18AM by NewtonMP2100.

Saw his show in St. Paul in June. Joyous. He's going out on a high note.

Through a long and complicated set of events, I wound up with tickets in Philly in June and Pittsburgh last week.

In retrospect, I wouldn't have missed either for the world.

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Saw his show in St. Paul in June. Joyous. He's going out on a high note.

In the middle of the second encore in Philly, I turned to my friend and said
"Do you want a joyous thought?"
"We get to do this again in three months"

Thank you Paul ... for everything.

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

----...did you go, Newt??---...

I didn't like the break up with Art. I think Paul wanted to be the lone star. I think Garfunkel has a better take on the situation from interviews I have seen.

damn. wish i had caught this tour. what an outstanding body of work. simon has always been a prime source of inspiration for me.

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"Success isn't about how much money you make. It is about the difference you make in people's lives."--Michelle Obama

Just like Streisand?? I'm sure he'll be back.

I saw the "Graceland" tour and the "Rhythm of the Saints" tour, and I can easily imagine how fantastic this tour must have been.

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$tevie
I saw the "Graceland" tour and the "Rhythm of the Saints" tour, and I can easily imagine how fantastic this tour must have been.

I guess you were born at the right time

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

I've seen Paul Simon and Simon and Garfunkel multiple times, including the Concert in Central Park, Simon at MSG for the NYC Public Library benefit, the Graceland tour, S&G at MSG a few years ago for the reunion tour, Garfunkel at Carnegie Hall (Simon made a surprise appearance for a few songs).

What great experience Saturday night must have been. Wish I had been there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2018 03:50PM by Cary.

Graceland tour was amazing. Managed to catch it twice, once indoor and an outdoor at Hershey Park on a glorious summer evening.

The outdoor concept was pretty spectacular. The entire crew was on fire.

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Microman
I didn't like the break up with Art. I think Paul wanted to be the lone star. I think Garfunkel has a better take on the situation from interviews I have seen.

Art was supposedly more interested in movies and acting at the time than writing songs. Paul was more interested in writing songs. Performing between Art's gigs with Simon doing all the writing wasn't going to work. This is aroundabout the time that Carnal Knowledge was filmed so it adds up.

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