It has been nearly two decades when I last saw Paul Simon, back on July 28 of 1999 at the PNC Banks Arts Center, when he was doing a tour with Bob Dylan Since then, I had long wanted to see Paul Simon again, but never seemed to manage it. Then, I heard about him doing a farewell tour, which I had mistakenly thought had already happened. I jumped on the opportunity when the tickets first became available, and did something which I rarely do: got tickets for a concert about half a year before it actually took place. The show that I got tickets for would be at the Prudential Center in Newark. That show finally took place last night, and it was the latest show that my son and I attended together. I have been trying to get him to see as many of the great artists and musicians of the past while they are still around. Together, we have seen some great acts, including Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, Bono and the Edge from U2, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Temple of the Dog (we are both huge fans of Chris Cornell), the Smashing Pumpkins, Ann Wilson, Jeff Beck, Paul Rodgers, and Robert Plant (with Sheryl Crow as the opening act). This was the last chance for him to see Paul Simon, and for me to see him one last time, and so I got the tickets when I could. Glad to have done so, too, because the tickets wound up being sold out. There were no empty seats that I saw.
He was at Joan Baez's house at some point in the early 1980's, and she excused herself at some point to go take a call. So, with a little bit of downtime, Simon pulled an art book about the works of René Magritte. In the book, he saw a photograph of a painting, with the caption underneath reading: "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War." He thought to himself, 'That would make a great song title!' But what would that song be about.
Well, he figured it out, eventually, and produced a beautiful song indeed by that same name. It is a very poetic and enjoyable song.
Simon also told a bit of a story about another song just a little later as well. Before actually playing it, he said that he had a strange and strained relationship with this song. After writing it, he mused that he said to himself, 'Well, that's better than what I usually do.' But he wound up giving it away, and although he rarely played it at his own concerts, he did do so occasionally, giving his own kind of unique spin and interpretation of it. But since this was his final, farewell tour, he felt that maybe it was time to reclaim it, in a way. And then he performed it, which wound up being "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," which is most famously sung by Simon's former partner, Art Garfunkel. This night's rendition of the song, with Simon indeed lending it a different feel, was quite nice as well. It truly is a great song, and a wonderful addition to his concerts this time around.
Simon discussed something before going into another song, which wound up being "Question for the Angels," as well. He said that he had been wearing the hat that he showed the crowd, which was a white cap with half of the letter E, representing the Half-Earth, or more specifically, the Half-Earth Foundation. It was to honor renowned scientist Edward O. Wilson, who Simon suggested had an inspiring vision of how we could still make the Earth a paradise again for future generations. Wilson lays out his vision, or plan, if you will, in a book titled "Half Earth," which Simon recommended we read. He believed in it, although he noted the difficult challenges that stand in the way. But he believes that it is a hopeful message for the future, and dedicated "Question for the Angels" to examining these things that he was talking about. Simon also mentioned that he had donated all of the profits from his last tour to the Half-Earth Foundation. He urged us to Google it, and the book, which I will be doing soon after finishing the post and publishing it. Please consider doing the same, if you get a chance.
Later, during the show, Simon addressed these same kinds of issues, asking the audience, "Strange times, huh?" The audience responded in the affirmative, and Simon let a bit of time pass, before simply saying, "Don't give up." A beautiful reminder not to lose hope during an era when sometimes things do indeed seem, or feel, hopeless. I know that I could use a reminder every now and then.
Maybe some people find it corny, or unrealistic, or the domain of environmental wackos and libtards, of which I guess I must be included. But yes, I do believe, as apparently does Paul Simon, that a better world is possible. Hell, it sometimes feels like we could hardly do worse, given the indeed strange times that we live in, and the rush of absurd headlines that can easily make us lose hope. It was nice to hear that a great and thoughtful songwriter like Paul Simon also still believes that we can, and should, aim to do better. I, for one, intend to read this book, upon the recommendation of Paul Simon.
Okay, back to the music, to the concert. He played most of the songs that you would expect him to play, with the notable exception of "Cecilia," which quite a few people in our section were requesting. But otherwise, this was more or less the concert I was expecting, with the songs that Simon is best known for. He played a long time, too - almost three hours! A terrific night of great music, shared with my son. Very memorable and enjoyable, and memories for a lifetime!
Setlist for Paul Simon at the Prudential Center in Newark, September 15, 2018 (taken from setlist.fm link for this specific concert: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/paul-simon/2018/prudential-center-newark-nj-2be98cb2.html):
America (Simon & Garfunkel song)
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
The Boy in the Bubble
Dazzling Blue
That Was Your Mother
Rewrite
Mother and Child Reunion
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War
Can't Run But
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel song)
Wristband
Spirit Voices
The Obvious Child
Questions for the Angels
The Cool, Cool River
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
You Can Call Me Al
Encore:
Late in the Evening
Still Crazy After All These Years
Graceland
Encore 2:
Homeward Bound (Simon & Garfunkel song)
Kodachrome
The Boxer (Simon & Garfunkel song)
American Tune
The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel song)
It looked empty about ten minute before 8pm, when the show was officially supposed to begin:
My phone had extremely limited space on it, since I have yet to fully go through all of the videos that I took during our recent trip out west. So, I could not really get any extensive clips of this concert. However, I did want to get some video clips, even though they are very short duration, and not extremely great quality, or anything. but it seemed like a good idea to share them here, so here they are:
Here is a video clip of Paul Simon speaking about the Half-Earth Foundation and scientist Edward O. Wilson during a show earlier in the tour (I could not find a clip just yet of him speaking about it during this show, specifically, although he definitely did):
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