Touring in support of latest album ‘So Beautiful or So What,’ Paul Simon returns to Glasgow accompanied by an eight piece band, who back him superbly with a variety of instruments and styles.
Despite the aforementioned newest collection, his set understandably leans on that most popular and enduring of his solo oeuvre, 1986’s masterwork ‘Graceland’. The first of five of its tracks to make appearances is a rocking rendition of the excellent ‘Boy in the Bubble’ which opens tonight’s show. Before the end of the evening we will also have heard stellar versions of ‘Gumboots’, ‘That Was Your Mother’, ‘Crazy Love Vol II,’ and the mass singlaong of ‘Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes’.
Only occasionally is there a frailty in Simon’s vocals, which otherwise belie his 69 years. A solo rendition of ‘The Sound of Silence,’ for example, is sung beautifully, with the simple combination of solo voice and guitar a welcome nod to Simon’s early traveling folkster beginnings. Simon himself alludes to his 60s café days when he mentions that he got into “a lot of trouble” in Glasgow once upon a time, but hopes that “that’s all forgiven and forgotten”.
Catering for both casual and dedicated fans, classics like 1975 US number 1 ‘50 Ways To Leave Your Lover’ mingle with lesser known songs such as the welcome airing of 1983’s ‘Hearts and Bones.’ The latter in particular benefits from sounding much more expansive, crisp and clear in this live setting.
Another of a clutch of treats for the most dedicated of Simon fans is a terrific rendition of ‘Peace Like A River’ from 1972’s eponymous solo album. His storyteller vocals and intricate guitar playing are wonderfully true to the original recording, and though his keyboardist appends a somewhat puzzling, elongated and atonal piano solo to the song’s end, it reinforces Simon’s willingess to experiment with his back catalogue in a way that many artists shy from.
Similarly a reworking of the once controversial ‘Kodachrome’ segues into the gospel of ‘Gone At Last,’ just as ‘Hearts and Bones’ had led into the 50s rock’n’roll standard ‘Mystery Train,’ as popularised by Elvis Presley.
Away from this now typical tinkering with, and in some cases major revision of song arrangements, one which wisely follows its original template is a near-perfect delivery of ‘The Only Living Boy In New York’. Whereas the lack of Art Garfunkel’s harmonising tones could be said to slightly mar the earlier ‘Sound of Silence,’ no such criticism can be applied here. On a song whose lyrics deal with the departure and absence of his former partner, his current bandmates fill in brilliantly and Simon even takes the opportunity to showcase his own falsetto during the beautiful coda.
From that latest album is ‘Questions For The Angels’ which, notwithstanding an incongruous mention of Jay-Z at the song’s centre, again recalls the classic solo voice and guitar formula and gives another opportunity to showcase Simon’s deft musicianship.
Over the course of the night classics come and go, including ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’, ‘Slip Slidin’ Away’, ‘The Obvious Child’, with its immense, South American percussion, and in his first encore, a pretty cover of the Beatles’ ‘Here Comes The Sun,’ poignant in that Simon had performed it in the past with its author, the late George Harrison.
Following encores, standing ovations and handshakes with an enthusiastic front row, the performance closes with ‘Late In The Evening,’ a song which rides the waves of its emphatic brass section and insistent, percussive rhythms.
At its closing, the ovation surely commends not just the brilliant performance, but the cultural weight which underpins any appearance by Paul Simon, one of the truly greatest of modern songwriters.