BST 2018, Paul Simon review: Thrilling farewell to the sound of Simon

Sound of Simon: Paul Simon performs live at British Summer Time 2018
STEVE GILLETT / LIVEPIX
Rick Pearson16 July 2018

Goodbye, Paul Simon, our old friend. At 76, the legendary singer-songwriter has suggested that his latest tour, Homeward Bound, will also be his last. Fans of all ages enjoyed sardine-like proximity inside Hyde Park to hear him one final time.

Simon’s six-decade career has spanned everything from harmony-filled folk-pop in Simon & Garfunkel to the boundary-breaking Afrobeat of Graceland, and this set was similarly eclectic and ambitious. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover put his brilliant backing band through its paces; Obvious Child was a riot of Marshall snares and acoustic strumming.

A low stage volume, ponderous between-song chatter and some challenging song selections led to a mid-set lull. Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War, performed with a string section, was elegiac and lovely but also asking a lot of a festival crowd who came here to dance.

Equally, if anyone has earned the right to a little self-indulgence, it is surely the man who wrote Bridge Over Troubled Water. This, and many other hits, followed in the final, thrilling 45 minutes. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes was a glorious blend of close harmonies and African highlife guitars; You Can Call Me Al become a terrace chant.

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Encore followed encore, until Simon was left alone on stage with only an acoustic guitar for company. He needed nothing else.

Homeward Bound, famously penned at Widnes station when Simon was touring the UK in the 1960s, has aged like a fine wine — while, had a pin dropped in Hyde Park during the closing The Sound Of Silence, you would have heard it.

With a final strum of the guitar, a bow and a wave, he was gone: Paul Simon, musician, pioneer, still amazing after all these years.

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