Paul Simon
Monday 6 November 2006
Bournemouth BIC
SET LIST
Gumboots
Boy In The Bubble
Outrageous
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
Slip Slidin’ Away
You’re The One
Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard
Train In The Distance
How Can You Live In The NorthEast?
Loves Me Like A Rock
That Was Your Mother
Duncan
Graceland
Father & Daughter
Cecilia
The Only Livin’ Boy In New York
Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes
encore
You Can Call Me Al
Still Crazy After All These Years
Mrs Robinson
encore 2
Homeward Bound
Wartime Prayers
Bridge Over Troubled Water
encore 3
Late In The Evening
The Boxer
BAND:
Vincent Nguini- Guitar
Bakithi Kumalo- Bass
Steve Gadd – Drums
Mark Stewart – Guitars, Cello, Saxophone,
Robin DiMaggio- Drums, percussion
Tony Cedras – Accordion, Keyboard, Guitars
Andy Snitzer- Saxophone, Synthesizer
Adrian Simon – Keyboards
Phew! 2 hours 10 minutes, a free CD was waiting on every other seat (a single of How Can You Live in the NorthEast) and there were EIGHT encores. That’s counting songs after they first left the stage after Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, though counting another way it was three songs, off, two songs solo, off, one song, off, one song, off, one song.
Paul Simon and his band would blow Bob Dylan right off the stage in 2006 (having seen Bob earlier this year in the same hall)- he has perfect singing on every song, an impeccable band, and at 65 the stamina to do it.
This was my third Steve Gadd show in four years (two Paul Simon, one James Taylor). For all round versatility and range he has to be the best drummer in rock. OK, Levon Helm is equally brilliant at the rock / R&B / blues stuff, but he doesn’t play such a wide variety of material.
Highlights? Gumboots, Slip Sliding Away, Duncan, How Can You Live in the NorthEast, Only Livin’ Boy in New York, Still Crazy, Loves Me Like A Rock.
Diamonds On The Soles of Her shoes has been his show stopper for years of course and segues into You Can Call Me Al, which is “Get up, move forward, jump about’ time. As we were in row 5, we did and seeing him from about three yards away is magic.
Nothing from Rhythm of The Saints or Capeman, and only You’re The One from You’re The One. The show was heavy on Graceland and Bridge Over Troubled Water in fact. There were three songs from the new Surprise album.
One odd bit for me was that he recalled playing Bournemouth before “when I was here as a kid”. That would be between June 1964 and Spring 1965. The only sensible venue was Dave Steele’s folk club at the Disques A Go Go on Monday nights. I never missed one, and Al Stewart was a regular (who knew Paul Simon, and they were both involved with Jackson C. Frank, whose Blues Run The Game was produced by Simon). There were open mic nights. I recall Americans as exotic visitors. Did I see Paul Simon? If I did, it’s erased from my memory banks!
He received the best reception tonight that I’ve ever seen here.
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