Fragile Paul Simon delivers homely encore in Amsterdam
It seemed that Paul Simon had said goodbye after 2018 with an extensive tour. Yet in 2023, the spiritual album “Seven Psalms” was released. To everyone’s surprise, a tour followed as well. Because Paul Simon performs the album in full and wants to present it as a whole, he is not playing the bigger Ziggo Dome on this tour, where he said farewell in 2018, but the more intimate AFAS Live, still in Amsterdam.
At the start, Simon announced like a host that the evening was divided into two parts. Beginning with a full performance of “Seven Psalms”. Not exactly an album for a large audience. Yet Simon, supported by a ten-piece band and his wife Edie Brickell, managed to bring the venue to complete silence. This was also helped by a polite request beforehand not to take photos or videos. The “Seven Psalms” section was not easy listening, but it suited his current, older voice well.
His current voice proved at certain moments to be the vehicle at the start of the second part of the evening. For this, he revisited both hits and album tracks from the rest of his career. Beginning with “Graceland”. However enthusiastically that song was received due to its recognisability, it did take some getting used to that he had to adjust his voice to a lower key. At times, it wavered between fragile and fitting. With the Simon & Garfunkel classic “Homeward Bound”, given a slight country approach, it was noticeable that he can no longer reach the high notes from 60 years ago.
However, for the remainder of the set, it worked out well, and the combination of songs in a lower key was effective. Between several songs, he explained how the following tracks had come about. With the sober stage, featuring only a single screen above, and Simon seated on a chair, it created an almost intimate living room atmosphere. As if a grandfather were telling stories. He also seemed relaxed. Solo songs such as “Under The African Skies” where the original second vocal part by Linda Rondstadt was performed here by Edie Brickell, “The Late Great Johnny Ace” a tribute to Johnny Ace, John F. Kennedy and John Lennon with photos shown on the screen above the stage, and “René And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War” all came across well with his current voice.
But it truly came alive towards the end with the hits “Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard” where Brickell handled the distinctive whistle, the jazzy “Something So Right” and “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”, where that iconic drum intro was played by original drummer Stevens Gadd. The encore with the inevitable Simon & Garfunkel classics “The Boxer” and the impressively simple solo version of “The Sound of Silence” also worked better than “Homeward Bound” earlier in the evening.
In essence, this felt like an encore we were given by Paul Simon. An encore in which he did not choose the easy route and at times faltered. Yet his stories in between, and the intimate living room-like atmosphere, made it a special evening by a legend from an era that is gradually fading. For that reason alone, it was an evening to cherish.
