Concert Review: Paul Simon’s Blossom Show Delivers Career-Spanning Nostalgia

There were two very distinct camps at last night’s Paul Simon show at Blossom. The first, and those would be the people that shelled out several hundred dollars for a ticket to hear an 83-year old man, paid good money to hear an octogenarian vocally stumble through so many classic tunes from the early 1960s up through the latter half of the 1980s; the second camp were those that came to hear a living legend take them on a trip down memory lane, ticket price be damned.

It’s been nine years since Simon has played Northeast Ohio. The last outing was a well-attended June 2017 show at Jacobs Pavilion. In the intervening years, his voice has changed tremendously. There’s a frailty in his voice; the nuance that delivered such crisp harmonies with his former partner are gone, replaced by a false vibrato that many older singers have adopted as their lung capacity diminishes.

But, honestly, what can one expect of a man approaching eight-and-a-half decades on this planet?

Well, enough with the ugly; what about the good?

Surrounded by a crackerjack orchestra, Simon was engulfed by twelve musicians who elevated his game. A horn section, two percussionists, a string section of violin and cello, as well as a flutist, made up for many of the gaps in Simon’s vocals. Joined onstage by his wife, Edie Brickell, they shared vocal duties on three songs.

The set list was inspired: a mixture of Simon and Garfunkel-era classics, a smattering of his 1970s and ’80s solo work, and a 33-minute seven-song piece that opened the show (it was divided into two acts, with a twenty-minute intermission). The first half showcased his 2023 effort, Seven Psalms, and was meant to be performed and heard in its entirety. As a newer album, the first act didn’t get as much applause from the audience, who didn’t seem to be too familiar with the post-Covid Grammy-nominated record.

After the intermission, the band lit into “Graceland,” the huge eponymous hit from the 1986 album. Peppering some deeper cuts into the second half, he offered “Train in the Distance” and “The Late Great Johnny Ace” between such stalwarts as “Slip Slidin’ Away” and “Homeward Bound.”

Mrs. Simon came back onstage to accompany her husband on “Under African Skies” in a newer arrangement, replacing the familiar beat with a more up tempo start. The latter half of the second set gave us “Rewrite,” “Spirit Voices” and “The Cool, Cool River,” three tunes that covered some of Simon’s lesser-known work.

Closing out the set with “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” a full-throttled cover of one of Graceland‘s best-known tunes, the band, all eleven members, bowed and said their good nights.

Moments later, they re-emerged with an absolute banger of an encore. “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” got the audience on their feet, where they stayed until the very end. “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” was offered next, followed by “Something So Right.”

Then, two of Simon and Garfunkel’s biggest tunes closed the night: “The Boxer,” offered as a longer cut, full orchestra, absolutely mesmerized the crowd, still on their feet.

Then, the band left the stage, leaving Simon alone, standing with an acoustic guitar, closing with “The Sound of Silence.”

The crowd was hushed, reverent even. When he played the opening guitar riffs, you could hear a pin drop.

At the tail end the audience erupted. An aging legend whose voice considerably weaker since his last go-round here in Northeast Ohio bowed to the audience, whose ovation lasted a good five minutes. Nostalgia, and an appreciation for a man whose presence on the Blossom stage may very well be his last one here in Northeast Ohio, beat the expensive ticket prices and the chilly early summer air.

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Brian Lumley

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