Concert review: Paul Simon at the Vic Theatre
Paul Simon has played stadiums and festivals. He’s done Central Park. So it was a treat Monday to see one of the most venerated songwriters of the last half-century turn the relatively intimate, sold-out Vic Theatre into his living room.
The 69-year-old singer-songwriter dressed for the occasion in loose-fitting jeans and black T-shirt underneath an unbuttoned shirt. His eight-piece multi-culti band framed him, with Simon at times resembling a crossing guard at a three-way intersection as he directed musical traffic. His foot tapped, his arms waved, he crouched and jutted a guitar toward his musicians, he even played an air washboard solo.
In one sense, the two-hour, 24-song performance played like a mini-history of rhythm, spiraling out from the doo-wop of Simon’s native New York to West Africa down the coast to Capetown and then out to the Caribbean, into Brazil, Memphis and New Orleans. His band of multi-instrumentalists was versatile enough to keep pace with Simon’s game of continental hop-scotch, the singer demonstrating how he synthesized his rhythm journeys into durable pop songs.
At times there were four or five musicians playing various percussion instruments; the emphasis was on groove, swing and syncopation. Sometimes it was pervasive – the river of rhythm that spilled out at the onset of “The Obvious Child,” the spirited duel between drummer Jim Oblon and percussionist Jamey Haddad that slammed shut “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.” But rarely was the rhythm overpowering; instead it served as a buoyant underpinning for a group of musicians who reveled in tiny details, whether the chime of a triangle or the flock of birds that Vincent Nguini seemed to stir everytime his fingers fluttered across his guitar strings.
Simon’s voice was never his strong suit (there’s a reason he once paired with Art Garfunkel for some of his most commercially successful recordings) but his agile phrasing and the conversational lilt of his delivery glided atop the percolating rhythms. That more than anything explained how the best of his deceptively complex songs rarely sounded fussy; from the accordion-swept bounce of “The Boy in the Bubble” to the whistled melody of “Rewrite,” Simon made his songs sound almost off-the-cuff.
He also went back to his early days as an aspiring folkie raised on Brill Building songcraft, stripping away the harmonies from “The Sound of Silence” until it left a lonely shiver and honing in on the church-organ mournfulness of “The Only Living Boy in New York.”
Simon’s master class in rhythm also included some of the precedents for his songs, notably the Memphis chug of Junior Parker’s “Mystery Train.” He also fused Jimmy Cliff’s “Vietnam” and his own “Mother and Child Reunion,” though reggae proved not to be one of the band’s strengths. They were much surer delivering the Creole exuberance of “That Was Your Mother,” the rubbery African bass lines of “Gumboots” and the gospel hosannas of “Gone at Last.”
“It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter,” Simon sang on his cover of George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun.” The line was greeted with laughter and applause by an audience still coping with one of Chicago’s longest-running winters yet. Simon’s intimate brand of dance music brought the Sun a little closer.
greg@gregkot.com
Paul Simon set list Monday at the Vic Theatre
1 The Boy in the Bubble
2 Dazzling Blue
3 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
4 So Beautiful or So What
5 Vietnam (Jimmy Cliff cover)
6 Mother and Child Reunion
7 That Was Your Mother
8 Hearts and Bones
9 Mystery Train (Junior Parker cover)
10 Slip Slidin’ Away
11 Rewrite
12 Peace Like a River
13 The Obvious Child
14 The Only Living Boy in New York (Simon & Garfunkel)
15 The Cool, Cool River
16 Getting Ready for Christmas Day
17 Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
18 Gumboots
Encore:
19 The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)
20 Kodachrome
21 Gone at Last
22 Here Comes the Sun (Beatles cover)
23 Late in the Evening
Encore 2:
24 Crazy Love, Vol. II
I saw Paul Simon twice on this tour (Hollywood & Temecula CA) and this review does the best job I've seen so far of capturing what his show is like.
Posted by: HelenOE | May 17, 2011 at 03:16 AM
Surprised he didn't play more S&G!! You would think he would at least play "The Boxer".
One of the best shows I ever saw, Paul Simon with Mariam Makeba and Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Milwaukee's Summerfest 1987.
I can still remember their rendition of "Homeless" bringing tears to my eyes.
Posted by: Davey S | May 17, 2011 at 08:10 AM
OK... Someone please tell me they bootlegged this show and got a great recording!
Posted by: Shaun | May 17, 2011 at 09:25 AM
Great show last night, certainly a night I will always remember. I thought the sound was a little rough the first few minutes of the show, but the audio crew quickly made the adjustments to whip it into shape (it's always hard to judge how the room will change from sound check once it fills up with people). Paul simon brought in his own sound system for the concert, and it was pushed at a nice volume. There has been too many shows I've gone to lately where the sound is blaring loud. The Audio crew set up their front of house sound mixer (I think it was a digital Soundcraft Vi4) in the middle of the floor instead of mixing from the Vic Theatre's Midas console at the back of the room. I believe this was a great decision because once you start moving to the back of the room (underneath the balcony) the sound starts to get a little funky (but the Vic still sounds pretty good no matter where you are, I'm just getting a little picky now). I'm don't know much about video or lighting, but I thought the visuals were great as well. I couldn't get tickets to the Chicago Theatre tonight, but I sure hope there's another trip through Chicago soon for Paul Simon, living legend.
Posted by: fluid frank | May 17, 2011 at 09:42 AM
As one of the world's biggest Simon fans, I have to say it was nice to go to a show where it didn't feel like he HAD to play a segment of S&G songs in the middle of the show (as he did on his 1991, 2001 and 2006 tours). Or that he should be forced to play "Al" or "Julio", both songs that have been overplayed live and on the radio for years. This tour and this show are meant for the real Simon fans. It was the best Simon show I've seen yet (my 5th) and quite possibly one of the best concerts I've ever been to.
Posted by: Slatersan | May 17, 2011 at 01:45 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed the show! It's great to see a big-name act in a small club.
My only complaint was Mr Simon's muddled and mumbled introduction of the band. I would have preferred the standard intro technique where the band is working a long bridge and the leader names each member as they show-off their own specific musical skills. Springsteen has raised this to a high art form - Paul Simon could learn a thing or two.
A little banter with the crowd might have been nice, too. Simon seemed almost afraid to speak directly to the audience. And when he did, he was barely intelligable.
Maybe he'll be more relaxed for tonight's show at the Chicago Theater. I can hardly wait to find out.
Posted by: Dave | May 17, 2011 at 03:03 PM
What a great, thoughtful, and beautifully written review. I saw the show last night and loved it, and your review sums it all up perfectly. Peace.
Posted by: Chris | May 17, 2011 at 06:41 PM
@ Davey S: I was at that same show in Milwaukee, 1987 (Graceland tour). I was back on the bleachers getting rained on all night, but it didn't matter... A magical night that I will never forget. He was just as good a few years on the Rhythm of the Saints tour, and about 10-11 years ago on the You're The One tour (I saw that last one at Summerfest too).
The new album is his best since "Rhythm" though, so I'd really like to see him on this tour. I'm hoping he'll do some summer dates, because I missed him last night and I'll be missing him tonight as well.
He doesn't need to do many S&G songs, or big solo hits, though... Simon's one of the those guys who's got so many great songs that he's earned the right to play whatever he wants to play. "That Was Your Mother," "Crazy Love, Vol. II," "Gone At Last," and "Peace Like a River," plus covers of Jimmy Cliff, "Mystery Train," and "Here Comes the Sun"?? DAMN... I wish I had seen this show.
I'm serious, people... If someone's got a bootleg, show yourself!
Posted by: Shaun | May 17, 2011 at 07:46 PM
I love Paul Simon. I'll never forget one summer when a friend whom I always went to concert with bought a ticket to see him at Tinley Park, Illinois.Her excuse for not getting me a ticket was that she wasn't sure how much I wanted to pay since I was in Texas at the time.. To see Paul Simon there is no set price.Anyway,when the big day came I was rather down and mentioned it to another younger teacher friend that I would be missing Paul Simon's concert. She asked:"who?" and I told her, Paul Simon. Well to make a long story short...my friend's husband had been at a bar with out of town family a few days before and happened to get a hold of 4 Paul Simon concert tickets. She had no interest and didn't even know who he was therefore threw them in her kitchen garbage. After hearing my story she made a call to her husband and in no time I was heading to the concert. I remember I ended up front 3rd row . EXCELLENT CONCERT!!!!
Posted by: Bea Sifuentes | May 17, 2011 at 10:15 PM
Saw him when I was a kid but don't think I could have appreciated what an epic performer he is back then. I just remember thinking how insane the performance was with so many musicians somehow working together to create cohesive music - Paul
Posted by: Pinto and the Bean | May 17, 2011 at 11:08 PM
Maybe it's called The Sound of Silence when sung solo, I don't know, but when sung as a duet the song is called The Sounds Of Silence.
Posted by: irishace | May 18, 2011 at 02:06 AM