PAUL SIMON : THE QUIET CELEBRATION CONCERT

 

Disc One (36:42)

  1. Introduction
  2. Seven Psalms : The Lord / Love Is Like A Braid / My Professional Opinion / Your Forgiveness / Trail Of Volcanoes / The Sacred Harp / Wait

Disc Two (76:41)

  1. Graceland
  2. Slip Slidin' Away
  3. Homeward Bound
  4. The Late Great Johnny Ace
  5. St. Judy's Comet
  6. Under African Skies (with Edie Brickell)
  7. René And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War
  8. Rewrite
  9. Spirit Voices
  10. The Cool, Cool River
  11. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard (with Edie Brickell)
  12. Father And Daughter
  13. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
  14. The Boxer
  15. The Sound Of Silence

Label : Legacy / Sony Music

Venue : McCaw Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA

Recording Date : August 5-6, 2025

Release Date : October 9, 2026

Review (Sounds Good!) : Somewhere around 2018, Paul Simon retired from music. He made a lovely record where he reworked lesser appreciated songs from his catalogue and bid farewell. And then COVID, and fever dreams, and a new album from him as a song cycle, meditation on grief, life, belief, he took it out on the road and opened shows by playing the full 33-minute album as one track; it was presented that way on record too — seven parts but one free-flowing single track. You were meant to take it in like a mini movie or a sermon. He continues to tour. He is 84. His voice is fading. Like a light. That is meant to happen, one of the unavoidable tenets of this life. Fortunately, Simon has written so many great songs about stoicism and/or fragility; about still being crazy after all these years; about slip-slidin’ away….some of them even feel anew as whispered now, breathier, raspier vocals. Like Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan, his only real contemporaries, Simon is a road-dog, he’s less prolific in the recording studio than either of them, but he’s had such a long career and his songs speak to multiple generations and as he ages in public its endearing hearing the songs stretch into new shapes, feel them soften slightly, or maybe its their narrator that is softening? Dylan and Nelson have both shifted songs to meet their voices. Simon hasn’t had to — until now. So, for The Quiet Celebration Concert it is, for the most part, Paul Simon as you’ve been used to him over most of the last decade, it’s not the first time he’s started a set with the entire new album (Seven Psalms). You can imagine a few fuckwits in the audience that just want to belt along to the songs they know, but there’s something so amazing about hearing Psalms as a whole, being forced to hear it basically. I have enjoyed the album, but I find myself walking in and out of the room and losing the thread of it — to hear it in Simon’s new, even more hushed delivery, is to really feel the meditation and spirit of it. The band on such a low simmer. It’s beautiful. And then of course the promise of the songs people want to hear. The second half of the concert draws on the huge legacy of 70s and 80s classics, and a few Simon & Garfunkel songs too. You’ve heard him sound better, but there’s a warmth and honesty to these versions, and a smart direction in the curation. We don’t get all of Graceland, he couldn’t sing Still Crazy to do it any justice, so instead we get Graceland (the song) dressed in the country attire that was always underpinning, we get Slip Slidin’ Away and it feels more profound than its former throwaway slinkiness. We get a version of Homeward Bound that suggests ‘home’ to be a new (final) destination in a way that was never part of the original blueprint of the song. That is what time does to music. And what we do to the songs we love and the artists we admire. But my favourite aspect of this album is hearing the ‘lesser’ songs that are still so great. The ones that weren’t always in the setlist. The Late Great Johnny Ace, St. Judy’s Comet, Rene and Georgette Magritte — songs that have age and aging as a concern, or a new concern in these versions. We also get Spirit Voices and Cool, Cool River from The Rhythm of The Saints instead of The Obvious Child and Can’t Run But. And when his wife, Edie Brickell assumes the Linda Ronstadt role for Under African Skies, we are suddenly hearing not just the legacy of a towering song, but evidence of their shared legacy as a couple. Me and Julio is warm and tender, rather than just playful. And being followed by the far more recent Father and Daughter shows how Simon is forever updating the same themes, even if he dresses them so differently that the resemblance isn’t immediately noticed. I almost wish he didn’t play 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover but I guess he can’t get out of a gig without doing it, and having Steve Gadd (also in his early 80s) behind the kit and playing his signature beat adds something to the version that isn’t always as clearly there, is sometimes traced around by a proxy. A nimble band has always been at the heart of any Paul Simon concert, and this version is a delight, sitting down deep in softer groove portions, knowing just when to accent, and when to almost not be there at all. They probably fixed his voice a little in post, but the wobbles that are there are endearing and realistic and expected. And it is all much warmer for that. You have the recorded versions to go back to if and as you must. The Boxer and The Sound of Silence are the closers. A one-two, um, punch, that Simon has often relied on to close out the show. He is usually left alone on the stage to play Sound of Silence, and in this version he feels urgent in the way he strikes down at the guitar as it builds. Not quite ready for silence, Paul Simon’s Quiet Celebration is its own cautious partial-retirement (again). And a beautiful reminder of such incredible legacy as a writer. And brave to hear such a (formerly) strong singer acknowledge that in fact his voice has been slip slidin’ away as he continued to glide on down this highway of song.

Review (Sony) : A quiet celebration. A legendary return. Paul Simon brings his critically acclaimed and GRAMMY-nominated 'Seven Psalms' to life in this first-ever live performance of the complete piece for his Quiet Celebration, an intimate evening spanning his vast career and celebrating new arrangements of timeless classics, deep cuts, and new musical discoveries. Inspired to perform again, Simon began work rehearsing and figuring out how he could bring 'Seven Psalms' to the stage. His transformation of the movements for live performance gave way to all-new renditions of some of his most cherished songs and a deep desire to bring these contemplative and intricate pieces to audiences. A Quiet Celebration toured the US in small venues, selected for their acoustic prowess and intimate setting, allowing audiences to engage with the music like never before. 'This tour has enabled me to play with musicians again', said Paul Simon. 'I really missed it. Everybody has enjoyed the experience so much. There's been a feeling of camaraderie and elation that we were playing this piece of music that we were really interested in, and that had a significant effect on me. It made for one of the most extraordinary tours I've done - maybe the most joyous'. Recorded live at McCaw Hall in Seattle, join Paul for this unforgettable concert.