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Paul Simon largely avoided mention of the health problems that had kept him off the road for the previous seven years when the storied singer-songwriter kicked off his return – and evident farewell – tour in New Orleans on Friday.
Yet, having strummed and crooned his way through some of his catalogue’s more discreet entries, and having reached a part where he treated the audience to a closing salvo of three of his mega hits, Simon made apparent reference to those issues by letting some lyrics from The Boxer hang in the air.
“He carries the reminders / of every glove that laid him down / or cut him till he cried out / in his anger and his shame / ‘I am leaving, I am leaving,’” Simon sang, before casting a knowing glance at the audience and intoning, “but the fighter still remains / Yes – he still remains.”
That was the moment the opener of what had been billed A Quiet Celebration Tour stopped being quiet. Crowd members who had audibly joked about struggling to stay awake through some of Simon’s mellower, deeper cuts joined those around them in collectively belting out the concluding “lie-la-lie” refrain and a round of cheers that ultimately rivaled the closing standing ovation later.
Simon’s 19-number turn at New Orleans’ Saenger Theater – designed to resemble one of Italy’s baroque courtyards – marked his return to touring after announcing in 2018 that he would stop, citing in part the rigors of travel and time away from family.
Of course, the 16-time Emmy winner didn’t stop creating music. He has previously explained how a dream telling him to write Seven Psalms later led to the release of a 33-minute album of that name, which he has described as a contemplation of faith, spirituality and the struggle to maintain belief. But he has also said he did consider fully retiring after losing most of the hearing in his left ear while recording Seven Psalms.
Embarking on A Quiet Celebration, with plans for 55 shows across 20 North American cities, demonstrated that the 83-year-old opted for at least one final circuit of curtain calls.
As had been telegraphed ahead of time, Simon played the entire Seven Psalms album in order without commentary, marked largely by his voice and guitar except for a couple of duets with spouse and fellow lyricist Edie Brickell. Then there was an intermission. He traded in the dark business suit with which he started for a baseball cap, velour jacket and jeans.
And things got palpably bluesier and more upbeat as he delivered on a show-opening promise to spend the post-intermission period on rearranged, more familiar selections from his and the Simon & Garfunkel songbooks, including Graceland, Slip Sliding Away, Homeward Bound and – with Brickell – Under African Skies.
Simon intentionally prevented the second part of the show from becoming a “best of” compilation. He announced he would toss in some of the lesser-known work he has produced through a career spanning eight decades, though he joked that he knew them well because “I mean, they’re my songs.” But he coupled them with anecdotes about their inspiration.
He set up St Judy’s Comet – a song he described as one “I very rarely perform” – by recounting how he named it after Robert St Judy, a drummer in the band led by Clifton Chenier, a zydeco musician from Opelousas, Louisiana, about three hours north-west of New Orleans. He played The Late Great Johnny Ace and explained how he got the idea for it having learned of the 1954 accidental, self-inflicted shooting death of the R&B singer of that name.
And, playing Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War, he explained that he came up with it having seen a picture of a surrealist painter with his wife and their pet some time after the second world war. The song title was the caption of the photo.
The final three numbers needed no introduction. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard and The Boxer elicited sing-alongs that contrasted starkly with the Seven Psalms portion. Then Simon went without his backing ensemble for the solo finale: The Sound of Silence.
Concertgoers left pockets of seats in at least some parts of the venue empty. One likely factor may simply involve New Orleans having the reputation for last-minute, walk-up crowds while also knowing Simon had a second show scheduled at the Saenger on Saturday.
Prices, however, were a talking point in and around the theater among fans. With ticket prices being listed between about $99 and $450, T-shirts inside were $40. Zip-up fleeces were $100. Someone whose water bottle rolled down several rows quipped it was no big deal because it only cost roughly $17.
Meanwhile, at least four people in New Orleans’ central business district – where the Saenger stands – could be overheard on Friday engaging in gallows humor about their 401(k) retirement accounts being drained after tariffs imposed by the Trump administration upended stock markets.
Nonetheless, if that same kind of chatter was any indication, Simon likely hit the right pitch with his mix of selections.
Father and daughter Enrique and Yedithza Nunez said they traveled from Sacramento, California, to both visit New Orleans and see Simon play live for the first time during what they called a bucket-list trip. Echoing others in the theater, they viewed listening to Seven Psalms as sort of part of the admission price to then indulge in the music that vaulted the main attraction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and member of Simon & Garfunkel.
Married couple Ron and Darlene Moore made the short trip over to the Saenger from their home in New Orleans’ Marigny neighborhood to see Simon in person for a third time. They said they had been most looking forward to seeing him play Seven Psalms live, having already taken in his more commercially successful material.
“I do like the old pieces,” Darlene Moore said. “But I love how he evolves.”
