STING! PAUL SIMON!

ON STAGE TOGETHER! - OK these guys are really worthy of all caps! what a fabulous concert we saw last night at the Amway Center in Orlando - the last stop on the tour...

they played for more than two and a half hours - no intermission- and lots of great music - both from the headliners through the vocals through the musicians- amazing talent onstage!

some were solo songs - some duets - some were songs of each other's that the other one sang- there were some really amazing moments-

America sung by Sting while Simon was off stage...

The Boxer, Desert Rose, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, Every Breath You Take, Me & Julio, and early on, as a duet- Fields of Gold.... really incredible concert- that ended with Bridge Over Troubled Water (featuring incredible vocals from Sting!)

well worth the two hour drive to Orlando and the overnight - who knows how many more times Paul Simon will tour-  he is 72... and seemed less than up to carrying the concert as a solo which is probably why he shares the billing- many songs he would start with a bit of guitar playing and then drop it to sing and make some downright weird hand gestures (think Lang Lang- LOL) - but hey no one stays young forever---

He is and will always be one of the best songwriters of all time...and I have ALWAYS said that the Graceland album would be one of the ten albums I would take with me to a deserted island... and if I had to narrow it to five - it would still be on my list- as would Sgt. Peppers...so he will always be tops in my book even if he never picks up the guitar again...

And, just for another perspective, here is part of the review from the Orlando Sentinel by staff writer Jim Abbott- which summarizes the music much better than I have just working from memory-

"Simon and Sting spent about one-third of show on stage together, including an opening salvo that set the collaborative tone. After a minor delay in the show time, the two men strolled out casually to share vocals on Sting’s “Brand New Day,” Simon’s “The Boy in the Bubble” and another Sting solo hit, “Fields of Gold.”

"Backed by the combined ensembles, songs often rose above familiar studio versions, such as the fiery interlude in “Boy in the Bubble” powered by Sting’s forceful bass. Sting showcased his upper register in Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” while Simon’s velvet tenor slipped smoothly into Sting’s “Fragile.”
The duets bridged mini-sets by Simon and Sting that offered more hits. Sting moved into rock (“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” “Message in a Bottle”) and took other stylistic turns.  His horn-fueled attempt at country, “I Hung My Head,” sounded more like classic R&B, but was still wonderful."

"Simon focused faithfully on his solo career with “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” “Graceland,” “Still Crazy After All These Years” and “Dazzling Blue” (off 2011’s “So Beautiful or So What”).  Along the way, the similarities became more apparent. Whether it was the Algerian influences in Sting’s “Desert Rose” or the Brazilian drums in Simon’s “The Obvious Child,” the approaches are surprisingly alike.  Even better, they looked like old friends; while no one can replace Simon’s original partner, this promising team shows that a guy can’t have too many friends."

which is probably true for all of us....

a pause in the story

of our trip to discuss three cultural events we have attended since our return.  these are partly the reason I have been so far behind on my travel blog- so let's get them out of the way in reverse order.

last night we went to see the Marivaux play "Changes of Heart" at Remy Bumppo Theater.  this could have been a truly engaging evening of french farce translated and played for the romp and fun of typical Moliere but instead it was overly long and overly annoying.  Only one character- the long serving maid - had any real sense of having fun.  this role was played by a Remy Bumppo regular who we have seen in The Importance of Being Ernest and Night and Day.  she alone had the gist of what I suppose the play should have been.

my wish- shorten the script - get rid of one of the intermission (since there were absolutely NO set changes there was no need to make the long evening even longer by giving two intermissions) - have everyone have more fun- play things more broadly and quickly and perhaps this play will come to life as intended- a french farce in the grandest of traditions- the basic bones of story line are there (have been for nearly 300 years) so why not run with it?

bottom line- don't waste your time-go instead to see The Pitmen Painters playing at the Time Line Theater. 

This was a fabulous evening of the best theater can bring to all of us- an engaging story, a window into our humanity, a sense of history, time and place and lots of humor/fun.  every single performer excelled in creating this wonderful ensemble of coal miners/turned artists through an art appreciation class offered through the British equivalent of the WPA.

I could go on and on but time is pressing me to complete this entry before an appointment- so here the bottom line is do whatever you need to do to see this BJ Jones directed heartwarming and enlightening work.

and then finally in the middle ground- the Paul Simon concert tour of So Beautiful So What.... while it was wonderful to see Paul Simon- looking and acting and singing much younger than his 70 years... I felt like the part in the Woody Allen movie Stardust Memories when everyone tells him that they like his earlier funnier work.  the very best moments of this concert were Paul Simon unadorned by the admittedly amazing and quite numerous musicians he is traveling with on this tour. 

the band members are extremely talented but since I came to see Paul Simon I felt that they were a distraction from him and from his music.  and while there is no doubt that Sounds of Silence is still an anthem whose time has not yet passed by- and that it was the singular most touching moment of the evening- for my part I would have liked to have a number of Paul Simon greats done in a similar manner. 

bottom line here- if you are seeking Paul Simon as Paul Simon I would stay away from this over produced (but fabulous musicians) evening of a selection of his songs.  and I wish I could give the band a more rousing endorsement because they were excellent in their own rights- but they were not what I came to hear...