After more than 60 years as one of the finest musicians to ever pick up a guitar, Paul Simon has just wrapped the last show of his final tour.
Earlier this year, Paul Simon announced that he was set to retire from music after many decades as one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
“I’ve often wondered what it would feel like to reach the point where I’d consider bringing my performing career to a natural end. Now I know: it feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating, and something of a relief,” Simon began.
“I love making music, my voice is still strong, and my band is a tight, extraordinary group of gifted musicians. I think about music constantly.”
Following this announcement, Paul Simon announced his final run of tour dates, with the final performance taking place in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, New York, last night.
“It seems more like fate than coincidence that I should do the final show on this final tour at Flushing Meadows Corona Park,” Simon explained upon announcing this final date. “I could have ridden my bike from home to the park in about 20 minutes, when I was a kid. But this is less a goodbye than a farewell. Thank you all for the ride, I had a great time.”
Taking place on Saturday night, Paul Simon performed a 26-song set which consisted of tracks from his time as part of Simon & Garfunkel, and his extensive solo career. The audience was also treated to a couple of guest musicians, including chamber ensemble yMusic, and wife Edie Brickell, who joined for a rendition of ‘Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard’.
While this concert marked the final date of Paul Simon’s tour and is being treated as his final concert, the musician has in fact noted that he’d be open to one-off appearances down the line.
“After this coming tour, I anticipate doing the occasional performance in a (hopefully) acoustically pristine hall, and to donate those earnings to various philanthropic organizations, particularly those whose objective is to save the planet, ecologically.”
So while we’ll never see Paul Simon grace Australian stages with another tour, there’s nothing to say we won’t be treated to a special one-off performance at some point in the future.
Check out footage of Paul Simon’s final tour date:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pJbsmAUkBI
Paul Simon @ Flushing Meadows Corona Park, New York, USA 22/09/2018 Setlist
‘America’
’50 Ways To Leave Your Lover’
‘The Boy In The Bubble’
‘Dazzling Blue’
‘That Was Your Mother’
‘Rewrite’
‘Mother And Child Reunion’
‘Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard’ (with Edie Brickell)
‘Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War’ (with yMusic)
‘Can’t Run But’ (with yMusic)
‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ (with yMusic)
‘Wristband’
‘Spirit Voices’
‘The Obvious Child’
‘Questions For The Angels’
‘The Cool, Cool River’
‘Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes’
‘You Can Call Me Al’
Encore:
‘Late In The Evening’
‘Still Crazy After All These Years’
‘Graceland’
Encore 2:
‘Homeward Bound’
‘Kodachrome’
‘The Boxer’
‘American Tune’
‘The Sound Of Silence’
