Paul Simon @ Forest Hills Stadium, Queens, NY 7/9/26

 Bill: Paul Simon

Venue: Forest Hills Stadium, 1 Tennis Pl., Forest Hills, Queens, NY

Date: Thursday 7/9/26

Ticket: $150 (Stubhub, Floor Section 8, Row C Seat 10, bought single last week)

7:20pm Paul Simon

Active: 1956 (Queens, NY)

Affiliated: Simon & Garfunkel, Tom & Jerry

Latest Release: Seven Psalms (Owl, 2023) "Bad Dream" (with Edie Brickell) (Owl, 2024)

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I finally got off my duff and got myself to one of Paul Simon's post-retirement shows, having missed the Beacon run last year, the rainy retirement show at Jones Beach and all the Simon & Garfunkel reunion shows of the early aughts.  The last time I saw Paul Simon was when he toured with Dylan all the way back to 1999.  I saw him multiple times that run doing the same set and felt I had enough for a while.  I didn't realize that "while" would be 27 years, but that's how it goes sometimes.  I didn't get any video clips tonight since the staff was going through great lengths to keep cell phones at bay and I wasn't in the mood to defiantly get my 30 second clips.   However, I couldn't bring myself to lead this off with a shot of the ad on a big screen complete with Disney's & Hulu's corporate branding logos.   Plus I was in the middle back section of the floor a few rows in, so easy access for the roving and enthusiastic minders.    I snuck in a burst of photos at the beginning of the second set and that was about it.  There were a couple clips posted on YouTube from night one, so if any come up for tonight's show down the road I'll link them.

The Paul Simon of 2026 is an entirely different beast.  He came out of retirement to issue his 7 song cycle Seven Psalms in 2023, then had hearing problems almost immediately after that.  Although I gave it a listen when it came out, I gave it another listen yesterday morning before the show because I knew he was going to feature it in one 33 minute set.  Now, I finally feel like I "know" it, after seeing him do it live.  The thing about the recording that stood out for me was Edie Brickell's vocals toward the end of it.  She isn't featured and maybe someday she should be, but Paul doesn't want another Arty in his artistic presentation and I can understand that a bit.  However, with the hearing loss he seems to have altered his singing with a bit of extra vibrato that sounds better with his wife Edie in the closing "Wait."  That day may come since it may be a final frontier and if they do something together I bet Art Garfunkel would show up as a guest for one last hurrah--not a co-feature-- before they both pass on.

But passing on is really only a rumination in the cycles and Paul looks in good shape at 84.  He seems into hitting the road lately and back in 2018, when he did that retirement tour,  it seemed unlikely he'd do anything but an occasional one off.    As promised for the second set he delivered the hits and some other things he wanted to do from his massive career all the way back to S&G.  I got my personal favorite deep cut "The Late Great Johnny Ace" with it's holy John Trinity in B&W photos: Ace, Kennedy & Lennon all dead by bullet.  I felt the same reservation at Laurie Anderson a couple weeks ago.  Sometimes the black and white presentations on screen to hammer home points with phrases and images comes across as overkill bordering on boomer cliche of trying to mass relate with something visually "modern" yet simple.  One thing is certain: Johnny Ace, JFK and even John Lennon were all people Paul Simon remembered as living but he wryly noted when the audience gave the memory of DJ Alan Freed a smattering of applause how few of those people are now among the living.  He also noted there was only one surviving member of the Graceland tour I saw at Great Woods in Mansfield, Mass with my Dad on the lawn in 1986, Bakithi Kumalo, who was playing bass on this one.

Seeing Paul in Forest Hills Stadium had it's own historical resonance.  Simon told us about his first gig in that very venue back in 1966 playing with the Mamas and the Papas.  He also told us about sharing a smoke with Garfunkel in a car nearby in early '66 with the newly #1 "The Sounds of Silence" playing on the radio.  "Those guys must be having a great time" Art noted in classic Maryjane disassociative narrative as told by Paul 60 years later. 

It all came together in the encores: Edie whistled from the wings for "Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard" and the crowd cheered for the Queen of Corona 2-3 miles away even if they were probably going home to Long Island or the Upper East Side after the show if they took the train in.  There were many grey haired men with baseball caps and short hair that kind of looked like they were modeling their look after Paul himself.  After a surprise personal favorite, "Something So Right" followed by "The Boxer" closing out encore #1, there were two more S&G's for the grand finale: "America" and of course Silence.  

FOR FURTHER REVIEW:

Paul Simon-Interview Show With Music From His Album Graceland (1986)

Ladysmith Black Mambazo-Shaka Zulu (1987)