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July 21, 2004 - Netherlands
Amsterdam - Amsterdam Arena

Setlist

same as Cologne, only they did not play still crazy.

The band (not all members are present at all shows)

Mark Stewart - Guitars, Cello, Saxophone, selfmade instruments
Jamey Haddad - Percussion
Rob Schwimmer - Keyboards, Theremin
Jim Keltner - Drums
Larry Saltzman - Guitar
Warren Bernhardt - Piano
Freddie Washington - Bass

Fans who attended this show

I must say the songs were beautiful, but the live-band (especially the drummer) were far from that.
You kinda miss the qualities like Steve Gadd and paul other bandmembers with this music. Although it might sounds easy, it takes good musicians to play every note right. Only the Guitarplayer tonight was very good and did an oustanding job. Paul was better on vocals then Art, who seemed to be on some sort of auto-pilot. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing spectacular either. All in All a night of beautiful music but not in their best shape brought.

I fully agree with Johnny O.D. The Amsterdam Arena was totally unsuited for a S&G concert. I was sitting second ring (422) and hated every minute of it. Not only was the sound quality very poor, I was also surrounded by a beer guzzling horde of Neanderthals who kept going up and down the stairs to satisfy their alcoholic needs. Why do people go to a concert? To listen to the music? To sit in awe and admiration for angelical voices, wonderful songs, the embodiments of our hopes and aspirations when we were young? No, not last night. Most people of 422 were only there to block my view, spill beer over my head and shoulders and to make a terrible nuisance of themselves. They ruined the concert for me. Fortunately, I shall be in Rome on the 31st of July, and hopefully will find a seat at the Collosseum.

A great show in the ArenA by Simon and Garfunkel. I liked it very much; I’ve been to the concerts of them in Boston (December 13, 2003) and also in Cologne (July 20, 2004). Some people are complaining about the quality of the sound in the ArenA, but I must say it really was better than in Cologne and Boston. Maybe it depends on the place where you were sitting in the ArenA. I was sitting in the back. But as you might remember, Simon also had some thoughts about the place, he said “What an unlikely place for music”. Great show, with two great singers. Garfunkel sometimes had some voice problems, he did not dare to sing with full power (as in Scarborough Fair), strange as the day before in Cologne his voice was even better than in Amsterdam. Hopefully they will ever play in Holland again, but I’m afraid that chance is very small.

Just got back from the concert.

It was terrific. Sound was great ( at least where I was sitting ) Afterwards I heard many people complain about the bad quality of the sound, but that is what the ARENA is infamous for.
The setlist was the same as in Cologne, only they did not play still crazy ( damn... )

I had a great time, the performances were great and their voices have not changed much.
Arties hair was almost as orange as a carrot.
I must say that Art sometimes sang a little bit false.
He was trying to overrule Paul in singing and that did not do any good to his voice. Also at one time he grapped the microphone and walked away with it, wich created a terrible sound and he and Paul were so confused about it, that they left out a whole verse. ( don´t know which song that was anymore )
Paul was feeling well. I have read other reviews in which was written that Paul was very much to himself, but this time he was at ease.
He looked around all the time and kept smiling and waving with his hands. A few times he even wove with both his hands high in the air, and that I found special because I never had seen him doing that before.
I wished that the feeling I had this night could last a lifetime.

Amber

Waaaw, what can I say? After all is said and done, these two old friends showed that in the end: it´s all about the music. Memorable was the moment when Art got a standing ovation for singing ´Bridge over troubled water´ and then he turned around, looking for Paul who was standing behind him and he nodded, grabbed Paul by the arm and pulled him close to himself, as if to say to Paul: ´This ovation is also for you.´ Furthermore, Paul was in great shape, he looked younger then I imagined him. He had a lot of energy and was laughing a lot.
Funny moment when Paul said: ´Well, this is an early song....well, in fact they are all early songs´, and then he had to laugh with what he just said.
It was an evening full of nostalgia and melancholy. And it is with sadness that I notice that the generations that came after simon and garfunkel do not have such great pop icons.
There´s one thing I do hope, and that is that I´ll have the opportunity to see Paul again on one of his future solo tours.
Simon and Garfunkel old friends 2004 tour: time it was, oh what a time it was...

Great concert. I loved it :P

Amber, it was during the Song ´El Condor Pasa´ when the microphone made that terrible noice. Artie even improvised during the text of that song after what happened with his microphone. He sang someting like ´...I´d rather sing within a perfect world...´ or something like that... referring to the mice-problem. I couldn´t hear it that clear, because of the loudness of the people that were sitting next to me. But after complaining to them a few time, they stopped beeing that loud. I mean, ain´t it rude to burp out loud during such a good concert? Or making bad jokes during S&G´s performance?
To the people of block 404... shame on you!

They´re performance has been my very first concert ever. I´m 21 years old and I ain´t interested in nodern music. I´ve been a big S&G fan for as long as I can remember... my mother used to play their songs a lot... so when I got home from school, I could always hear them sing :) This performance even overruled my highest expectations :D

It was during ´El Condor Pasa´ Amber, Jan wrote about it. It was the first stanza and Art was supposed to sing it. He had problems with his microphone - he got to far back with it and the thing was starting to ´sing around´ (do you say it like that in English?). He put the microphone back in the keeper but was so angry that he refused to sing the rest of that part.
It was only a small demonstration of the fact that Paul was the better one this evening: by voice and in the way he showed that he was having a good time.

I had a great time at the concert... !
The voices of these two men are magic together (eventhough Art sometimes had some trouble with the high tones last night ).
The sound in Arena isn´t that great, no. It would have been better if they´d played in the Heineken Music Hall, but that holds less people ofcourse. I noticed Art stopped singing during one song also, but from where i was sitting it looked like he lost the words to the song or something. I had never seen them play before, but loved their music ever since i heard my parents play it when i was younger (25 now). This concert was the best gift anyone had ever given me!!

Simon & Garfunkel ´Old Friends´ Tour - Amsterdam ArenA July 21st 2004 8.30pm

Started at 8.55pm and ran to 10.55pm with barely a pause.
Some nice, relaxed chats and nostalgic film footage on big screens behind, before & in the middle.
Attendance - very approximate, but can´t be much less than 80,000 (I believe this is the capacity of the arena, but it looked like 100,000 to me).
Tickets EUR 70-85.
Irritatingly the ArenA bars don´t take cash but you have to buy an ´Arena Card´ to buy drinks electronically.
I refused to buy one as I hate being compelled to spend more when I already spent EUR 80 on a ticket.
But that was the only frustration of the evening. Great value even at that price.

Set List:

Old Friends
Hazy Shade Of Winter
I Am A Rock
America
At The Zoo/Baby Driver
Kathy´s Song
Hey Schoolgirl

Everly Brothers:
Wake Up Little Suzie
Dream
Let It Be Me
Bye-Bye Love (with S&G)

Scarboro Fair
Homeward Bound (bad feedback)
Sound Of Silence
Mrs. Robinson
El Condor Pasa (bad feedback)
Trying To Keep My Customers Satisfied (this song badly missed having a brass section)
Only Living Boy In New York
American Tune
My Little Town
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Cecelia
The Boxer
The Leaves That Are Green
57th Street Bridge Song (my absolute favourite - what a finish!)

I would really like to thank the people who decided to hold this concert in the Amsterdam Arena, because where I was sitting (2nd ring) the sound was really awful. Paul´s guitar volume was way to low, whic really was a shame. But still, it was brilliant :-) Bridge over troubled water has never been one of my favourites, except the concert in the park 91 version, but last night.. man! When Art hit that high note at the end of the song, and the verse paul sang, it was absolutely magnificent! I hope Paul comes back soon and please, choose a normal venue that time, like Ahoy last time, or maybe De Kuip...?

I don´t really care if the concert was identical to the other concerts, as long as they give me the feeling that I am experiencing an unique night. I payed for it (85 euro, my goodness!), but it was well worth it. I was lucky enough to sit next to the stage in the lower regions, so I don´t have the complaints as some of you have about the sound qualities. I´m really sorry to hear that, pity it spoiled some of the pleasure that evening.
For me, Art stole the show. In the past I never gave him much attention or credit, because I know Paul is the creative genius behind it all. But I think Art´s voice gives something special to the songs, somehting that turns songs into a almost heavenly experience. I loved his rendition of ´Kathy´s Song´.
The band was good, the guitar player with the long hair did a fantastic job (not just on guitars) and I loved Jim Keltner´s drumming parts. He was (after Don & Phil) the fifth legend on stage.

Well, I might be prejudiced because I am a big fan of Jim Keltner and his drumming during the records he played on in the seventies. I´m a big George Harrison-fan, and teherfore I was thrilled to see Keltner drumming, because he is on every record George has made. Did you notice that they played five songs from George´s posthumous album ´Brainwashed´ before Art and Paul came on stage? I knew Paul and George were friends, I liked the gesture.

What a coincedence, I was in 422 too! I´ve been to a lot of concerts, and I must say, I´ve never seen so many irritating people before. Thanks for *almost* ruining my night. If you wanna get drunk and disturb everyone around you, go to a bar or something.

A great concert. I´m a fan for 26 years now. I´ve seen Paul Simon solo three times and Art Garfunkel twice. I have been waiting for 22 years to see them both at the same time. What more can I say. I enjoyed every minut of the concert in the Arena. It was AMAZING!!!!!!

I went from Lisbon, Portugal, to see Simon and Garfunkel (specially Paul) at the Arena, in Amsterdam. I am only 14, but a great, great fun of them, so you can imagine my emotion to have had this oportunity. I think the show was good, but I was expecting a little bit more: more songs and more relation with the public. Anyway, the show was fantastic and if you, Mr.Paul Simon, read this, do know that «I´m still crazy (about your music), after all these years», and that even if I am only 14, you have in Portugal a GREAT FAN.
Carolina Martinho Rodrigues

I attended the concert at the Amsterdam ArenA. It was great fun, but terribly overpriced (cheap place somewhere in the back for EUR 70), and the acoustics just plain sucked. Constant feedbacks even forced Art to stop singing at one point (I believe in ´Cecilia´), while the band kept playing. They should have stopped playing for a while and have the sound problem fixed, but they didn´t even repeat a song.

Contrary to what other people here think, the concert was not sold out. I got a ticket on the same day, and it was by far not the last one.

Conclusion? I´m glad I had a chance to see them live eventually, but was very disappointed because of that sound thing. Taking that into account, asking 70 Euros for this is just disgusting.

Just enjoyed every minute of the whole concert ... I sat back and let the music take me places I´d never been ... if you read this Paul ... Thank you

´what a strange place for making music´ Paul Simon said as they stepped on stage, and it was but nor the weird acoustics of this stadion nor the fact the vocalist were getting pretty old could make it less beautiful. The last time I heard Art sing live was a couple of years ago and it didn´t go so well, so now I was really curious and a bit nervous to. But their voices were brilliant! And the sound was carried round the stadium over 10,000 people (maybe more) as a cool, cool river...
A great night and boy am I glad these guys are immortal.

Jasper

I was in 422 too and everything happened in that place. There was a man who was getting a heart atack(I read in the newspaper he is doing fine now).

But if you don´t like it that people walk in front of you during the concert youh ave to open your mouth, just tell them to sit down, and not complaining after the concert, that´s too easy.

The view wasen´t that good from 422 so I bet you came for the music. And if you wan´t to see them good buy the concert in central park DVD.

Amsterdam 21/7/04
A feeling of full circle. My first LP was BridgeOTW. (I´m 47...)
What a performance!! Amazing craftmanship of music and harmony, and extraordinary feeling for music, composition and reality.
Accoustic qualities of Arena proved quite poor for this kind of subtle songs. Resonance and echo. The problem was solved by singing somewhat slower it seemed, and ultimately raising the volume. A bit heavy on the third row, but music like this sounds great no matter what...
With my old friend Peter, his son (13!) and my girlfriend Margriet I enjoyed a memorable evening. Even more than usual, we realised the lyrics (regretfully) still apply to our times and haven´t lost their essence, some 40 years later (American Tune, SoSilence, Keep Customer Satisfied, etcetc.)
What a sound those two guys are able to produce, with just a guitar to accompany them. Timing and articulation especially are sublime. A the match of these two voices is almost as if touched by God (Amadeus..;) And with a own repertoire like that. Almost unbeleavable, to a levell as to have been priviledged to witness such a event.
Sorry to experience the bitterness and resent between them, though. Probably genious takes its toll... But thanks Paul&Art (or the other way round) very much.
Why not dive into a studio and have some fun? And make this world a better, more beautifull place?
And if somehow not feasible, a DVD of the tour would be (very) nice.