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The neck of my Guitar

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June 28, 2006 - USA / Ohio
Columbus - Schottenstein Center

Setlist

1. Gumboots
2. Boy in the Bubble
3. Outrageous (from Surprise)
4. Slip Slidin´ Away
5. You´re the One
6. Me and Julio
7. How Can You Live in the Northeast (from Surprise)
8. The Only Living Boy in New York
9. Mrs. Robinson
10. Loves Me Like A Rock
11. That Was Your Mother
12. Duncan
13. Graceland
14. Father and Daughter (from Surprise)
15. Diamonds in the Soles of her Shoes
16. Still Crazy After All These Years
17. Cecelia
(First Encore)
18. The Boxer
19. Call Me Al
(Second Encore)
20. Wartime Prayers



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

Vincent Nguini - Guitar
Bakithi Kumalo - Bass
Steve Gadd - Drums
Mark Stewart - Guitars, Cello, Saxophone, selfmade instruments
Robin diMaggio - Drums, percussion
Tony Cedras - Accordeon, Keyboard, Guitars
Andy Snitzer - Saxophone, Synthesizer
Harper Simon - Guitar
Adrian Simon - Keyboards




Fans who attended this show

 





Review by:
Tom Van Kuiken

Absolutley amazing! Paul Simon is my all-time favorite singer/songwriter and I finally got to see him play live. He was and is brilliant and beautiful!!!

Review by:
BB

I thought the show was very fun as well. My first time seeing Paul. The tempo changes caught me a little offguard, but still I enjoyed the show. I thought the crowd was lame, basically sitting down the entire show, except for a few upbeat hits. I wanted to dance and nothing annoys me more than some old ass telling me ´down in front´.

I got an email from the venue the week of the show giving me a link to Ticketmaster where you could buy tickets for free and just pay a roughly $4 service fee/print at home fee.

Taking a date to Paul Simon and getting good seats for $8. Can´t beat that!

Review by:
DeLappa

Beth, your review was right on. The only thing is you need to find the PERIOD button on your keypad...a lot... of... run-on... sentences! Ha! Seriously, the best part of the evening for me was hearing Duncan and Only Living Boy in New York. Wasn´t expecting either of those. Great experience. Had my 20 year-old son with me and he is now hooked. Great to show the younger folks what we were ´raised on´. Truly a voice for our generation in so many ways. And now, Wartime Prayers continues the cycle. Yes Paul, you are still crazy (like a fox) after all these years...

Review by:
Connie Corbett

Very disappointed in the concert. I waited all my life to be able to see Paul Simon live in concert and spent a lot of money on seats only to hear arrangements that were different and songs I couldn´t sing to. The only time we had fun was when he sang the songs that made him famous...but there weren´t many. Sorry.

Review by:
David J. Coyle

I won tickets to this concert on the local oldies station just for singing a snippet of ´Kodachrome´ at 7:30 in the morning (the stipulation was ´any song the DJ can RECOGNIZE´). Shortly after we got to the venue, it was apparent the show was not a sellout, so we got upgraded to a lower tier.

Jerry Douglas was good, but like so many others, I was just counting the time until Paul came out.

Long story short, I was underwhelmed by what to me may turn out to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The band, in my opinion, overpowered Paul´s vocals, and so many of the arrangements were not what I was hoping for. I would have been far more pleased had Paul at least included an acoustic mini-set without the band....

Review by:
Beth

Surprise Tour´¦..Columbus 6.28.06

This was the first concert of the Surprise Tour´¦
I bought a ticket from an online scalper that put me center stage´¦third row´¦getting a great seat is worth the extra money´¦..But getting any seat for PS is also great´¦..
The Jerry Douglas Band, a bluegrass ensemble, played from 7:30 PM until about 8:10 PM´¦no vocals but nice guitars´¦..Jerry Douglas is from Ohio and said his brother attends Ohio State´¦the rest of his band was from all over the south, mostly´¦..It was so difficult to concentrate on what that band was playing because I was getting so antsy to see Paul´¦..(One of Jerry´s guitars had very nice tiger maple wood on the side)´¦..The crowd was polite´¦appreciative of a good sound´¦..When they left, the stage was reset for Paul and Co. who came onstage around 8:25-8:30PM´¦..
Paul wore a prewashed red ball cap and t shirt (I posted a picture)´¦He was smiling´¦joking with the band´¦...big, big grins´¦very relaxed atmosphere on the stage´¦..The first two songs, ´˜Gumboots´ and ´˜Boy in the Bubble´ were not the traditional versions´¦lots of improvisations´¦one song ran into the next´¦..not any stopping´¦.Someone not familiar with his songs may have had trouble deciding what they were´¦´¦All sounded very ´˜Graceland´ CD with the accordion´¦and 2 drummers´¦.But when these two selections were finished´¦I could tell that he was pleased with the playing and the crowd reaction at this first Surprise Tour concert´¦´¦And he looked around at the different band members with a big grin´¦like a little kid´¦..almost giddy´¦.And one of my first thoughts was that this concert would not be business as usual´¦would be surprises´¦. Different mixes´¦..´Outrageous´ was next´¦and I looked around and could tell that many of the concert goers did not know this new song´¦..Actually, in conversations with many ticket holders in the lobby waiting for the concert gates to open, I was surprised that so many didn´t have the new CD yet´¦(Doesn´t everyone have 8 copies of ´˜Surprise´?)´¦but the crowd liked it´¦.Then ´˜Slip Sliding Away´ was the first song that everyone knew the words to´¦and I could feel the comfortability of the crowd´¦..singing along´¦Next, ´˜You´re the One´´¦a fabulous rendition´¦.and when he sang ´You are the air inside my chest´´¦he almost closed his eyes´¦.put his hand to his chest´¦and said those words twice´¦very meaningfully´¦slowly´¦.so much inner emotion´¦..was a deliberate rendition of this song´¦.and more band improvisations´¦´¦I´ll always remember how he sang this song last night´¦.and the depth of feeling I had ´¦..Then another crowd sing along´¦´Me and Julio´´¦´¦.and then ´˜Northeast´ which people liked even though most weren´t all that familiar with the song´¦everyone knew what he was talking about´¦with the ´How can you build on the banks of the river when the flood water pours from the mouth´´¦Katrina is very much on everyone´s mind, still´¦´¦.his voice was very clear´¦every word sung with precision´¦clarity´¦..Next ´˜Only Living Boy in New York´´¦´¦.very familiar to everyone´¦..sing a long´¦crowd liked it´¦..Then he asked the question what did we think of the Bush administration´¦something to that effect´¦..I said ´boo´´¦mostly negatives from the crowd on that subject´¦..and he said that maybe the next song would clarify´¦I actually didn´t get his exact words´¦but the idea of some insight´¦..and then he started ´˜Mrs. Robinson´´¦when he got to the part about Joe DiMaggio´¦´a lonely nation turns its eyes to you´´¦I got it!.....and so did the crowd´¦...Then came ´˜Loves me Like a Rock´´¦very familiar to everyone´¦.and ´˜That Was Your Mother´´¦´¦.love the accordion´¦.Then he said this next song is from my first solo album´¦.and made some humorous comments about his first solo album´¦I missed exactly what he meant´¦maybe how long ago that was´¦am not sure´¦..or the title´¦.maybe his words will be clearer in upcoming concerts now that we will look for them´¦..and he sang ´˜Duncan´ which was a nice surprise´¦.but when you think about it´¦fits into the idea of reviewing one´s life and going back to one´s first experiences´¦.and seeing transitions from what was then´¦..to what is now´¦and the future´¦.ergo, as now ´wearing my father´s old coat´´¦.Next came ´˜Graceland´ a crowd pleaser´¦..and then the new, for some, ´˜Father and Daughter´´¦and I could tell from his expressions that he was thinking of LuLu as he sang that song´¦and that he meant every word´¦..and the parents in the crowd related´¦.I felt that connection´¦..Then ´˜Diamonds´´¦I truly love this song´¦.and everyone jumped to their feet´¦dancing´¦.lots of improvising from the band´¦..and repeats of the ´ta na..na´¦..ta na na. na´¦She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes´´¦went on for quite awhile´¦Paul has a good sense of when to stop´¦.but at the time, I didn´t want this sound to end´¦´¦Next came ´Still Crazy After All These Years´´¦and he made some arm motions that showed how crazy he still is´¦I was picturing the chicken suit on SNL´¦´¦very apropos to who he was and who he still is´¦..in his own eyes´¦..Then ´˜Cecilia´ brought everyone to their feet´¦.really great song´¦..lots of hand motions from Paul on this one too´¦very fun´¦lots of dancing´¦people went crazy´¦..

He thanked everyone for the warm response at this first concert´¦then the band left the stage´¦he followed´¦´¦lastly....

Lots of wild clapping´¦.they returned´¦´¦but everyone knew they would´¦..

1st encore ´˜The Boxer´´¦oohs and awes from the crowd´¦..sing along´¦´¦
Then ´˜Call me Al´´¦everyone on their feet again´¦singing´¦dancing´¦and he would hold the mic to the crowd every time to sing the refrain ´˜Call me Al´´¦lasted a long time....

I thought maybe he would sing another song, one of the band members started to hand him his small guitar´¦but he motioned him off (I think that was at this point)..or maybe that was after ´˜Cecilia´´¦not sure´¦.

Left the stage again´¦´¦

2nd encore

´Wartime Prayers´´¦.This song was sung so beautifully´¦so deliberately´¦the lady next to me had tears running down her cheeks´¦´¦All that we have been though in this country´¦in this world´¦the healing voice of Paul Simon´¦..This song is very effective live´¦´¦.

And then it was over´¦´¦.10:20 PM

The Schottenstein Center (Value City Arena) venue is large ´¦. was not sold out´¦but a great, large crowd who loves Paul Simon´¦..mostly baby boomers like me´¦but there were people of all ages´¦one 24 year old sat near me who has been a fan since he was 14´¦´¦plans to attend the other two Ohio shows´¦..I will be attending the one in Toledo Sunday night´¦´¦

I bought the only PS merchandise available ´¦a gray t shirt with ´¦. nine hundred sit-ups a day´¦on the front´¦..and Paul Simon Surprise Tour 2006 on the back´¦´¦.
And a milk chocolate brown t with a lime colored silhouette of PS paddling a lime and brown canoe´¦ underneath, the words´¦.. Paul Simon surprise
Each was $30´¦´¦and very quiet shirts....not stuff all over them....

This concert a memory I will carry with me for the rest of my life´¦´¦

I wish you all could have been there in person...but I felt you all with me.....

Beth Withrow

Review by:
...Mudshark

Excellent concert review Beth. The set list was dead on.

As she said it was one heck of a wonderful concert. Opening act Jerry Douglas is a master of the dolbro. If you get a chance pick up one of his cd´s. If you like Leo Kottke you´d probably like Jerry.

I was glad to see as many people in the house as there were. We got tickets by an advance e-mail promo the Schottenstein center does. Two weeks later we got another e-mail announcing 67% discounts. The last week local radio stations were giving away a lot of tickets. But at least it pulled in a large, energetic crowd.

As Beth said, and Paul was quoted in the local paper, he definitely changed the arrangements enough so that they were ´fresh´ to him and still fun to perform. Ever want to hear Black Sabbath perform ´Boy in the Bubble´? This version is close. Slip Slidin´ had a definite C+W twinge. The sax solo on Still Crazy is still there and will bring a chill to your spine. Since this is the first show there were some definite rough edges, but that helped make the show special. One of the workers there said he ran the band through Cecilia 4 times in rehearsal. I´d say they got it right after that!

When he was joking about his first solo album he said it sold a good 300 copies, ´but thinking back I guess I wasn´t that good back then!´

One of the best concerts I´ve ever been to was Paul´s ROTS. Saw him at an outdoor venue in Columbus Ohio one a clear night with a beautiful full moon. This Surprise tour was every bit as good. Go. You won´t be disappointed.

The *only* thing I´d change (and yes, I know, I´m the one paying to listen to the concert. Not the guy that wrote the songs and put ´˜em together) would be not to end on Wartime Prayers. That threw a bucket of cold water on the crowd. My Wartime Prayer was that they´d come back out and do Hurricane Eye´¦´¦. But still, a wonderful show.

´¦Mudshark