www.paul-simon.info 
The neck of my Guitar

Back to concert list

November 10, 2006 - United Kingdom
London - Wembley Arena

Setlist

1) Gumboots
2) Boy In The Bubble
3) Outrageous
4) 50 Ways to leave your lover
5) Slip Slidin’ Away
6) You’re The One
7) Me and Julio
8) Train In The Distance
9) How can you live in the Northeast
10) Loves Me Like A Rock
11) That Was Your Mother
12) Duncan
13) Graceland
14) Father and Daughter
15) Cecilia
16) Only Living Boy in NY
17) Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes

Encore 1

1) Call me Al
2) Still Crazy
3) Mrs Robinson

Encore 2)

1) Wartime Prayers
2) Bridge Over Troubled Water.
3) Late in the Evening

Encore 3)

1) The Boxer
2) Homeward Bound



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

 
Bodo Malo
Lourens Vos
Ildikó Gombos





Review by:
Jocke

paul simon Wembely arena.

when me and my dad come to wembely arena wee first heard paul simon music playing on the front side of the arena, I was so happy to be ther.

we get in tow ouer possisions in the concerts hall, it was wounderful sits we saw the big stage and all the peapoel. and then around about 8:30 the lights turn of and the band came In! and then Paul came In and the audiance was was happy too se him, when I saw paul Iam feeling I was in haven, hi talk i litel bite, and then hi start to sing.

when hi sing Brigde Over Troubled Water Iwas nearly cray, it was so beautiful, and In the boxer when hi sing, lay lay lay, the adiance sing whit him:) it was amazing. pauls band is so great.

It was sooooo good, this is the concert I never gorget....

Review by:
Thomas

Paul Simon was brilliant the setlist didnt have a bad song on it and even if you didnt know a song it was so good it didnt matter

Review by:
Dan

Great Concert, Pants Venue.

Took about 3 songs for them to get the sound right. Wasn´t until ´Me & Julio´ that the audience started to move. Set list similar to the earlier shows with the order varied. The quieter songs were better suited to the acoustics of the Wembley Shed.

After all that negativity....

Paul and the Band were outstanding and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Managed to sound musically tight despite the acoustics.

Review by:
Dan

Continued from above after accidentally hitting ´Save my Review´!...

Best songs in my opinion were ´Me & Julio´, ´Only Living Boy´, ´That was your Mother´, ´The Boxer´ and ´Homeward Bound´.

Any of the songs when Vincent Nguini sang his bass harmonies were brilliant. The man is a legend. Robin DiMaggio was a good partner for Steve Gadd. Robin´s stick juggling was impressive! I loved Andy Snitzer´s sax solos. The acoustics meant that the best of Mark Stewart´s guitar, Tony Cedras´s accordian and the bass player´s (sp?) work was indistinct. Though all were brilliant.

Paul himself didn´t dissapoint. His voice is still good for his years. The back catalogue kept the crowd moving. The ´Surprise´ songs came across well.

Just wish it had been in a better venue.

Dan

Review by:
Bodo

Some pictures I have taken on that show.


Paul with his new guitar




Andy Snitzer doing his sax solo on Still crazy.







Review by:
arniebunny

Really, what do you say about this man?

In the shadow of a rather unfinished Wembley Stadium stood a very complete and accomplished artist.

From the wonderful introdution of ´Gumboots´, through a gamut of true favourties from ´Me and Julio´ to ´Train in the Distance´ to the heartfelt and truly stunning solo version of ´Wartime Prayers´, subsequently to ´The Boxer´ and ´Homeward Bound´, he once again reminded us why he was voted one of the top 100 icons of our century.

He´s no longer a poor boy, but his story is so often told, and required.

Thank-you Paul.

Review by:
Leigh Woolford

I just got back from Paul´s gig at Birmingham NEC and just wanted to say that the sound was frankly astonishing. I didn´t hear Paul thank the sound engineers but they deserved massive praise. The NEC is like an aircraft hanger and I´ve only ever heard one other band conquer it´s acoustics (that being Steely Dan). On Saturday I could hear every single instrument in every single situation and Paul´s voice was mixed in to perfection.

The performance was pretty amazing too and I found myself liking the less familiar songs as much as the ´standards´. ´Outrageous´ was brilliant. A real tour de force.

Final thanks to a pretty special group of musicians anchored by the legendary Mr. Gadd and to Paul himself who seemed to be really enjoying himself.

Review by:
hannes

One of his best shows ever. Little mistake at the beginning of 50 ways (the answer is all inside your head...) The fact that he was laughing about this misstake shows that he was really relaxed. Also his answer to someone screaming ´I love you Paul´ ( I love myself too) showed that he was enyoing himself. Of all the shows I attended this was #2. Paris olympia is still #1 for me.

Hannes

Review by:
Bodo

Have to reveil that because I read it now the 2nd time. The joke ´I love myself too...at least 30% of the time´ has been done at EVERY show.

So, this is it about talking during concerts - it is always the same (and I am glad Paul does not do more), but people in the audience always feel very special and think ´Oh, he must have especially enjoyed this show in my town´ :-)

Review by:
Dave Chapman

What can I say? Excellent doesn´t seem to cover it. This is, by far, the best concert I have ever had the joy and pleasure to attend. Sadly, it was the quickest two hours of my life.

Paul has always been a generous performer, crediting his fellow musicians on the stage, but his good grace was demonstrated further by his dedication of this show to his friend Ed Bradley, who sadly passed away the previous day. He also complemented us, the audience, by saying it was like playing his hometown. Well, we do all love the man.

It was a joy to hear so many songs, all of which were a showcase in their own right. A number of people have made mention of the fact he opened with Gumboots, which he considered to be Graceland´s weakest track. True, but that doesn´t mean he doesn´t think its any good. I loved what he did with The Boy in the Bubble. Increasing and decreasing the tempo. All the songs were met with tremendous approval and appreciation, but none more so than those from Graceland I felt.

I´ve been to several concerts and NEVER have I seen a performer smile so much. Me and Julio (which finally shed the crowd´s inhibitions), Call Me Al (which must have had the entire arena on its feet) and many others prompted him to smile all the way.

It was also amusing to see the look on his face when he sang some songs from his duo days (most notably Homeward Bound). He looked so bemused by the obvious love the audience had for those old songs. They are after all what established him. He may have cause to re-evaluate the importance of these songs.

As I´ve gotten older his songs have increased in their meaning to me. I remember thinking when I was younger (I was 15 when Graceland got me not into Paul, but music generally) what does that mean. The passing of years has clarified several things for me. One thing that I never considered is what his songs mean to others. When he gave his beautiful rendition of Wartime Prayers and sang ´for every family, scattered and broken´ a lady, not too far from me called out ´Thank you, Paul´. Now, I don´t know what she meant exactly, but if she meant that she has had the grief of loosing her family I would like to echo her gratitude to Paul, its an important issue, but I would like to thank her myself for taking the blinkers off. Its really very humbling, especially as I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to have to go through that ordeal.

The only downside was that he didn´t perform any Rhythm of the Saints songs. I did call out for Proof but the cheers were so overwhelming there is no way Paul could have heard me.

Thanks to the stewards for not ushering us back the second time we descended to the front.

Finally, thanks to the fans. The fans made this a special night for me almost as much as he did. A truly international audience, breaking down so many boundaries and reinforcing my faith in humanity and that we can be multi-cultural.

Just please come back soon Paul. Please.

Review by:
Denis

I´ve attended most of Paul´s English concerts since the early seventies and Friday´s concert was up with the best of them. If anyone thought that only Art could sing Bridge then they should have been at Wembley, Paul´s version was superb.

Other highlights included Graceland, The Only Living Boy in NY, Diamonds, Wartime Prayers, You can call me Al and Me and Julio.

Paul singing The Boxer, accompanied by the whole of Wembley Arena was also very special.

His voice has never sounded better. The audience reacted enthusiastically throughout the evening. At one point someone shouted ´˜I love you, Paul, to which Paul responded ´˜So do I, about thirty percent of the time.´

A magnificent night.