Paul Simon at Udine - Italy
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
MAGIC IN THE NIGHT
This guy is a piece of history; a living legend performing before our very eyes. It is the one moment when we realize that singer, who plays on stage a few meters away us, is an icon in rock music as we know it.
He does not talk much, but after a short while he is mesmerized by the beauty of the plaza in front of
the castle on top of the hill and he remarks that.
Setlist is the same as in Stuttgard last Thursday minus ´Spirit voices´. The beginning starts with great impulse with two tracks from ´Graceland´; ´Mrs. Robinson´ is introduced by an extensive solo guitar by Paul Simon, which underlines that he is not only a great musician but a talented guitarist as well.
´Duncan´ is performed with a dense yet delicate folk touch; ´Cool, cool river´ from ´The rhythm of
the saints´ is worth noting. In ´Farther and daughter´ he slightly changes a verse in ´for a fraction of a second you can´t remember who you are´.
Musicians in the band -eight of them in total- are all at a good level: bass player Bakithi Kumalo is up to expectations, since ´Graceland´ bass lines are complex. Most of them plays several instruments,
namely Cedras and Snitzer, who alternate among keyboards, winds and axes.
The list of tracks is a mix from ´Graceland´ (six songs), ´Surprise´ (three songs) and the old
production (´Mrs. Robinson´, ´The sound of silence´) which warms up an otherwise unresponsive
audience.
By the two encores people stand up and move closer to the stage; at that point Mr. Simon notes ´I was
wondering where you have been hiding until now´. Last tracks, ´That was your mother´ and ´The
boxer´, accompany all of us down to the city and back to out daily life.
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