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Boston Globe
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
The Farewell Tour may be over, but Paul Simon is taking the stage again
'I love you!' someone shouted from the back of the orchestra seating. 'I love you more!' another fan responded. Simon's 'quiet celebration' was aptly named in more ways than one. He opened with a complete, 33-minute run-through of the 'Seven Psalms' record, with hushed, pristine songs that reckoned with age, spirituality, and meaning. Black and white title cards displayed the names of each song in the movement. At one point a sound like the sanctus bells of the Catholic church glistened. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Are we all just trial and error?' Simon sang on 'Sacred Harp.' At this point in his life, his voice is wispy, yet it's still somehow boyish. On Tuesday, he hit all the notes he reached for. Advertisement Paul Simon performs at the Boch Center Wang Theatre. Ben Stas for The Boston Globe/The Boston Globe If Simon's opening appearance with Advertisement The band featured several multi-instrumentalists, adding flute, cello, various percussive effects and more to the arrangements. Guitarists Mark Stewart and Gyan Riley embellished on Simon's foundations. After a brief intermission, the band returned with two more members, including the South African bassist Bakithi Kumalo, who played on Simon's groundbreaking 'Graceland' album (1986). The title track kicked off the second set, with Simon's voice decidedly forward in the mix. Later, the band played that album's 'Under African Skies' (dedicated to Joseph Shabalala,the founder of That song featured a special guest appearance from the singer Edie Brickell, Simon's wife. 'She'll undoubtedly vastly improve the performance,' he said by way of introduction. Some fans who showed up hoping to hear the greatest hits of Simon & Garfunkel may have left quietly disappointed, but for anyone attuned to Simon's long solo career, the show was a small miracle of precision and fidelity. On 'Slip Slidin' Away' (the lyrics of which – 'the nearer your destination…' – seemed especially poignant), the drum brushes were distinctly audible. The set included a couple of songs from 'The Rhythm of the Saints' (1990) the Brazil-centered follow-up to 'Graceland,' and several 'deep cuts,' as Simon said. Three were from his 1983 album 'Hearts and Bones,' including 'Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War' ('This will be my first Surrealist Number One Hit,' he recalled joking to himself) and 'The Late Great Johnny Ace.' The latter ended with a photographic triptych of the icons that inspired it – John Lennon, JFK, and the tragic singer named in the title. Advertisement Midway through, Simon teased the crowd with the familiar guitar motifs he wrote for several Simon & Garfunkel songs, such as 'I Am a Rock,' before actually leading the band into a thoroughly reinvented version of 'Homeward Bound,' set to a shuffling beat. The band went out on a high note with the festive 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,' punctuated by the 'laughing' sound of the Brazilian cuica and Brickell materializing onstage to nail the whistling part. After carrying off the flowers he accepted from a fan in the front row, Simon returned to lead the musicians on a lightly jazzy/funky '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,' so very much of its 1975 vintage, and a vaguely Mexican-flavored version of 'The Boxer,' which featured a wonderful solo from Riley (son of the minimalist composer Terry Riley).' On that song's 'lie-la-lie' melody, the audience heartily joined in. Then Simon wrapped up the evening with a solo rendition of 'The Sound of Silence.' 'And the vision that was planted in my brain,' he sang softly, 'still remains.' PAUL SIMON At the Wang Theatre, June 10 James Sullivan can be reached at .
CBS News
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Boston's iconic Boch Center Wang Theatre celebrates 100th anniversary with special events
Boston's iconic Boch Center Wang Theatre is celebrating 100 years of bringing entertainment to the city, and there are some special events to mark occasion. When the Wang opened in 1925, it was the tallest building in the city. J. Casey Soward, the president and CEO of the Boch Center said, "It went from a movie theater to having a concert stage as the music hall for a number of decades, and then it had decades as the Wang Center where it became more of a performing arts center, to what it is today." With a capacity of 3,500 seats, it's the largest theater in New England, something Soward says is a big draw to big-name acts. "I think someone that's looking for that experience of the historic theater in a large seating capacity we're the first place they look," Soward said. "Like when Ed Sheeran was here last year, he was looking for exactly that kind of theater to complement his two shows he did at Gillette Stadium, and he ended up doing one night here and just blowing everybody away, playing an acoustic unplugged on the stage." New exhibits, 100 Acts of Kindness The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame is another draw. A new exhibit, highlighting Joan Baez, is set to open in early March. The theater is also going back to its cinema roots, hosting free screenings of film favorites. "People have this need for nostalgia," Soward said. "And so being able to bring your child or your grandchild to see a movie that was really important to you when you were growing up, and sharing that experience in a historic theater, is something that I think will resonate with people." Another community initiative in the works is 100 Acts of Kindness. "We have a forum on our website where you can nominate someone for an act of kindness," Soward says. "We're doing things like upgrading people's tickets, giving them a special VIP experience or a tour, things like even having people's [names] on the marquee... It's just a fun way for us to give back to those who have supported us for 100 years." The Wang hosted its first free film fest over Presidents' Day weekend. Another is being planned for this summer.
