Live Review: Paul Simon at Symphony Center • Chicago
Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Symphony Center
Chicago
Wednesday, May 22, 2025
Review by Jeff Elbel
Paul Simon’s appearance in Chicago seven years ago at United Center wasn’t quite the farewell it was purported to be at the time. Those who arrived on Wednesday for the first of Simon’s three-night stand at the comparatively intimate Symphony Center, however, were more than ready to forgive. The tour’s name, A Quiet Celebration, was another modest fib. Although the tour’s set list eschewed the boisterous pop of favorites like “You Can Call Me Al,” “Late in the Evening,” and “The Obvious Child,” it wasn’t necessarily what you’d call quiet. No one complained about that, either.
The body of the set did emphasize more autumnal fare like a spine-tingling version of the wistful “Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War” that leaned into the chamber-pop arrangement from Simon’s In the Blue Light album with Nancy Stagnita’s dancing flute lines and Eugene Friesen’s moody cello. Songs including “Slip Slidin’ Away” were propelled by subdued but simmering grooves, percolating with restrained energy. The approach was reportedly partially made to accommodate the 83-year-old musician’s profound hearing loss in his left ear.
Simon and his 11-piece ensemble established the tone with an opening set featuring a complete performance of 2023’s meditative Seven Psalms album. “This is the first time since before COVID that I’ve been able to play with my fellow musicians on stage,” said Simon. The songwriter’s spiritual musings on mortality and the essence of life and love were accompanied by nimble fingerstyle playing on his black acoustic guitar, intertwining with lines by longtime sideman Mark Stewart and composer/guitarist Gyan Riley.
Hypnotic percussion on hanging glass bowls introduced “The Lord,” with a lyric that identified Higher Power in natural forces, acts of kindness, and inscrutable catastrophes. Understated poetry, wit, and contemplation alternated throughout the song cycle. “Nothing dies of too much love,” sang Simon in one warm observation. “I lived a life of pleasant sorrows until the real deal came,” he sang during “Love is Like a Braid.” The wry “My Professional Opinion” was a relaxed and loping acoustic blues. The song included an allegorical joke about blaming all cows in the country for the offense of an individual one, delivered as a punch line with a flourish of Simon’s hand. “Two billion heartbeats and out,” he then sang bluntly during “Your Forgiveness,” considering the brief flicker of a lifetime from an older man’s perspective. “It seems to me we’re all walking down the same road to wherever it ends,” he sang in “Trail of Volcanoes.”
Simon’s weathered but expressive tenor was joined in harmony by his wife Edie Brickell’s sweet and lilting voice during “The Sacred Harp” and Seven Psalms’ closing piece “Wait.” Dressed in a white suit with mirrored shoes, Brickell sang the latter in the character of a beckoning angel. “Heaven is beautiful,” she sang in welcome despite Simon’s lyrical protestations. “It’s almost like home.”
Simon shed his dark suit, trading it for a purple jacket and ball cap during the evening’s second set. Things heated up when the band launched the spirited title track from the 1986 album Graceland. Stewart played the song’s liquid slide guitar countermelody, joined by bubbling bass and Afropop rhythm guitar. The reimagined arrangement also featured Caleb Burham’s emotive viola solo. Simon conducted supple vocal harmonies during “Train in the Distance” and its portrait of a couple enduring everyday domestic tragedy. “The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and brains,” sang Simon.
Next came the evening’s first song from the Simon & Garfunkel canon, earning an eager ovation from the audience. The room filled with voices singing along to “Homeward Bound.” As many entries in the set list were to varying degrees, the song is a bona fide American treasure. Many veteran attendees in the crowd had clearly taken the song to heart for all 59 years since its original release. “I was 24 years old when I wrote that,” remarked Simon.
The plaintive “The Late Great Johnny Ace” was a swinging blues shuffle and homage to a 1950s R&B singer who met an untimely demise. The song’s sentiment was expanded in tribute to John Lennon and President John F. Kennedy, with the subtext that all three incarnations of “Johnny Ace” had succumbed to gun violence. Pump organ, strings, and flute augmented the song’s haunting scenes. At the other end of the emotional spectrum was “St. Judy’s Comet,” a song fondly offered as a lullaby to coax a restless child to sleep. “If I can’t sing my boy to sleep, well, it makes your famous daddy look so dumb,” sang Simon affectionately.
Brickell returned to sing rich harmony in Linda Ronstadt’s place on the twinkling Graceland track “Under African Skies.” Simon praised bassist Bakithi Kumalo, the last surviving member of the Graceland band. Kumalo played and sang the song’s sparkling and culturally infused outro under a spotlight. Riley was highlighted during a joyful acoustic guitar solo during “Rewrite.”
Photo by Jeff Elbel
The show gathered steam and energy as the main set neared its conclusion. The reggae pop of “Mother and Child Reunion” led to the effervescent “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” whereupon Brickell appeared from the wings to perform the song’s whistled solo. Simon visited with a young concertgoer near the stage front before waving goodnight to the crowd and making his exit.
The band returned to encore with the biting funk-pop of “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” anchored by drummer Matt Chamberlin’s deft performance of Steve Gadd’s slinky cadence. Following an amusing story and dedication to a long-suffering spouse of a fan at a past show, the evening’s emotional height arrived as Simon got the room to sing the “lie la lie” chorus during a dramatic version of “The Boxer.” After the fever pitch subsided, the band took its bows at the rim of the stage as Simon stepped back in recognition of his excellent ensemble.
The show closed fittingly with a pin-drop version of “The Sound of Silence,” a song originally recorded 61 years ago when Simon was merely 22. That he still delivered shivers with the song at 83 testified to a lifetime dedicated to songcraft and performing. Simon may have harbored boyhood dreams of playing baseball for his beloved New York Yankees, but he clearly chose the right path. Although this celebration may be a bit quieter than the tours of Simon’s younger days, having him out of retirement and onstage with beautiful new music and indelible classics is an unexpected gift for those lucky enough to attend the shows.
Simon performs again at Symphony Center on Friday and Saturday, 5/23 and 5/24.
Category: Featured, Live Reviews
