We saw Paul Simon and Sting play together at Sir James Mitchell Park in South Perth over the weekend, and it was a fabulous show. Rhona's quite a fan of Sting and was very excited about seeing him live. I'd not seen either of them perform before, and I was really looking forward to what they were going to play. Both artists have a huge repertoire of material and it was anybody's guess what would make the list.
I was under the impression that they would both be onstage together for the entire concert, as the tagline suggested. They played three songs at the start (two of Sting's and one of Paul's) before they introduced each other; Paul cheekily referring Sting as "Mister Gordon Sumner". There is quite a size difference between the two musicians, and as Sting put his arm around Paul I half expected him to launch into a Tony Montana impersonation: "Say 'hello' to my little friend!" Paul then announced that he was going to leave us in the hands of Sting for a bit and come back later.*
Although I was initially disappointed that they didn't perform as a duo all night, I think it actually worked really well. They took turns in playing mini-sets on their own before the other came out to join in on a song, and then they'd swap over. It was the best of the both worlds, really. We got searing versions of Driven To Tears and Walking On The Moon from Sting, but then he did a lovely cover of Simon & Garfunkel's wonderful ballad America. Although Sting provided the exquisite guitar part, we got to hear Paul Simon cover the haunting protest song Fragile, before leading the band through fabulous renditions of Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard and That Was Your Mother.
I love hearing how different artists interpret the music of others, so I got a big kick out of hearing them share verses when they sang together. They opened the show with Sting's Brand New Day, and Paul's vocal style was quite a contrast, but it worked. When they sang together, their voices blended surprisingly well too. One of the things I love about watching Bob Dylan live is that his songs are always changing. He can't sing like he used to, so he's changed keys, tempos and even moods of some of his older tracks. When you have two artists merging their repertoires, you get a little taste of that reinterpretation without the whole song changing too much. It's kinda cool.
The songs that they sang together best were the old Simon & Garfunkel numbers, in my opinion. Particularly Bridge Over Troubled Water, one of the concert's final performances, which saw them take a verse each, before blending in glorious harmony for the third one. I really liked the way they shared vocals on Every Breath You Take too.
My favourite moments were the surprises; those songs you didn't really expect to be performed. I've already mentioned Paul's That Was Your Mother from the Graceland album, and he rolled it out after a fantastic performance of Still Crazy After All These Years, another big favourite of mine. When the latter finished and the former kicked off, I had the biggest grin on my face. I was also stoked to hear The Boy In The Bubble and The Obvious Child. There were a couple of Paul's songs that I was unfamiliar with, but still enjoyed them immensely; namely Dazzling Blue and Hearts And Bones.
When Paul left the stage after the show's opening three songs, Sting launched into The Police's So Lonely, which I also didn't plan on hearing. The added novelty of a 'punk' tuba solo only enhanced the enjoyment of that number. When he introduced Vinnie Colaiuta on the drums as he was doing "what is referred to as a press roll", I knew the The Hounds Of Winter was coming. I wasn't hugely enamoured by the backing vocalist's shrill scat moments during the instrumental sections, but it was still pretty great. I don't think anyone doubted that Message In A Bottle would get a guernsey, but it was the way it came up that was the surprise. Sting had just finished his mostly-solo take on America, when a blast a guitar feedback drowned out the last notes. As it got louder, the opening riff from Message In A Bottle started up, so Sting tossed away his acoustic and grabbed his bass. Great moment.
Apparently Sting and Paul Simon are old friends, and both live in New York. There was a mutual respect between them, which became more obvious as the show went on. No doubt, there's a lot of love there too. They seemed to be really enjoying themselves, with Sting sporting a fairly lengthy beard and a physique that belied his sixty three years on the planet. Paul rocked his trademark trilby with a quiet grace reserved for musicians over the age of seventy, but with the enthusiasm of a twentysomething.
This was one of the best concerts that I've been to. They kicked off at 7:30pm and went well past 10pm, without a break. All the musicians in both bands were fantastic and both Paul and Sting were in exceptional vocal form. I don't think I'll see another show like this for some time. A master class from two classy masters of their craft.
* For a setlist of the evening, click here.
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