Venue:
Rod Laver Arena
Date: 10/02/2015
Well first up you cant beat a good seat,especially in a stadium. Strolled down to Row j dead middle to the strains of mid fifties Muddy and Jimmy Reed.
I’m a huge fan of Paul Simon but have only seen Sting with that crack jazz outfit including Kenny Garrett. But they had done this tour in the States and I figured they wouldn’t persist unless it worked. They are off to Europe next so the energy must still be there. An interview with them explained the pairing as being not that weird- their interest in”busy rhythms” ( my words) music of other cultures, really tight professional bands etc and a mutual respect for each others abilities. Turns out they have apartments in the same block in NY -so there ya go. Fit lean tall and tanned Sting and small portly Simon hit the road.
I was expecting one band on then the other but no the show started with Sting’s Brand New Day with 17 musicians on stage. Remarkably the sound balance was excellent. 3 guitarists, a line of brass ,2 keyboards, backing vocals, violin and many were multi -instrumentalists. Simon’s drummer was nursing an electric guitar in his lap while drumking on some songs. The roots of the rhythm remained big time. A highlight for me was the bass playing. Simon’s Bakithi Khumalo is atop rated player and i just love his sound especially on the fretless. So you’ve got sting and him playing on some tracks. Bass player heaven.
For some of the show one band would leave leaving half the stage empty at times it was just Simon and Sting or one of them playing the other’s song i.e. Sting doing America.some lame jokes were made more lame by Paul Simon’s awkward delivery but apart from that not much toi complain about.#.5 hours all in all closing with Bridge over troubled Water with Sting playing Artie. He seemed to have some trouble with his pitch as did Simon .Sting’s songs were more angular and exciting live especially when featuring violin solos by a young bloke who reminded me of David Mansfield but the Simon songs stood out as classics. He continues to draw heavily from the masterpiece that is Gracelands and frustratingly little ( was there anything) from the recent and excellent So Beautiful So What. Sting worked hard to get people up with the police hits but it was Simon’s stuff that had the audience of old bastards like me out of their seats,
The audience:
40 -70 year olds -principally Paul Simon fans
It made me think..
Sting reminds me of the kid in school that gets all the chicks ,doesn’t study much but still gets good grades. Meanwhile Simon is at home at his desk toiling away with pencil and rubber to get his homework just right.Maybe that’s why this worked so well – they are such different personalities.
Kaisfatdad says
Interesting to read about this show, Junior. As you comment, an unexpected combination.
I’d go and see Simon any day but I’m afraid the thought of Sting just puts me off. But I know I’m being bigoted and unfair.
Junior Wells says
He was less of a wanker than I anticipated and I think the pairing made Simon a bit less of a curmudgeon than he usually is. Sting is such a natural performer. And of them I expect it was a breath of fresh air to sing each others songs and to have the additional instrumentation. When they were all going for it on the Boy In The Bubble was simply excellent.
Junior Wells says
here is an interview where they talk about the pairing.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5901154/paul-simon-sting-interview-tour-collaborating-new-music
ivan says
Herself got us tickets for this for Christmas, so I’ve been interested to read this review. Looks like i won’t have to pretend that it was a great show afterwards. That’s always nice.
duco01 says
Nice review, Junior. Now, come on, where’s that review of the Necks? I’m keen to read what you thought of them.
Kaisfatdad saw the Necks in Denmark last year. He liked it so much he purchased a rather splendid Necks T-shirt.
Junior Wells says
That reviews is Neckst.
Vincent says
Sting’s “The Dreams of Blue Turtles” album popped up on the Ipod the other day, and apart from a few rather naive lyrics of their time, it was a cracking album full of good songs, great chops, nice arrangements, and memories of 30 years ago (yes it is that old). Not as 80s-sounding as some of the time – not too many Linn Drums, fairlights, syn-drums, etc.
Junior Wells says
Always cracking musicianship.
Neil Jung says
I’ve never understood the antipathy towards Dying. I wrote Sting, it changed it to Dying! Anyway, he’s a talented singer and songwriter who has made loads of great records. He just started out at the wrong time.
Junior Wells says
In that interview I linked to Simon refers to the audacity of the talent to do an album playing a lute. General view is pretentious wanker but few could pull it off. Err pardon the pun!