Photo of Paul Simon via Legacy Recordings
Although he has announced that his touring days are over, Paul Simon still likes to get onstage every so often. He did so on August 9 at the Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif., billed as a “popup show,” and is also scheduled to perform this weekend at the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco.
This week he will also perform a pair of special concerts in Maui, Hawaii. All of his net proceeds will be donated to support biodiversity conservation.
Those concerts, to be held Aug. 13 and 14 at Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s A&B Amphitheater and Yokouchi Pavilion, represent Simon’s first Hawaiian dates since he performed in Honolulu with Art Garfunkel in 1968.
Simon’s headlining appearance at Outside Lands was revealed on March 22. He will close the 2019 edition of the annual festival this Sunday, August 11.
He’ll be joined at the festival by his wife, Edie Brickell, whose band, New Bohemians, will perform today (August 10).
Watch Simon perform “The Sound of Silence” in Oakland on Aug. 9.
From the March 22 announcement: “While no longer touring, Simon has previously stated his commitment to perform the occasional concert in benefit of philanthropic organizations he supports, particularly those in the area of environmental protection and ecology. Outside Lands’ location in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, combined with the shared environmental initiatives of the Festival producers provided Paul Simon this perfect opportunity. To this end, Simon will be donating the entire net proceeds from his Outside Lands performance to local environmental non-profit organization(s) to be announced shortly.
“Outside Lands, founded in 2008, has proven to be a leader in sustainability in today’s festival landscape and has remained committed to such causes throughout its 12-year history.”
Of Outside Lands, Simon said, “I’m looking forward with great anticipation to playing at Golden Gate Park this summer. This will be my first appearance there, and it’s an honor to join the long line of musicians who’ve given the park its sanctified musical heritage. I’m equally pleased to be playing in San Francisco with its well-deserved reputation for being in the forefront of environmental issues. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be of service to this vital cause.”
Watch Simon perform Graceland at the Oakland concert
Simon’s finished his “Homeward Bound” farewell tour on September 22, 2018.
Related: Recap of opening night of Simon’s farewell tour
No stranger to concerts in, and benefitting, iconic parks, in 1981, Simon performed with Art Garfunkel in New York’s Central Park in front of 500,000 people. Proceeds went toward redevelopment and maintenance of the park, which had deteriorated due to lack of municipal funding. Simon returned to Central Park a decade later, in 1991, to play to a record-setting 750,000 people.
Outside Lands is committed to preserving Golden Gate Park and promoting sustainability in San Francisco and beyond. The festival hopes to motivate other events around the world to follow suit in their efforts to increase environmental consciousness, waste diversion rates, and earth-friendly programs.
For the festival’s inaugural year in 2008, Outside Lands diverted 65% of total waste from landfills. Improving upon those efforts each year, the festival increased their waste diversion rate in 2018 to an impressive 92% and also went “Plastic Straw Free,” donated 1.25 tons of food and introduced more reusable beer mugs and wine glasses.
In addition to Outside Lands having the highest waste diversion rate of any music festival in the U.S., it also features a number of dedicated programs entirely focused on sustainability and environmental education.
Watch Simon perform the final song at the final concert of his farewell tour
Bonus video: Watch Simon with special guest Bob Weir performing “The Boxer” at Outside Lands
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