When Paul Simon Ended His Touring Days
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Paul Simon performed the final concert of his final tour on September 22, 2018. That last show of his Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour took place, fittingly, at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, not far from his boyhood home in the New York City borough of Queens.
[The acclaimed singer-songwriter has stated that the decision won’t preclude him from performing on occasion, which he has done many times, including this concert in 2019, and his surprise appearance at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival.]
Simon played 26 songs at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park performance, delving largely from his vast solo catalog. Eight songs in, he was joined by his wife, Edie Brickell, who whistled on “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.”
Watch “Late in the Evening,” the first of many encores
Watch Simon perform “Graceland,” the final song of the first encore
The evening’s second encore featured five classics.
Watch Simon perform “The Boxer”
He performed just five songs from his Simon & Garfunkel repertoire, including the evening’s finale, “The Sound of Silence.”
Paul Simon, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Sept. 22, 2018 Setlist
America
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
The Boy in the Bubble
Dazzling Blue
That Was Your Mother
Rewrite
Mother and Child Reunion
Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard
Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War
Can’t Run But
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Writband
Spirit Voices
The Obvious Child
Questions For the Angels
The Cool, Cool River
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
You Can Call Me Al
Encore
Late in the Evening
Still Crazy After All These Years
Graceland
Encore 2
Homeward Bound
Kodachrome
The Boxer
American Tune
The Sound of Silence
Simon’s body of work includes 14 studio albums, plus five studio albums as half of Simon & Garfunkel. He is the recipient of 16 Grammy Awards, three of which—Bridge Over Troubled Water, Still Crazy After All These Years, and Graceland—were Album of the Year honorees. In 2003, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in Simon & Garfunkel, and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
During his career, Simon has achieved 29 Top 40 singles in the U.S., with 14 of those reaching the Top 10, including such classic rock songs as “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” (which reached #1), “Kodachrome,” “Loves Me Like A Rock,” “Mother and Child Reunion,” “Late In The Evening” and “You Can Call Me Al.” With Simon & Garfunkel, he wrote and performed the #1 singles, “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” among many others.
Related: Our Q&A with Robert Hilburn, author of Paul Simon: The Life
Simon, born October 13, 1941, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, both as a member of Simon & Garfunkel and as a solo artist. Simon was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2002.
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationVery delightful to see Paul and Edie so in love! I can still remember hearing about Paul being arrested in a domestic back in 2014