[hometownboy]

14th February 2009
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,492184,00.html

Call it an early Valentine’s present to their New York fans. Last night Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reunited on stage at the reopening of the legendary Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side.

It was quite an occasion, too. In the audience were Paul McCartney (and Nancy Shevell), Jon Bon Jovi with wife Dorothea, Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman, Rosie O’Donnell and Kelli Carpenter, Whoopi Goldberg, James Gandolfini, musician Robert Randolph, and Jimmy Fallon with wife Nancy Juvnonen, not to mention Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

And those were just the celebs we spotted in the front section. There may have been more in the sold-out, three-tiered auditorium, renovated to its former glory by Cablevision’s Dolan family.

The night was billed just as a Paul Simon show, and that would have been enough. Simon played for over two hours with a 20-minute intermission and covered all parts of his solo career, from “You Can Call Me Al,” “Graceland,” and “Boy in the Bubble” to earlier hits, like ”Me and Julio,” “Loves Me Like A Rock,” “Late in the Evening,” and “Slip Slidin’ Away.” For very old Simon fanatics, he threw in “Duncan” from his first solo album.

Simon also brought members of the cast of his late lamented Broadway show, “The Capeman,” who did some of those numbers. And he threw in some obscure but beautiful gems like “Fathers and Daughters,” “Train in the Distance,” and “You’re the One.”

But there was a buzz in the air, probably because yours truly spotted Garfunkel’s singer wife Kim in the audience. At least a couple of us knew what was going to happen: Garfunkel, flown up on a private plane from the middle of a Florida tour, took the stage to a thunderous ovation. I mean, people were screaming — even Paul McCartney.

The pair then did gorgeous versions of “The Sound of Silence,” “The Boxer,” and “Old Friends/Bookends” as if it were 1965 or even 1981 on Central Park’s Great Lawn. Garfunkel made one crack about Simon’s missing toupee, and Simon “zetzed” him back. But mostly what was striking was how the duo fell into their old positions, side by side. Simon is so fluid when performing with his own band, but he takes a rigid stance next to Garfunkel probably out of sense memory. Garfunkel swoops and sways next to him in time, and the two of them proceed to do something no one else in the world can do. It’s magic.

What was the show all about? I have no idea, and the tickets were expensive! But it was well worth it, and should be again tonight when Simon — sans Garfunkel but with plenty of surprises — completes the Beacon’s welcome into the Madison Square Garden/Radio City ownership.

[Jim Bon Jovi]

i wouldn't donate a testicle to medical science to see simon and garfunkel do the boxer.

[Goldsausage]

Guessing games are much more fun when you don't bold the answer before anyone guesses.

[hometownboy]

Originally Posted by Goldsausage II

Guessing games are much more fun when you don't bold the answer before anyone guesses.

I'm a spoil sport
I just wanted to get you all excited and then knock you back down

[Kathleen]

I tried to get tickets - and couldn't. Unlike Jim - I'll go see either of them at any time. They are old favorites of mine. I can only hope that someone recorded it - and is willing to share.

[Adam D]

Originally Posted by Jim Bon Jovi

i wouldn't donate a testicle to medical science to see simon and garfunkel do the boxer.

Something tells me that was a typo. If not, I'm sorry Jim. The Boxer is one of my favorite songs of all time.

[Jim Bon Jovi]

Originally Posted by JBJEveryday

Something tells me that was a typo. If not, I'm sorry Jim. The Boxer is one of my favorite songs of all time.

ooops typo

so theyre touring the states then?

[hometownboy]

well Garfunkel wouldn't say if the tour would have a US leg but surely thats a cert!
but he did say definately no England!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...gyyuc&refer=us

[Kathleen]

Originally Posted by hometownboy

well Garfunkel wouldn't say if the tour would have a US leg but surely thats a cert!
but he did say definately no England!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...gyyuc&refer=us

If there is any tour at all - I'll be there - Oh yeah