![\"HOLLYWOOD,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_295929469.jpg\")
Simon in 2022. His vocals are palpably diminished and he cannot hold a note the same way anymore (Photo: Kevin Mazur\/Getty)<\/p>\n
So far, so reasonable, except that when Simon arrived on stage 15 minutes after his scheduled stage time, there was an audible waver in his speaking voice. Said wobble translated to his singing voice; put simply, Simon is an old man, and he sounds like it. His vocals are palpably diminished, not just from the days when he was commanding audiences of hundreds of thousands at free concerts in Central Park, but also from that so-called farewell tour eight years ago. He cannot hold a note the same way anymore.<\/p>\n
This means that anybody hoping to hear faithful renditions of his biggest and most buoyant pop songs, like \u201cYou Can Call Me Al\u201d, were disappointed. But it also imbued the show with real resonance. It was a two-set affair with an interval, and in the first part, Simon and his ten-piece band played his last album, 2023\u2019s Seven Psalms, in its entirety. Recorded as he wondered whether his hearing was in terminal decline, it is a quietly beautiful reflection on faith and mortality comparable to David Bowie\u2019s<\/a> Blackstar or Leonard Cohen\u2019s You Want It Darker \u2013 a swan song that looks the reaper straight in the eye.<\/p>\n It was relayed live in one fell swoop, as one 35-minute suite without breaks, in a manner that was thoughtful and affecting, especially when Simon\u2019s wife, Edie Brickell, lent her vocals to the last couple of songs.<\/p>\n In the second half, Simon answered the audience who came expecting hits, whose general consensus on the concourse during the interval was that Simon might be past it. His second set opened with \u201cGraceland\u201d, the title track from his 1986 exploration of African sounds. As if to underline tonight\u2019s themes of transience, he later identified fretless bassist Bakithi Kumalo as the only surviving member of the band he put together for that record.<\/p>\n The musicianship was crisp, even when Simon\u2019s vocals faltered. A languid take on \u201cTrain in the Distance\u201d was suffused with bluesy melancholy, while the opportunity to hear original drummer Steve Gadd play his iconic drum riff on \u201c50 Ways to Leave Your Lover\u201d \u2013 a shuffling beat that has had an indelible impact on modern hip hop and R&B \u2013 was a genuine treat. Amid the better-loved tracks were indulgences on Simon\u2019s part \u2013 take your pick from \u201cThe Late Great Johnny Ace\u201d or \u201cRen\u00e9 and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War\u201d for the evening\u2019s most meandering storytelling diversion.<\/p>\n But there were moments of profundity, too \u2013 points where Simon\u2019s tired vocals lent the songs a little extra poetry: \u201cThe Boxer\u201d and its tale of a browbeaten fighter still standing against the odds was a case in point. After encouraging an ovation for his band, he closed the show with a powerful solo take on \u201cThe Sound of Silence\u201d, a reminder that isolation and a lack of community spirit are issues that predate smartphones and social media by decades.<\/p>\n![\"LOS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_295929431.jpg\")
Simon and Art Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school (Photo: CBS\/Getty)<\/p>\n