A little over a year ago, Paul Simon returned to the road following a seven-year hiatus to promote his new LP Seven Psalms. It was a stunning show that featured a complete performance of the album in the first act, and a mixture of hits (“Graceland,” “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” “The Boxer”) and fan favorites (“Train in the Distance,” “The Late Great Johnny Ace,” “Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War”) in the second act.
Cameras were rolling when the tour hit Seattle’s McCaw Hall, and that footage provides the backbone for the new concert film Paul Simon: The Quiet Celebration Concert, which is premiering June 26 on Disney+ and Hulu. A companion live album is arriving Oct. 9.
“This tour has enabled me to play with musicians again,” Simon said in a statement. “I really missed it. Everybody has enjoyed the experience so much. There’s been a feeling of camaraderie and elation that we were playing this piece of music that we were really interested in, and that had a significant effect on me. It made for one of the most extraordinary tours I’ve done — maybe the most joyous.”
In a short trailer for the film, Simon talks about the hearing loss he suffered in his left ear while recording Seven Psalms. “I had no idea how performing live could be done,” he says. “It took me years to play with musicians again.”
The band for the tour included Caleb Burhans, Jamey Haddad, Gyan Riley, Mick Rossi, Andy Snitzer, Nancy Stagnitta, Mark Stewart, Eugene Friesen, Steve Gadd, and Matt Chamberlain. And every night, Simon’s wife, Edie Brickell, joined him on two Seven Psalms songs in addition to “Under African Skies” and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.”
Simon just wrapped up a European tour, and he started another American run June 3 in Stanford, California. The tour will include two shows at Forest Hills Stadium in his childhood hometown of Forest Hills, Queens. It wraps up July 18 at Ravinia in Highland Park, Illinois.
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