JB Dahmoune
Jun-24-2004, 13:14 GMT
IP:
France
 | From the Indianapolis Star:
Simon and Garfunkel call their reunion tour "Old Friends," for one of the folk-rock duo´s hits. "Keep The Customer Satisfied" would have worked just as well at Conseco Fieldhouse last night.
The 1960s icons thrilled the boomer crowd with a show full of grace and feeling.
At 8:30 p.m., overhead screens flashed slides and movies of the famously bickering pals from boyhood. When the tribute faded out, "Old Friends" tuned in, and the chums seemed to bask in each other´s presence.
Hewing to their look and sound, the pair remained faithful to many numbers.
But they didn´t totally rest on their laurels. Whether onstage alone for acoustic numbers or backed by a tight band, the 62-year-Old troubadours tweaked at least half a dozen of the songs. Highlights included an electric "Hazy Shade of Winter," a syncopated "I Am A Rock," a country "Homeward Bound" and a rollicking "Mrs. Robinson."
"Well, good evening, you Hoosiers," Art Garfunkel said early on. "I know it´s taken a bunch of years to get this together, and I´m sorry about that. But I´m thrilled to be in your town tonight with Paul."
One appearance in town was at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in May 1968, at a fund-raiser for Sen. Eugene McCarthy´s presidential campaign. Dustin Hoffman introduced them, and a firecracker thrown from the audience interrupted the concert in midsong.
This second leg of the "Old Friends" tour kicked off in Albany, N.Y., earlier this month. Half a million fans attended the first leg late last year. Though the twosome has gotten back together once in a while over the years since breaking up after their last album in 1970, this marks their first tour in two decades.
Simon picked a perfectionist´s restless guitar; Garfunkel grasped the microphone like an impassioned lover. As a singer, Simon´s reedy pensiveness continues to balance Garfunkel´s ethereal quiver, and they weaved harmonies around Simon´s often poetic lyrics.
They segued niftily from "At The Zoo" to "Baby Driver." Garfunkel declared that "Kathy´s Song" was his favorite Simon Love song. They told interrelated, semiscripted anecdotes about how they met in sixth grade. That led to their high school novelty number, "Hey, Schoolgirl," which they performed as Tom and Jerry.
It borrowed from their musical heroes, the Everly Brothers, who did a polished mini-set Wednesday evening; it included "Wake Up Little Suzie," "Dream" and "Bye Bye Love." Simon and Garfunkel joined them for the latter.
A cello accompanied "Scarborough Fair" to lovely effect. "The Sound of Silence" accrued moral power. Performing Simon´s solo hit, "Slip Slidin´ Away," he admitted that Garfunkel should have been a part of it n the first place. They shared "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with earnest conviction.
As "Bookends" says, "Time it was."
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