Old Friends Jul 8, 2004 (20 years ago) American Airlines Center Dallas, Texas, United States
Dallas Morning News review of the concert:
Simon & Garfunkel Tightknit in Show at AAC 12:17 AM CDT on Friday, July 9, 2004 By THOR CHRISTENSEN / The Dallas Morning News Not bad for a couple of guys in their 60s singing songs they made famous in their 20s. Thursday night at American Airlines Center, Art Garfunkel chalked up the enduring charm of Simon & Garfunkel by saying, ´It´s very easy to sing when the songs are this good.´ But, in reality, it wasn´t Paul Simon´s tunes that made the concert work but the effortless way the duo sang them. Much has been written about the pair´s on-again, off-again friendship, but the real story is how incredibly well their voices still mesh in ´Cecilia,´ ´The Sounds of Silence´ and ´Mrs. Robinson.´ Harmonizing is a tricky science that gets even tougher as vocal chords age, as Mr. Simon and Bob Dylan proved with some disastrous duets on tour in 1999. But these ´Old Friends´ -- to borrow the title of the opening song -- were in fine voice and perfect sync for most of the two-hour greatest-hits show. With top tickets priced at a whopping $225, the walk down memory lane was one of the priciest ones in rock history: Bring your spouse and buy a T-shirt and you´ve just burned a half-grand. Yet, to Simon and Garfunkel´s credit, the nostalgia wasn´t entirely predictable. Granted, you could bet the Lexus that ´Bridge Over Troubled Water´ and ´The Boxer´ were going to be the big set enders. But there were some pleasant surprises, too, like the jazzy, extended version of ´Homeward Bound,´ the rocked-up arrangement of ´My Little Town´ and an Afro-Latinized ´Mrs. Robinson.´ Mr. Garfunkel looked pretty much the same as always -- except that his shock of blond hair has acquired a strange orange hue -- and his high tenor was as angelic as ever on ´Scarborough Fair´ and ´Kathy´s Song.´ Mr. Simon, having dispensed with the toupee and the baseball cap, looked his age but didn´t always act it. Striking gunslinger poses with his acoustic guitar, he still seemed like the kid from Queens emulating his heroes, the Everly Brothers. Then, just like magic, he mentioned their name and there they were: Phil and Don Everly, old enough for Social Security but still sounding glorious on ´Wake Up Little Susie,´ ´Dreams´ and ´Bye Bye Love,´ which they sang with help from their slightly younger protages. Earlier, Simon and Garfunkel trotted out ´Hey, School Girl,´ the Everly-style song they began their career with in 1957. The two actually met in 1954, when they were 12, and as Mr. Garfunkel explained, they´re celebrating the 50th anniversary of their friendship this year. But, as usual, Mr. Simon got the last word: ´Actually, we started to sing when we were 13, and we started to argue when we were 14, making this the 48th anniversary.´
E-mail: tchristensen@dallasnews.com
Uploaded by Kan Tex Cali
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