Paul Simon was seconds into a number from his latest album when he seemed to summon the heavens.
Performing Saturday (June 20) for more than 7,500 at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre, Simon eased into the opening verse of “The Sacred Harp”: “A summer storm erased the sunny sky,” he sang, just as the evening’s first rain began to fall at the outdoor concert venue in Rochester Hills.
Simon had played Meadow Brook before — he headlined the pastoral amphitheater nearly a decade ago to the day — but there was a dreamy intimacy to Saturday’s show that set it apart from other metro Detroit concerts he’s staged through the years.
It was a 2½-hour affair that eventually would get to the better-known fare from Simon’s catalog — the introspective reflections and keen-eyed sketches of Americana that sealed his stature as one of the world’s master songwriters going back to his Simon & Garfunkel years.
First up, though, were all the songs from 2023’s quiet, meditative album “Seven Psalms.” In a lesser artist’s hands, kicking off a concert with the entirety of one’s latest record could be a risky move. For Simon and his rapt crowd, it worked.
Joined by an ensemble that occasionally included vocal harmony from his wife, Edie Brickell, Simon crafted a thoughtfully arranged soundscape flecked with delicate guitar lines, subtle percussive flourishes and sophisticated counterpoint from a trio with flute, viola and cello.
At 84, Simon is dealing with the realities of age. Seated for much of the night, he sang with a quivering vibrato while delivering his conversational lyrics. But this was still Paul Simon, still creatively adventurous, still leading a willing audience on his journey.
When Simon played DTE Energy Music Theatre in 2018, there was good reason to think it was the last time we’d see him on a Michigan stage. That Homeward Bound tour, after all, was definitively billed as a farewell run. Simon later revealed he was suffering significant hearing loss, which impeded his singing.
Thanks to an innovative monitor setup onstage, he’s been able to return to the road, now under the banner “A Quiet Celebration,” which launched last year in small American concert halls and recently wound its way across Europe.
Following “Seven Psalms” and an intermission, Simon and his players returned for 90 minutes of more familiar stuff, though it wasn’t just a broadside of radio hits: Alongside the briskly delivered “Homeward Bound” and the polyrhythms of “Graceland” (featuring bass from that 1986 project’s Bakithi Kumalo) were deep cuts like “St. Judy’s Comet” and “Something So Right,” with guitarists Mark Stewart and Gyan Riley often in starring roles.
On 1977’s “Slip Slidin’ Away,” one of several numbers with melody readjusted to accommodate Simon’s voice, one lyric — “ain’t got no rain” — brought a round of cheers from the soaked fans on Meadow Brook’s lawn.
Following an ever-cool “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” and poignant “The Boxer” that became a crowd singalong, Simon’s band joined him in a bow before leaving him solo onstage. That’s when, alone with acoustic guitar, he closed with a hushed “The Sound of Silence,” a song composed in his early 20s and showcased Saturday as a crowning achievement.
The voice may be fragile now, the fingers not quite as nimble. But Simon’s superb songbook is the contribution that ultimately counts — and it’s the one that will outlive him and all the rest of us.
Saturday’s Meadow Brook performance came as part of a new leg of Quiet Celebration shows that will run through July. The outing will be marked with a Disney+ and Hulu special that premieres this Friday and an album scheduled for release Oct. 9.
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Paul Simon celebrates 6 decades of songcraft at rainy Meadow Brook
Reporting by Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
