Never been one to let the carrier drop

Those of you who happen to be on the Simon and Garfunkel concert path, and who were pondering going, my advice in one word is: Go!

I missed the Seattle date through incompetence, so had to cruise down to Portland for the show.. but it was so worth the drive.

Very few other concerts.. U2 and Pink Floyd are the only two that spring to mind – have I known all the words, all the chords, to _every_ song. S&G is just good stuff. Timeless..

Through some kind of fluke, we ended up with tickets that were practically looking down S&G’s neck, from behind the stage. [This is what happens when you buy tickets two hours before the show, I guess]. It was actually really cool – got to see the audiance from the performer’s point of view.

The sound and lighting were both top notch.. well balanced sound with solid bass, a really good midrange which is critical for folkish kind of stuff, and enough highs to give you a really good sense of presence without overdoing it and being too much of a good thing.

Their set.. well, we missed their opening number, but they were all familiar favorites. Bridge over troubled waters brought a sniffle or two out of me.. it was great hearing them do Feelin’ Groovy.. (which they did twice – the second time with a ghetto trombone that looked like a giant bong.. complete with Garfunkel reaching over to imitate lighting it.)

Garfunkel’s stage presence was at it’s best.. and there were almost no negative vibes between the two, which was something I was a bit worried about considering what happened to their last two concert tours. (for those of you not up on your music history, S&G haven’t always gotten along too well. But they’ve known each other for 50 years.. making them 62 and 63! However, they still have it musically – Garfunkel still has that haunting voice he always has, and Simon still comes in with the rock solid lead while Garfunkel pulls out the most improbable harmonies..

Plenty of people my age there.. and even younger.. but also lots, and lots, and lots of baby boomers. The show, dispite having no advertising that I saw, basically sold out the arena.

It was just so .. nice.. I never thought I’d get to see S&G in concert. I’ve always liked their music.. I’ve even done covers of Sound of Silence and The Boxer…

Also made a interesting counterpoint to Paul Van Dyk and the psy-trance party I went to night before yesterday, and yesterday night, respectively.

And, had a kickass theremin solo, too. You don’t see those too often.. 😉

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