Live at the Marquee: Paul Simon

HE never achieved the kind of God-like adulation accorded to Dylan, and Paul Simon may have played Martha to the Minnesotan’s Mary, but in terms of legacy, the 70-year-olds are level pegging.

In Cork, however, Simon is in the ascendant because tickets for his gig sold out faster than Dylan’s, based on the expectation of a better effort on the New Yorker’s part than Dylan’s notoriously diffident efforts on stage.

Simon mines the same vein of public and private angst that Dylan does, but moves from major social topics to private grief in the blink of an eye against the background of a driving, optimistic rhythm.

And for all the brouhaha about Dylan’s electric sellout, Simon’s smooth and quiet move into world music was the turning point for what’s academically described as ethnomusicology. His efforts brought prominence and recognition to folk music cultures from three continents.

Simon opened with a nine-piece band at the Marquee last night and a trio of tracks from his new album So Beautiful Or So What, all of which were met with roars of approval. Responding to a shout from the crowd, Simon said: “Thank you I love you too, although actually I don’t know you, I’m taking it on trust.”

They loved it. Simon barreled through Jimmy Cliff’s Vietnam with a driving reggae rhythm. He then moved from cajun to country and into jazz stopping for a more than passable imitation of Chett Atkins’ Wheels. The goosebumps really came out with his solo acoustic rendition of The Only Living Boy in New York, Simon’s voice, clear as a bell, standing up to the stadium and his 70 years.

The audience was wrapped with the anthem of their youth. Then there was a swift move to cajun again, jazz and the accordions came out once more. Simon left his mark and to a thundering crowd came back to encore with Still Crazy After All These Years.

Rating: 5/5

Picture: Paul Simon Live at the Marquee in Cork last night. Picture: Miki Barlok