We’ve all been so busy being excited about the Americana Music Association UK’s showcases and awards gigs that we’ve let this announcement in Rolling Stone ( here ) roll past us a little. Paul Simon is scheduled to close the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park on July 15th. He’ll be joined by Bonny Raitt and James Taylor and the concert is being billed as his farewell performance – it’s also his only currently planned performance in 2018. As those paying attention will recall it was back in 1993 that Paul Simon undertook a Farewell Simon & Garfunkel Tour with Art Garfunkel (naturally enough).
In 2016 Paul Simon told The New York Times that “Showbiz doesn’t hold any interest for me … I am going to see what happens if I let go. Then I’m going to see, who am I? Or am I just this person that was defined by what I did? And if that’s gone, if you have to make up yourself, who are you?” A statement that many took as a hint at a soon to be announced retirement. Whether this is his last London performance, the start of a farewell tour or genuinely his last ever gig will become apparent in the fullness of time.
Here’s one of his finest solo moments.
