Actually, Paul Simon had already retired from the live business in 2018 to enjoy his well-deserved artist pension. But on Saturday (July 23) he made an exception to perform at the Newport Folk Festival. It was actually his premiere at the legendary music event.
There he performed a set consisting entirely of Simon’s own songs with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. With the band’s backing, he first sang “Graceland” before presenting a rewritten version of “American Tune” with Rhiannon Giddens.
Of course, fans of Simon & Garfunkel did not go away empty-handed: together with Lucius, Lukas Nelson, Natalie Merchant, Jerry Douglas and others, Paul Simon played “The Boxer” and also celebrated “The Sound of Silence”.
Even before the 80-year-old entered the stage, Rateliff and his Night Sweats covered all sorts of other songs by the musician, including “St. Judy’s Comet, El Condor Pasa, Homeward Bound and Cecilia. The full setlist is below.
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