In My Little Town

I was so excited when my friend C. asked me to go to see Paul Simon in my little town, at our wonderful Santa Barbara Bowl. Yes, THE legendary Paul Simon.

What a terrific show!  The opener was The Secret Sisters, a sister duo from Somewhere-or-Other, Alabama. They played acoustic guitar and sang amazing harmonies on old-timey country songs, plus some of their own. They had very sweet voices. It was a pleasure to hear them!

Mr. Simon took the stage without delay with his 8-man back-up band.  What a fun, fun show!  He played songs from his entire repertoire, from "The Sound of Silence" and "The Only Living Boy in New York" to his '70s music, like "Kodachrome," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Mother and Child Reunion," on to the Graceland era, "Graceland" and "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," through to songs from his newest album called So Beautiful or So What, along with covers, including songs by Junior Walker, Chet Atkins and the Beatles!  The arrangements were creative, and familiar songs were performed in new ways. I like his new stuff, too.  Here is the setlist.

I was amazed at the number of guitars that he used. Every number, a different guitar would be brought to him. His band was really talented. It was a lot of fun to watch each of them. 

The concert was energetic and lively. It was a wonderful show. They played for more than two hours!  Not bad for a 70-year-old geezer, huh?

Here are some photos from up in Section E:

Many, many thanks to my friend C!!!

I don't want to piss off the Copyright gods, so I'll be a good girl and not upload the video I took. Next time you see me, ask me to see it.  I will leave you with this, though.  He performed at Ground Zero on the 9/11 anniversary last month.