The Simon and Garfunkel Story at the Music Hall, Aberdeen.


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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.

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My cousin and I went to see Art Garfunkel (2006, playing Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow I think) many moons ago so it was lovely to get the chance to go together to see this performance of two chaps telling the story of Paul and Art’s musical career together, and occasionally apart.  The show includes various news type photos and video clips from through the years and from when they started in the 1950s through to the current day almost.  Anyone wanting clips of the actual harmonising duo we’ve all grown up with would be disappointed as they were only represented by William Sharp and Oliver Cave, but this was a good move production wise and added to the overall effect.

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To start with the band come on the stage, with 60s photos on the big screen above them.  The music’s playing and there, silhouetted at the front of the stage, are two figures.  One taller, one shorter – just like the original singers.  Suddenly the lights go up and we see them standing in there, our Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel for the evening.  They sing many of the hits and some of the lesser known songs as they tell the story of their musical careers.  We start at Hey Schoolgirl by their earlier duo Tom and Jerry, and move through Kathy’s Song about one of Paul’s girlfriends.  We travel with them from New York to England back to America and San Francisco.

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The back drop is a big bridge which at different points in the story is lit up with bright lights, or sometimes just there ever present in the background.  There are costume changes, perhaps to show the changing decade as we move through the story.  The emphasis of the first half is the 60s and then we sprint through the the 80s.  The second half starts with quotes from the movie The Graduate, which of course had featured strongly in their musical career with the song Mrs Robinson.  This song is one close to my heart as my husband is a few years younger than me and I love that movie.

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Occasionally we’re asked to clap along, occasionally we clap without being asked, very rarely we get up on our feet but the audience is mostly the older generations so we’re quite happy seated!  The duets and solos keep coming, mixed with many of the singers’ mannerisms.  “Garfunkel” standing with his hands in his pockets, bobbing his head, he seems true to life.  A couple of times he seems slightly pitchy, but again you wonder if this is a mannerism done on purpose rather than anything else or it could be the acoustic’s in the venue.

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All in all it was a wonderful evening reviving some very happy memories, some super hit songs, and discovering TV footage some of which I don’t believe I’d seen before.  It was a real trip down memory lane and certainly took me back to my childhood, growing up listening to these songs.  I would highly recommend catching the tour at some point if you can, if only to hear Bridge Over Troubled Water live, truly breath taking.

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Further information and future tour dates: https://www.thesimonandgarfunkelstory.com/welcome/

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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.

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