A Vision Softly Creeping…

September 11, 2018

Paul Simon 

Rick Springfield

A Vision Softly Creeping…

Throughout my life I think I have self-medicated with music therapy. Music has helped me through the most difficult times, punctuated the most enjoyable moments and been a source of fun, relaxation and motivation. Music taps in to our emotional systems in a way that I don’t really understand but is as powerful to me as any drug or alcohol induced state.

 

Paul Simon

So it was in a way excellent timing that the weekend after what was an incredibly difficult stretch, which we had two very different live concert experiences to look forward to. I had gotten the tickets literally months in advance with of course no way of knowing what might be happening in my life when the concerts finally rolled around. It was a great break in what had been a sad few weeks and the first show was a nice little getaway up to Sunrise, just northwest of Miami.

 

In all my years of attending concerts, I had never had the chance to go see Paul Simon live in concert. I have never been a huge fan of Paul Simon, though I did really enjoy his early solo stuff in the 70s. I was actually a much bigger fan of Art Garfunkel, whose album “Breakaway” is still among my all-time favorites. After finally getting to see Garfunkel last year here in Key West, I was somewhat fearful that Paul Simon might be as awful as that show was, but I still wanted a chance to see a person who is quite a legend while I had the chance as Simon had billed this as his “Homeward Bound” farewell tour.

I should not have worried as the 77 year old singer/songwriter delivered an amazing live performance that made me wish I had gone to many of his previous tours.  Kathy and I drove up to Sunrise on Saturday morning and caught a movie, “Peppermint” starring Jennifer Garner as a revenge driven mother going after the drug cartel that murdered her family. The movie theater was right across from the BB& T center, home of the Florida Panthers hockey team where the concert was being held.

We had great seats in the fifth row for what turned out to be a pretty magical concert. There was no opening act and Paul Simon took the stage just after eight with his wonderful, international fourteen piece band backing him up. His voice was surprisingly strong and his energy level was fantastic and the band was just amazing. He played a long twenty-six song set that covered the breadth of his career including a good number of Simon and Garfunkel classics as well as all the hits from his solo career. 

It was two and a half hours of just classic music that easily cemented Simon’s place in the pantheon of great American songwriters and performers. Nothing too flashy, just the power of amazing music that was a great experience. The second concert of the weekend, the following night back in Key West at the relatively new concert venue, Sunset Green featuring 80’s pop star Rick Springfield.

Rick Springfield

 

If I was not much of a Paul Simon fan, I was even less so of Rick Springfield, who I had always mostly passed off as a soap opera star turned musician who had a couple of radio hits in the 80s. Mostly I wanted to check out the new space, where we had not previously been for a show. I have to report that both the location and the concert far exceeded my expectations.

 

Robyn

I certainly underestimated Rick Springfield who performed a wonderful and fun ninety minute set that featured all of his hit songs as well as some excellent covers varying from Sammy Hagar to Katy Perry. He was really fantastic, a much more talented guitar player than I would have imagined and put on a very fun and personable show, including bounding throughout the crowd hugging people, taking selfies and getting crowd members to sing. It was a ton of fun and a perfect and needed cap to a feel good weekend of musical therapy.

Kathy and Rick Springfield