Yahoo Lifestyle Paul Simon, Who Retired From Concerts Seven Years Ago, Will Return With Intimate ‘Quiet Celebration Tour’ in 2025
On the heels of opening the “SNL50” special Sunday night in a duet with Sabrina Carpenter, Paul Simon revealed Tuesday that he is un-retiring from live concerts, announcing his first road outing since what was billed as his farewell tour back in 2018, albeit with more “intimate” arrangements and locations than the bigger tours of old.
The “Quiet Celebration Tour” will take place in mid-sized theaters and concert halls and be focused around his most recent album, the acoustically based “Seven Psalms,” although it will include other selections from his vast catalog.
More from Variety
The tour will begin April 4 in New Orleans and end in Seattle in August. The band will include Caleb Burhans (viola), Jamey Haddad (percussion), Gyan Riley (guitar), Mick Rossi (piano, keys), Andy Snitzer (saxophone), Nancy Stagnita (flute), Mark Stewart (guitar) and Eugene Friesen (Cello). Steve Gadd and Matt Chamberlin will alternate on drums.
Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
In the time since doing his farewell tour in venues like the Hollywood Bowl in 2018, Simon had revealed he suffered from hearing loss, but recently had also said that he was finding ways to deal with the loss in a performance setting, hinting that he might feel comfortable doing live concerts again.
In a recent “CBS Mornings” interview, Simon discussed how he had worked with the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss and his own production team to redesign his stage setup, including surrounding himself with monitors, to make live performance viable again.
Simon opened the “SNL50” three-hour special doing a duet with Sabrina Carpenter of the 1960s Simon and Garfunkel classic “Homeward Bound.” He had first performed it on “SNL” as a duet with George Harrison on the third episode of the first season in 1975. Carpenter quipped in the introduction that even her parents had not yet been born at that point 50 years ago.
Variety reviewed the “quietly stunning” “Seven Psallms” album in May 2023 and subsequently named it one of the best albums of 2023, saying, “The quietly stunning ‘Seven Psalms’ is unlike any other Simon album, starting with how the singer-songwriter so wants you to experience it as a full concept album that he has digitally released its seven distinct songs only in the form of a single long track. With Simon now in his 80s, the running theme could be described as “for whom the bell tolls,” but he finds a lot to address within that framework. It’s a song cycle that’s in turn mysterious, sobering, funny, God-haunted, agnostic, lovestruck, pragmatic about mortality, and still caught up in miracle and wonder.”
Meanwhile, you can read our review of his 2018 farewell tour here.
The itinerary for the Quiet Celebration Tour:
April 4 Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LA
April 5 Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LA
April 8 Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
April 10 Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
April 11 Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
April 14 Paramount Theatre, Denver, CO
April 16 Paramount Theatre, Denver, CO
April 17 Paramount Theatre, Denver, CO
April 20 Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
April 22 Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
April 23 Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
April 26 Midland Theatre, Kansas City, MO
April 28 Stifel Theatre, St. Louis, MO
April 29 Stifel Theatre, St. Louis, MO
May 7 AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas TX
May 8 AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas TX
May 11 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
May 13 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
May 14 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
May 17 Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI
May 18 Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI
May 21 Symphony Center, Chicago, IL
May 23 Symphony Center, Chicago, IL
May 24 Symphony Center, Chicago, IL
May 27 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON
May 29 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON
May 30 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON
June 6 Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA
June 7 Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA
June 10 Boch Center, Wang Theatre, Boston, MA
June 12 Boch Center, Wang Theatre, Boston, MA
June 13 Boch Center, Wang Theatre, Boston, MA
June 16 Beacon Theater, New York, NY
June 18 Beacon Theater, New York, NY
June 20 Beacon Theater, New York, NY
June 21 Beacon Theater, New York, NY
June 23 Beacon Theater, New York, NY
June 26 Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA
June 28 Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA
June 29 Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA
July 7 Terrace Theater, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, Long Beach CA
July 9 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CA
July 11 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CA
July 12 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CA
July 14 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CA
July 16 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CA
July 19 Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA
July 21 Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA
July 22 Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA
July 25 The Orpheum, Vancouver BC
July 26 The Orpheum, Vancouver BC
July 28 The Orpheum, Vancouver BC
July 31 Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA
August 2 Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA
August 3 Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
