Paul Simon delivers plenty of surprises

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - For all the accolades

Paul Simon has racked up in the past 40 years, he remains a master of the set list.

Concert songs are carefully chosen -- lyrically and/or musically -- to weave a pattern of thought and feelings among his audience while Simon and a typically ace band tweak classic arrangements.

Such was the case Friday night as Simon presented beloved oldies and tastes of his fine new album to a receptive, all-ages outdoor crowd at the Pacific Amphitheater. Some song combinations were more overt, even playful, as when disparate aspects of motherhood were nodded at with an early run of "Mrs. Robinson" -- complete with an extended, teasing intro -- "Loves Me Like a Rock" and "That Was Your Mother."

But other planned presentations were subtle, like the positioning of the lovely "Wartime Prayers," from Simon's fine new Warner Bros. album "Surprise," his first in six years. With the song's title alone making a statement, Simon strategically placed it in the encore after fan favorite "The Boxer," when he knew he had the crowd's attention.

That emphasis on having the new song heard was apparent given its opening verse: "Prayers offered in times of peace are silent conversations/Appeals for love or love's release in private invocations," it begins. "But all that is changed now." Wartime prayers, he sings a few lines later, are for "every family scattered and broken."

It wasn't a political declaration but a human one. And it was deliberately followed by the comforting message of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," which was shorn of its huge sound on record and delivered as a gentle, even pacifying signal of hope. Simon sidestepped trying to replicate

Art Garfunkel's soaring climactic vocal, instead moving to a slightly uptempo groove as the song ebbed.

Since Simon is touring with a band half the size of the one he employed on his 2000 solo jaunt, some of the night's material begged for a bigger sound. That was especially true for the band's multiple trips to the album "Graceland," the Grammy-winning album that turns 20 this summer. The title track was rather plodding, while "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" sorely missed Ladysmith Black Mambazo's stirring vocals. It did, however, feature bursts of growling simultaneous sax and grumbling thumps of Bakithi Kumalo's bass.

As usual, none of the evening's material sounded exactly like the records. Anchored by dual drummers Steve Gadd and Robin DiMaggio, the band redirected familiar arrangements into a travelogue of world music. African and Cuban rhythms were juxtaposed with bayou zydeco and some good ol' New York coffeehouse folk. Simon was in laid-back voice, adding a little early-career falsetto to "Loves Me Like a Rock" and delivering a gentle version of "The Only Living Boy in New York."

Two years removed from his triumphant reunion tour with Garfunkel, Simon continues to challenge audiences and himself rather than simply reciting his Hall of Fame catalog. It's that dedication to forward thinking that continues to makes him a viable songwriter and musician -- and makes his concerts such gems.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter