Paul Simon review – at 84, returning to the stage after hearing loss, his enduring talent is inspiring | Paul Simon

Men 2018, Paul Simon’s winner Homeward Bound: The Farewell Tour was created to bid farewell to his many years of touring. However, even the biggest feeling lost he did not extinguish his desire to do it again. Here, with the help of a little recovery, control of a special sound and strength of will, the Quiet Festival is different from anything that he – or maybe anyone else – has done before, certainly in the arenas. Wanting to be quiet and understanding, it’s a quiet and passive recovery instead of a happy victory. Drums are often rubbed with brushes. The 84-year-old songwriting legend’s voice has lost its power, but vulnerability and vulnerability have brought friendship and authority. Smiling as he addressed the delighted Merseyside crowd at the final, he called it “a humbling thing”.

The evening begins with the complete singing of the Seven Psalms, the cycle of 2023 songs that came to him in a dream. It’s a series of quietly troubling stories about life, love, God and death, filled with quiet insight and the occasional truth bomb, like Trail of Volcanoes’ commentary on the refugee crisis: “It seems to me that we’re all walking the same road, going wherever it ends.”

The second half delves into his genre-defining repertoire, including cuts that don’t make the cut. The Late Great Johnny Ace captures 13-year-old Simon’s shock at the accidental death of one of his early pop heroes. Slip Slidin’ Away has a new reading system. Homeward Bound was written nearby (“Widnes or Warrington, wherever there’s a sign that’s where I wrote it!”, he jokes) and accompanying the crowd helps the chorus home. In between two songs that were re-edited from Graceland, he explains that bassist Bakithi Kumalo is the last surviving African musician.

In the final stages, good feelings. People stare as he delivers the mesmeric The Sound of Silence in the same voice/guitar he first released in the clubs of the 1960s. Another compelling moment comes in the new preparation of The Boxer, when he suddenly shouts “I’m leaving, but the fighter is still there” and cheers for the wood.