The Simon and Garfunkel Story: Inside the Duo’s Timeless Tunes

The Simon and Garfunkel Story: Inside the Duo’s Timeless Tunes

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Hello darkness, my old friend.

Somber as it may sound, this is one of the most memorable lines to open a song.

Offering “spine-tingling harmony,” James William Pattison and Charles Blyth — playing Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, respectively — greeted the Manila audience of “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” with this very evocative tune.

Acclaimed for its sold-out run in London’s West End, “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” is a theater show that celebrates the music of the American folk-rock duo. Now seen in 50 countries globally after a decade of touring, the show finally landed on the Philippine stage on Saturday, March 2, 2024.

The event was held at The Theatre at Solaire and presented by Concert Republic.

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Timeless tunes, stories, and more

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Not your usual theater show, “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” features a rather minimal production. When we say minimal, we mean seeing just a five-man band, already including the duo, taking center stage.

But make no mistake: With their faithful renditions of Simon & Garfunkel’s most important songs, this setup is powerful enough to move an audience so broad-ranging it comprises 20-somethings and silver-haired fans.

Thanks to a state-of-the-art video projection featuring footage from the ‘60s, the show provided a deeper context to the themes and inspirations behind the hits performed.

Between the songs, Pattison and Blyth also effectively narrated Simon & Garfunkel’s ascent to fame — from their humble beginnings as two youngsters from Queens, New York to their stint as the rock and roll duo Tom and Jerry then to their massive success and, ultimately, their dramatic break-up.

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Sensational showcase of the duo’s catalog

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With several hits and awards under their belt, Simon & Garfunkel is a respected name in the music industry. Surely, creating an over-two-hour show to encapsulate the essence of their poetic and profound body of work is a tall order.

What “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” did exceptionally well was to somehow recreate the magic that the duo had. With Simon and Garfunkel now in their 80s, the theater show was the closest thing anyone could get to witnessing the musicians’ sensational catalog come to life.

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The show opened with “The Sound of Silence” from their debut record “Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.,” released in 1964. Chronologically presenting the duo’s career, the show’s stars performed more tracks from the said album before moving on to “Sounds of Silence” (1966).

The band performed “Kathy’s Song” and “I Am A Rock,” among others. These two songs were originally part of Simon’s solo effort, “The Paul Simon Songbook,” which he released while he was in England.

Next are tunes from “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme,” including the atmospheric “Scarborough Fair” and the forlorn-yet-hopeful “Homeward Bound.” “Bookends,” one of their biggest albums, was represented by well-loved hits, such as “America,” “Bookend,” and “Mrs. Robinson.”

Off their last studio album, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” the band delivered stellar renditions of “Cecilia” and “The Only Living Boy in New York.” For the last act, the show staged the iconic “The Concert In Central Park.” In this portion, the band also delighted the audience with “Bye Bye Love,” a tribute to Simon & Garfunkel’s musical heroes, The Everly Brothers.

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Blyth, as Garfunkel, was in the spotlight when he sang “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with the utmost vulnerability as part of the show’s encore. After this moving performance, he was joined by Pattison and the rest of the band for Simon & Garfunkel’s career-defining hit, “The Boxer.”

The character-driven opus, while following the story of a boxer, strikes a chord with anyone who aspires to have the same unfaltering determination. Rightfully earning its place as the show’s finale song, it embodies what made Simon & Garfunkel’s music enduring: immaculate melodies, heavenly harmonies, and lyrics that beautifully capture the human experience.

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Photos courtesy of Concert Republic

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