St David's Hall, Cardiff – 12/04/2019
It was another sell-out crowd that welcomed a rare legend to the stage at St David's Hall.
Singer Art Garfunkel has a resume that puts in the shade many of his contemporaries and with long-time partner Paul Simon, created a body of work much of which have become anthems to their generation.
Starting with their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. which heralded their first major hit and classic "The Sounds of Silence" in 1964, it was a career that hit many highs, and a few occasional lows.
Many break-ups and reunions with Simon plus a very productive solo career that included films have lead Garfunkel to where he is today, appreciative of his former partner and thankful for a life spent doing what he loves best, singing songs with a voice that hardly wavers and could charm birds from the trees.
Occasionally, you can detect the odd strain in the voice as the 77-year-old reaches those memorable high spots, but for a man who lost his voice due to vocal cord paresis, which took four years to conquer, it's a minor miracle that he can still produce these moments that send shivers down your spine.
With just two musicians for support it was a joy to hear slightly broken down versions of some of the Simon and Garfunkel classics, most notably “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
Long-time side-man, guitarist Tab Laven, who first played with Garfunkel in 2003 features heavily and there a appeared genuine affection between the performers in a show that featured excepts from Garfunkel's writings, with insights in to his relationships with his father and Simon, plus life in general.
With a set list containing many of the high spots in his career, it was obviously the Simon and Garfunkel hits that registered the best response, song's like “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her”, “Homeward Bound”, “Sound of Silence”, “Kathy's Song”, and his favourite song from their time together “Scarborough Fair” all beautifully performed.
But it was some of the covers that really grabbed attention. Songs like Randy Newman's “Real Emotional Girl” and two quite stunning Everly Brothers songs, “Devoted to You” and “Let It Be Me“, both sung in tandem with his son James, who possesses an equally impressive voice.
Garfunkel was very impressed with the St David's Hall venue and the quality of it's acoustics so hopefully another return will be high his touring agenda.
Art Garfunkel