Paul Simon & Sting, United Center, Chicago, Illinois

When Paul Simon and Sting announced that they would pair together for a national tour, it provided a rare opportunity to see two music legends together on stage. It was particularly interesting to pair these two together because, other than both having spent the last several decades putting out hit records, I wouldn’t have thought they had a whole lot in common, musically or personally. Though I was a bit more excited for Paul Simon, I would have gladly paid to see either performer.

No opener was scheduled, so we arrived at the United Center only a short while before the duo took the stage. We had pretty decent seats though nothing special, in the 100 section of the arena though on the far side of the stage. We were far enough that I generally preferred to look at the screens on either side instead of the artists themselves.

The show started with both of them on stage for a trio of songs – one Sting song, one Simon, and another Sting. They then introduced each other and the show. They were accompanied by a large backing band, perhaps as many as 14 musicians in total, though it was a bit hard to get the exact count from the distance of our seats. Both Simon and Sting were very deferential to each other, especially Sting towards Simon, who is about ten years older and influenced when he was still went by the name Gordon. Simon threw in a little self-deprecating humor, comparing his physique and virility to Sting’s, then left the stage. Sting stayed on stage with the rest of their backing band to perform five Sting/The Police songs. At the end of this mini set, Simon returned to the stage to perform on of Simon’s songs with Sting. Then they reversed, with Sting taking a bow and leaving Simon to perform five or so of his songs. Then the cycle repeated once more, the only exception was when Sting played “America” by himself, the only instance of one of them playing the other’s song alone. Perhaps it was a bit more fitting for Sting to sing that song anyway as he’s truly an immigrant to the US, not just a “reimmigrant” like Simon, who briefly lived in the UK. The show included a huge mix of musical genres, which wasn’t surprising considering the degree to which Simon is known for branching out from his original folk roots into African, roots, zyeco, and reggae music, much of which stems from his Graceland era. Sting held his own in this regard as well though.

Unfortunately, people in our section sat through most of the show, which I don’t prefer, but they stood up a fair amount throughout various parts of the show, probably for more Simon than Sting songs, but certainly some of both. Of the people around us, there were clear pockets of people who were there primarily for one act or the other.

Both artists cycled through each of their many hits. There were a few additional Paul Simon songs that I would have liked to have heard that weren’t included, but Sting played everything I could have hoped. Sting pulled from The Police’s catalog
as much as his solo career, though he never name checked his old band. Conversely, Simon did mostly all his own songs, not those of Simon & Garfunkel. However, he did pull out a pair of Simon & Garfunkel songs, “The Boxer” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in which Sting sang the second part. Sting has a great voice and was able to harmonize well with Simon, but he’s no Art Garfunkle. Perhaps that’s not really a fair comparison as there are few pop music voices as beautiful as Art Garfunkle’s. They ended the evening with two encores, the second of which included only the song “When Will I Be Loved?,” the only “full” cover of the evening. The whole set was nearly three hours including encore breaks, well over two and a half hours of music.