Paul Simon was “nervous” about live comeback amid hearing loss: “I didn’t know what would happen”
Paul Simon has discussed making his live return in April, which marks his first run of concerts since retiring in 2018.
A Quiet Celebration Tour began at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans on April 4th. Across the set of dates, Simon has been visiting theatres rather than arenas and is set to play at each venue for multiple nights. The decision to play more intimate venues was due to his hearing loss issues and the acoustics in the rooms.
Last year, Simon admitted that he wasn’t sure if he would perform live again due to his ongoing hearing issues, but thankfully, the singer-songwriter has found a way to work around the issue to return to the stage.
The 83-year-old appeared on Colbert on June 19th, and began by opening up on his hearing loss, sharing, “I didn’t think it was possible for me to perform again with other musicians because of the hearing loss. There’s too much sound for me to be able to comfortably fit my voice in there and feel like I was making music.”
Simon then explained how he and his sound engineer managed to structure the stage to put a monitor near to him on-stage by his working ear, which allows him to hear what else is being played by his fellow musicians on his left side.
“Well, the first night, I was actually nervous. I never get nervous about performing because I’ve been doing it since I was 16, y’know, professionally since I was 16. But, I was nervous that night because I didn’t know what would happen in a theatre. I had rehearsed in a little studio, but (not) in a theatre.”
Simon continued: “It was an unusual feeling, and the show was really, pretty good for just the beginning. It’s much improved as we keep playing, (like) the show that you saw last night”. Colbert then heaped praise on Simon’s performance, telling him it was a “pretty great” concert.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Simon, who released his most recent album Seven Psalms in 2023, revealed that he has written two new songs and marvelled at the brilliance of ‘The Sound of Silence’, which he admits is still “a complete mystery to me”. He also performed ‘The Sacred Harp’.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.