Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There may have been a time when many whose love of the music of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel may have feared that they would never again hear the voice that drove the New York pair to such great heights, it may have been a well founded fear but strength and purpose are funny bedfellows when adversity strikes. As the Philharmonic Hall audience sat down, the tingling excitement of hearing a legend in their midst and the trepidation of what could be flowing through every panic neuron in the brain, Art Garfunkel silenced even the stoniest of hearts and made love to the air that surrounded the stark bare stage.

Anybody who expected perfection would have been misguided, perhaps living in a world to where performers are nothing more than automated karaoke machines able to keep going and reaching the same level of attainment that was laid down half a century before. This was a concert of valour, of truth and perspective and in songs such the night’s opener’s April, Come She Will and the delightful Boxer, aided by a single acoustic guitar played with generosity of spirit by Tab Laven, Art Garfunkel gave the audience just exactly what was needed; the sight of seeing a master of his art on stage.

With readings and musings, poetry of introspection flowing in between songs, old favourites and memories were revisited for the Philharmonic crowd. Tracks such as Perfect Moment, A Heart in New York, the serenity of Scarborough Fair, the ethereal Bright Eyes, Cathy’s Song, Homeward Bound and a small but tantalising offering of Bridge Over Troubled Water were greeted with utter respect by the enthralled packed out audience.

With Mr. Garfunkel’s son Arthur Jr. performing a couple of songs with his father looking on in rapt attendance, a voice that somehow soared through the gravity of the evening, this was the type of completeness and concert that both audience and performer live for in equal measure and the many standing ovations during the evening fulfilled that cause.

This though was no ordinary standing ovation that rippled round the Philharmonic Hall, this was a cascade of emotion that undulated and swelled, this was one brought on by a reaction that many in the audience would have believed they might never again hear the golden hue of an American Master, the sensitivity of a enveloping mood. Nobody could argue with the reaction and to not join in the sentiment would have been filled only with regret and left the person unwilling to acknowledge the very strength and will power it took to bring this music back to the world, as lonely in the cacophony of appreciation as a deaf person unable to hear the beauty of an echo resounding of an undiscovered cave wall.

For Art Garfunkel to come back from what could have been a devastating blow after so many years as being one of America’s top vocalists is testament to his own faith in his own belief and that golden hue enlightened the midweek serenade. Outstanding and with much pathos, Art Garfunkel will always remain a legend.

Ian D. Hall