Paul Simon, The 02 Dublin, 12th July 2012.

CiaranK

My lord that was some gig. 116 quid and well worth it. Paul was magic but the band really did it for me. Some serious quality of musicians on that stage (At one point 27!!) As the post above said about Ray he is fantastic. One of my favourite players. He played everything I wanted to hear. I don't want to give to much away for folks going tomorrow night. Fair play to the folks who got the whole crowd on their feet. I was itching to get up for so long but didn't want to annoy people behind me. Perfect gig I have to say

chinguetti

Met the great man in the street yesterday as he wandered around Dublin. He's looked like a little frail old man but you wouldn't think it last night. Great, great gig. The first half hour is a bit slow but after that, WOW. The last hour was like an outdoor gig, amazing.

Loved that he did 'The Obvivous Child' and Ladysmith are just brill as always. Get there for before 8 folks, traffic was mental in Dublin last night so don't cut it fine.

Katrina101

Hey,

Heading to the Paul Simon gig tonight, I am so excited. So glad all who went last night thought it was great.

I have a few questions for those who attended, we are seated in Block A row 13, do you think we will have a good view of the stage from there. Also, I have never been to a seated gig before, is it ok to get up and danc?

Thanks, so excited....just want to ff to 8pm

twowheelsonly

Katrina101 wrote: »

Hey,

Heading to the Paul Simon gig tonight, I am so excited. So glad all who went last night thought it was great.

I have a few questions for those who attended, we are seated in Block A row 13, do you think we will have a good view of the stage from there. Also, I have never been to a seated gig before, is it ok to get up and danc?

Thanks, so excited....just want to ff to 8pm

Row 13 is the perfect level, just depends on your seat number - The higher the better.. Having said that, the view from most seats in The O2 is bang on.

forestfruits

Heya, am also heading tonight, v excited! Those if you who were there last night- round what time should we aim for being there?

twowheelsonly

Show is scheduled to start at 8 so be there before that.

jack presley

He was on stage at 8:15 last night

jinxremoving

if you're planning to get the luas down, make sure you allow plenty of time! last night was delayed due to a signal fault for a while.also they were beyond packed, a bit of a delay heading back after the gig too so make sure you dont miss any last buses as i almost did
really brilliant performance

Diapason

That gig was utter quality last night. I was pretty disgusted to have to shell out 120 lids or whatever the hell it was, but the size of the band and the sheer class of all the players softens the blow a bit. Hats off to whoever did the live sound as well, it was top drawer.

Tombo2001

chinguetti wrote: »

Met the great man in the street yesterday as he wandered around Dublin. He's looked like a little frail old man but you wouldn't think it last night. Great, great gig. The first half hour is a bit slow but after that, WOW. The last hour was like an outdoor gig, amazing.

Loved that he did 'The Obvivous Child' and Ladysmith are just brill as always. Get there for before 8 folks, traffic was mental in Dublin last night so don't cut it fine.

I thought Ladysmith were really good also......

though i did wonder if it was just a little bit patronising that they got a standing ovation when they came on, and then loads of people left to go the jacks during their set.....

(other than that though, it was a great concert crowd.....fair play folks).

Tombo2001

Diapason wrote: »

That gig was utter quality last night. I was pretty disgusted to have to shell out 120 lids or whatever the hell it was, but the size of the band and the sheer class of all the players softens the blow a bit. Hats off to whoever did the live sound as well, it was top drawer.

I was fairly jealous of those people up the front, I'll be honest.....it might just have been worth the extra.....

jack presley

Diapason wrote: »

Hats off to whoever did the live sound as well, it was top drawer.

Do you not think it could have been a bit louder? I know it was an oldish crowd but a few more decibels wouldnt have killed anyone. You shouldn't be able to hear the chatter of the people around you at a gig

I did enjoy it but am I right in saying he didn't play 'all around the world/myth of fingerprints'? I love that song. Also, I never like a band playing the same song twice at a gig, even if it is one as good as YCCMA

Diapason

jack presley wrote: »

Do you not think it could have been a bit louder? I know it was an oldish crowd but a few more decibels wouldnt have killed anyone. You shouldn't be able to hear the chatter of the people around you at a gig

I agree to an extent, but for Paul Simon I'll take quieter and crystal-clear over loud and unbalanced any day. I'm not used to going to gigs like this (I go to more of the longer-haired and sweatier variety) and it's never loud enough at those, so...yeah.

CiaranK

chinguetti wrote: »

Met the great man in the street yesterday as he wandered around Dublin. He's looked like a little frail old man but you wouldn't think it last night. Great, great gig. The first half hour is a bit slow but after that, WOW. The last hour was like an outdoor gig, amazing.

Thats cool, what was he up to?

CiaranK

Some HD's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrXNqL9TtC8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3cDYpyFYeI

NatashaB16

I'm off to see it tonight, anybody able to tell me who the support were beforehand? I'm wondering whether to go in for 6.30 or not?

Thank you

Diapason

No support act, just Paul Simon and band. They came on at 8:15 last night, but I read on Ladysmith Black Mambazo's twitter feed that they delayed the start because of the Luas situation last night, so it might be closer to 8 this evening.

NatashaB16

@Diapason So there weren't any acts on from 6.30, just a free stage?

Diapason

Yep.

I mean, I can't be 100% sure since I wasn't there at 6:30, but the arena was empty when I got there at 7, and there was no indication whatsoever that we'd missed anything.

NatashaB16

Oh cool, that seems grand! So what did you do with yourself for the hour and a quarter?

sdublin

just to add to the rest. well worth the money. all the hits. unreal band, each playing about 4 instruments ..all seated gig. saw a few get up and try to dance during the gig. were told by stewarts to sit down. in fairness , nothing wrong with that as the folks behind didnt shell out 116 euro to see someones ass in their face. by the last few songs though it was a free for all and everyone was on their feet!. saw a few people leave 3 quarters of the way through. couldnt believe it..obviously just there maybe having won tickets or something..sound is crystal clear. can hear every instrument like through a set of headphones. great venue. q for the bar might be a little bigger tonight given that its friday.. get there for 7.30 latest.

chinguetti

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I thought Ladysmith were really good also......

though i did wonder if it was just a little bit patronising that they got a standing ovation when they came on, and then loads of people left to go the jacks during their set.....

(other than that though, it was a great concert crowd.....fair play folks).

As for people walking on when Ladysmith were on, they missed out. There was a girl 2 rows in front of me who spent most of the gig looking at her phone and another lads a couple of more rows down who went out for a fag/drink/toilets a good few times. I always wonder why these people go to gigs they clearly have no interest in.

Someone asked what he was doing round town when i bumped into him - walking/wandering along Wicklow St as was i. Stood besides him as we waited for traffic to stop to cross the road. I don't do the looking for autograph/photo stuff so i left him alone and would do so if i met him round town today.

Diapason

NatashaB16 wrote: »

Oh cool, that seems grand! So what did you do with yourself for the hour and a quarter?

Had a pint and some popcorn, then sat down from about 7:30. I'm old, so I'm happy enough to sit and do nothing!

NatashaB16

@Diapason Ah I'm happy enough to sit and do nothing too, I'll try and head up as early as I can so, and thank you so much for your answers!

@chinguetti Was he just by himself? Fair play to you for not pestering him, he was probably glad that he wasn't being hounded by people, I think we Irish are quite good for that and if we do ask for an autograph/photo we're usually very polite and talk as if we've been friends forever!

jasonb

I was there tonight. Good gig, but very disappointed by the sound. It wasn't the volume that was the issue ( as others have said, it wasn't really loud, and there's nothing wrong with that ).

But the mix was poor, with Paul Smon's voice being drowned out by other instruments a lot of the time. Don't know if it was the same for everyone, or if it was different in different parts of the venue ( we were up near the back on the right hand side ), but we had people around us shouting 'turn up the mic!'. Apart from not being able to hear his singing clearly, sometimes we couldn't hear some instruments well, but others would seem too loud.

Despite all that ( and the usual constant traffic for drinks and people insisiting on talking loudly through the whole gig ) I enjoyed it, always wanted to see him live. He came on at 8:30 ( people actually did a slow hand clap at 8:25! ) and finished at 10:50. Highlights for me were Graceland, Still Crazy and Sound of Silence. As mentioned before, he didn't do All Around The World. That was strange actually, wasn't the gig all about it being a performance of the full album? Was that song a bonus track or something?

J.

CiaranK

Just realising how much the set differed from the album. I knew the order was different and there were songs during Graceland set that aren't on the album but as folks have said, he didn't do All Around The World (That could have something to do with the trouble with Los Lobos?) And he played That was Your Mother before the Graceland set/band.

Full setlist of first night here

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/paul-simon/2012/the-o2-dublin-ireland-53dcbf65.html

Jumbo156

I was there this evening and I do have to say,it was terrible.
His connection with the crowd was awful, it didn't start off very well when he said " we were here last night and we are wasted now", He was only joking obviously but that is how he sounded.
The crowd all night was very subdued. until the last 20 minutes, which to me is a waste of €81.

Ps: The sound was so low, I could hardly hear him.

UsedToWait

Jumbo156 wrote: »

I was there this evening and I do have to say,it was terrible.
His connection with the crowd was awful, it didn't start off very well when he said " we were here last night and we are wasted now", He was only joking obviously but that is how he sounded.
The crowd all night was very subdued. until the last 20 minutes, which to me is a waste of €81.

Ps: The sound was so low, I could hardly hear him.

Whereabouts were you sitting?
I was near the front on the tiered seating, and we thought the sound was great, apart from his voice being slightly low in the mix...

I thought it was a fantastic gig - yes it was an older crowd who were slow to get into it, but I was captivated from the word go!

Cicero

Jumbo156 wrote: »

His connection with the crowd was awful, .

not surprised with that statement. When he was here with Garfunkel some years ago, he was equally distant . Saying that, the gig and music were brilliant at the time. Not sorry I didn't go to this one looking at the reviews.