Simon in Boston

About Simon

Simon is one of those artists who somehow manages to be both impossibly prolific and genuinely experimental. His catalog spans folk-rock foundations to world music collaborations to synth-driven pop, often within the same album. He's got this thing where he'll disappear into a project—a South African township collaboration, a Subway Stories documentary score—and come back with something that shouldn't work but does. What keeps people coming back is that underneath all the genre-hopping and studio tinkering, there's a genuinely precise way he writes about mundane moments and makes them feel like they mean something. The man's been making albums for fifty years and still seems more interested in solving compositional puzzles than in being a rock star, which is probably why people still take him seriously.

His shows are attentive, almost scholarly. The crowd leans in rather than loses it. He'll adjust arrangements on the fly, try new versions of old songs. You get the sense he's still working through ideas onstage. People don't scream; they listen.

Known for You Can Leave Your Hat On, The Obvious Child, Graceland, Call Me Al, The Boy in the Bubble

Simon in Boston News

• Tanglewood Adds Second Paul Simon Concert To Popular Artist Series BroadwayWorld.com · Feb 6, 2026
• New works by Simon and Lang close BSO festival on a moving and affirmative note Boston Classical Review · Jan 30, 2026
• Review & setlist: At the Wang, Paul Simon shows that the fighter still remains Boston.com · Jun 11, 2025
• Concert review: Paul Simon still superb after all these years on stage at Wang Theatre Worcester Telegram · Jun 11, 2025
• The Farewell Tour may be over, but Paul Simon is taking the stage again The Boston Globe · Jun 11, 2025

Live Music in Boston

Boston's music scene has always been skeptical of polish. The city bred indie rock that sounded like it had something to prove, and nowadays it's full of people who care more about a song's backbone than its production. That sensibility tends to reward artists who don't oversell themselves.

Boston road trip to see Simon?

Stay in the Back Bay neighborhood—it's walkable, lined with brownstones, and positioned between the best dining and the waterfront. Book a table at No. 9 Park for New American cooking that actually justifies the hype, or hit Oleana in nearby Cambridge if you want something fresher and less fussy. Spend an afternoon at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a genuinely strange and rewarding art collection housed in a deliberately eccentric mansion. The Prudential Center has decent shopping if that's your thing, and the waterfront is legitimately beautiful for a walk before the show.