Paul Simon - Live at the Tower Theatre

Starring:Paul Simon
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Description

In 1980, after several years of absence, Paul Simon returned to the concert stage on a triumphant swing through the United States and Europe. Touring with him were some of the best in the business: Steve Gadd on drums, Tony Levin on bass, the late Richard Tee on piano, and the late Erie Gale on guitar. The performance of October 7, 1980 at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia was one of the focal points on the tour and included an unsurpassed ensemble of musicians. This DVD contains special features such as a biography, discography, photo gallery, motion manuscript gallery and motion menus.

Customer Reviews:

The Best Paul Simon DVD bar none.......2007-05-18

If you want an excellent Paul Simon DVD this is the one to buy.
OK it is short (only 53 mins not 84 as on the DVD case) but the quality of the music makes it an essential purchase.
The songs are the best from Paul Simons solo albums (at that time), so you get Me And Julio.., American Tune, Still Crazy..., Fifty Ways..., Late in the Evening plus The Boxer and The Sound of Silence as encores. Paul Simon is as always the complete professional and he is helped by having his best ever backing band.
Essentially this is the group Stuff (Gadd, Tee, Gale etc) with a top notch brass section. They are absolutely the best in the business. Late In The Evening is a special highlight for me as I still remember seeing Paul Simon at Hammersmith Odeon in 1980 - this tune, which at the time I had never heard, just knocked me out.
Marvellous stuff!

Fantastic Concert.......2006-07-16

As a (relatively) young Paul Simon fan, I have only been to see him live since the Graceland world tour. What's a joy with this DVD is to see a first-rate band play Paul Simon's songs in fairly much their original arrangement, to an intimate audience of fans. Each song is exquisitely performed, sometimes a little too polite in the first half but always focusing on the singer and the song. Richard Tee (on keys) in particular is a joy to watch. Although Paul Simon looks nervous in the first half, he relaxes towards the middle and chats to the audience between songs. There have beens some qualms about picture quality and while they may be valid, the performance is of such quality that the concert is fantastic to watch anyway. Much more enjoyable than the DVD of the "You're The One" tour some 20 years later which was filmed for DVD but which I found musically to be very stylised and far too slick. By contrast, this was just five excellent musicians playing terrific songs to an appreciative audience. Buy !!

One Trick Pony For $20.......2005-10-06

This is a DVD of the concert Paul did on 10/7/80 at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia. The backing band is the band from the movie and album "One Trick Pony": Richard Tee (RIP)- organ, Erie Gale (RIP) - guitar, Steve Gadd - drums, Tony Levin - bass, along with a horn section.
The band sounds great. This is probably the best band Paul has toured with, as Paul does not have a 20 piece ensemble of musicians and dancers during this tour. Paul is in great spirits and he interacts with the audience on a couple of occassions, at one point telling an audience member to move on up to the front of the stage if he/she couldn't see well, and saying "I don't know if the theatre allows it but it's OK with me."
Paul looks splendid in his blue Member's Only jacket, and Tony Levin plays regular electric bass (his famous stick bass is noticeably absent). Paul runs through most of his current album "One Trick Pony" and the hits from his first couple of albums. Paul then does a great solo encore of two Simon and Garfunkel tunes.
The only drawback is that the concert is clipped, and has a running time of 53min. I don't know why they didn't release the complete concert. This is a sore point for me, and is really lame.

The set list for the DVD is as follows:
"Me and Julio Down By The School Yard"
"Still Crazy After All These Years"
"Ace In The Hole"
"Something So Right"
"One Trick Pony"
"Jonah"
"50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"
"Late In The Evening"
"American Tune"
"The Boxer" (solo)
"Sounds Of Silence" (solo)

Overall, a decent representation of Paul Simon before he began his "orchestra ensemble" tours. I just wish they would have shown the complete concert.

Great, But Misleading DVD Length.......2005-01-22

As a Paul Simon fan, I really enjoyed this DVD, because he played his music in this concert very true to the greatness of the melodies, with all arrangements in very good taste, as opposed to his later tours where his renditions of the music really are kind of out there.

I've never seen a DVD that is almost half as short as advertised. That is totally unacceptable and I don't see how they got away with doing that. If it is made half the price from the original price, I would say that would be a fair exchange.

But that takes nothing away from the good music. Enjoy.

Pioneer DVD mis-labeled and I am not happy.......2004-03-26

The disc case states that it is "84 min". Try 52+ minutes. Yep not even an hour long. What there is of it is fine, although the first few songs seemed kind of lifeless, If you want to get a concert with some substance you might want to look elsewhere.

Paul Simon - Live at the Tower Theatre 10/07/80 (DTS)

Average customer rating:

Paul Simon - Live at the Tower Theatre 10/07/80 (DTS)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

October 7, 1980 concert at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia. Paul Simon with Steve Gadd on drums, Tony Levin on bass, and Richard Tee on guitar. A memorable night of music captured for you here, LIVE! TRACKS: Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard / Still Crazy After All These Years / Ace In The Hole / Something So Right / One-Trick Pony / Jonah / Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover / Late In The Evening / American Tune / The Boxer / The Sound Of Silence. ++++ DVD FEATURES: This officially licensed release from South Korea is All-Region NTSC Code 0 (playable worldwide) with Full Screen color display and BOTH DTS and Dolby Digital Surround Sound in ENGLISH (with optional subtitles in English, also). PLUS Special BONUS Features: Biographies, Discography, Photo Gallery, Manuscript Gallery.

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