Simon and Garfunkel Attract 16,200 To SPAC

by Edward Frank, The Troy Record, August 20, 1968

Record Crowd

A record-breaking crowd of some 16,200 people saw, heard, and wildly applauded Simon and Garfunkel at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Monday night. The pair performed virtually all of their many hits in a performance which lasted two hours, including an intermission.

The “sound” of the two voices and that of a gultar played by Paul Simon were all that was needed to bring a tremendous response from the crowd. There was little talk from the pair and virtual silence from Art Garfunkel.

Sounds of Silence was done with a blue light-about the only variation in lighting during the show. The audience loved it.

The pair, dressed very casually—Simon in an orchid turtleneck and maroon slacks, Garfunkel in a striped shirt and grey slacks; neither wore socks—performed as they had planned to and ignored requests from the crowd.

Simon replied to the crowd only once. Near the beginning there were whistles from the lawn area and Simon said, “They’s always one mental eunuch in the crowd.” But the whistles continued.

There were repeated shouts for “The McCarthy Song,” but these were ignored as the pair performed 25 songs.

Four encores were performed by the pair and only the appearance of two policemen onstage convinced the audience
that the singers had left.

They altered their songs from the versions well-known from their recordings. Fakin’ It was noticeably slower than in the recording. Much of the phrasing was altered.

When they did Scarborough Fair, they dropped completely the Canticle which is the backdrop and the counter theme in the recording.

Although many critics have said the pair depend entirely on their interesting and occasionally profound lyrics, this was not entirely the case Monday night.

The pair performed the Benedictus, a 400-year-old song, done in Latin. Certainly the audience did not follow the lyrics, but the harmonies and counterpoint brought out a response as good as any set of lyrics.

The encores were Old Friends/Bookends, Richard Corey, Bye Bye Love and Mrs. Robinson. On the third, they sounded remarkably like the Everly Brothers. This was the only song that brought a response of rhythmic handclapping.

The applause at times was a little tedious, thus causing Simon to reply by applauding back for the audience.

Although the audience was ready for more, even at the end, there was only good-natured booing when the police appeared on stage in place of Simon and Garfunkel.