Rudi and I headed north for a long weekend to catch Paul Simon on his final tour, Homeward Bound, up in Boston. He played many of our favorites and songs that spanned nearly his entire career, from his Simon & Garfunkel days to his most recent album.

For the first few songs, Paul’s voice was a little wavery and I wondered if that was to emphasize that it was time to hang up his touring hat. I was a little sad for that because my favorite, “American Tune,” was the lead-off song.

I’ve seen Paul a bunch of times over the years, and, all signs to the contrary, he’s not usually my favorite performer. He tends to be a little tight and a little terse and would prefer to let his music do the talking for him. But this time, either because he’s actually enjoying himself or because he’s relieved his touring days are nearly behind him, he seemed looser and to truly be enjoying himself. He told stories, he mused about some random thoughts he was having while performing, he danced…

His band includes a sextet, yMusic, who were phenomenal. The songs they were featured on don’t seem to have been uploaded from Boston, but this is from the Vancouver, B.C., from earlier in the tour:

I was able to capture a shot of the photo that Paul said inspired “René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War,” which he called a surrealist song for a surrealist painter:

And this is from the Hollywood Bowl:

He also played some of his more popular songs, such as “Homeward Bound”:

“You Can Call Me Al”:

“Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”:

And “The Boxer”:

It was a great show and one that I am so glad we traveled to see. If you’ve been thinking about catching Paul on his final tour, I’d say it’s definitely worth the splurge.