In what promises to be one of the most exciting concert events of the summer season 200l, singer/songwriter Paul Simon and his 11-piece band will kick-off a 28-city tour of the United States Saturday, June 9th, at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Seattle, Washington.
Simon will be joined on the tour by one of rock’s most deeply revered figures, the legendary Brian Wilson, co-founder of The Beach Boys. Wilson will be accompanied by his 10-piece band, which includes the four-member group, The Wondermints.
The Paul Simon Summer 200l tour comes hot on the heels of Simon’s Grammy Nomination for Album of the Year for You’re The One (recently certified gold), a primetime PBS special, his induction as a solo artist into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame (Simon was inducted earlier as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel) and being named the Musicares (the charity event of NARAS and the Grammies) 200l Person of the Year (at which Brian performed “The Sounds of Silence”). The tour will include material that spans Simon’s entire career.
You’re The One received four stars in Rolling Stone which cited the release as taking a “worthy place in Simon’s esteemed body of work.”
“No one weds the conversational and cosmological-or acoustic pop and ethnological studies quite so gracefully” claimed Entertainment Weekly, while Time Magazine praised You’re The One as “Pure Simon and a reminder of what pop can be.” Of his live shows, the New York Times proclaimed the evening “Full of translucent guitars and conversational vocals… its songs moving through ingenious accelerating tempos.” And the Los Angeles Times said, “Paul Simon remains in championship form. A songwriter whose music offers a rare blend of sophistication and warmth, commentary and wit, optimism and warning.”
Brian Wilson, whose new double CD, Live At The Roxy will be released in stores on Oglio Records on June 19th, was honored (with the Beach Boys) with a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Grammy Award Ceremony. On July 4, 2001, TNT will broadcast an all-star tribute to Brian Wilson, featuring David Crosby, Vince Gill, Billy Joel, Elton John, Ricky Martin, Carly Simon, Paul Simon (who performed “Surfer Girl”), Matthew Sweet and many others. Wilson is one of rock’s most distinguished artists and influential pop composers. Beginning in 1962 as the co-founder and creative force behind the Beach Boys, Wilson was arranger, producer and co-writer of an incredible wave of hits including “California Girls,” “Surfer Girl,” “I Get Around,” “In My Room,” “Help Me Rhonda,” and the never duplicated ‘pocket symphony’ he called “Good Vibrations.” Wilson’s celebrated Pet Sounds is cited as one of the all-time great pop albums.
Paul’s invitation to Brian to join him on the tour is a result of the rapport that developed between the two after the legendary songwriters exchanged honors at the Musicares and Brian Wilson Tributes.
The Summer 2001 Tour Dates Are As Follows:
- June 9 – Seattle, WA – The Gorge Amphitheatre
- June 12 and 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
- June 17 – San Francisco, CA – Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
- June 19 – San Diego, CA – Coors Amphitheatre
- June 20 – Phoenix, AZ – Desert Sky Pavilion
- June 22 – Las Vegas, NV – Mandalay Bay Events Center
- June 24 – Denver, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
- June 26 – Kansas City, KS – Sandstone Aphitheatre
- June 27 – Minneapolis, MN – Excel Energy Center
- June 29 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest
- June 30 – Chicago, IL – Tweeter Center
- July 1 – St. Louis, MO – Riverport Amphitheatre
- July 3 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
- July 8 – Pittsburgh, PA – Post Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake
- July 10 – Toronto, ONT – Molsen Amphitheatre
- July 11 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Center Darien Lakes PAC
- July 13 – Boston, MA – Tweeter Center
- July 14 – Hartford, CT – The ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre
- July 15 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga PAC
- July 17 – Hershey, PA – Hershey Park Stadium
- July 18 – Philadelphia, PA – Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
- July 20 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
- July 24 – New York, NY – Jones Beach Amphitheatre
