It’s hard not to enjoy live music in the beautiful concert room in St George’s Hall, and the Simon and Garfunkel revival band made the most of the stunning venue. Michael Frank and Guido Reuter, although certainly not resembling Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel at all physically, were successful in performing the well-loved classics that the duo are admired for wonderfully.
They began their set with ‘Feeling Groovy’, a strong start with an upbeat melody to really get the audience geared up for the rest of the show. Toes were beginning to tap and this only continued with other great hits such as ‘El Condor Pasa’, ‘America’, ‘Scarborough Fair’ and ‘The Boxer’ to name only a few of the many hits that were performed in the first half of the concert! It is important to note the musician’s ability to impressively perform a variety of instruments. The accordion, keyboard, guitar, bass, recorder and drum kit were shared between the musicians on stage and exemplified their brilliant skills.
Fans of Simon and Garfunkel will be very aware of the intricate, beautiful harmonies that the duo are so brilliant at creating, therefore any revival or tribute band performing in their name have big boots to fill. I’m happy to say that the duo’s harmonies were flawless and very beautiful to listen to, and luckily not drowned out by their backing band. 
It was not always clear who was ‘playing’ the role of Art Garfunkel or Paul Simon as the pair tended to adapt to whatever their voices were best matched to. Michael Frank would in one song adopt the vocals of Paul Simon and then follow this with, for example, a solo of ‘Bright Eyes’, which is a famous favourite for those who are fans of Art Garfunkel. This performance was beautiful; however, my personal preference would have been to hear it with acoustic guitar or keyboard as opposed to the full band behind. However, the beauty of the song and voice was undeniable.
The first half ended with the upbeat Cecilia which had a slight country twist, moving away a little from the original, however still very enjoyable. The hits continued on in the second half with ‘Mrs Robinson’ and ‘Bye Bye Love’; again with superb, admirable harmonies.
There was more of a focus on Paul Simon’s solo work in the second half with songs such as ‘Call me Al’ and ‘Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes’ that got everybody in the audience clapping and singing along!The encore was very well chosen with the beautiful ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’ sung by Michael Frank. This performance was spine tingling and had several people on their feet.
The duo returned to Cecilia once more to finish their set and received a standing ovation from all!The evening had a light hearted feel throughout and the group were successful in creating an enjoyable, and often funny, mood from start to finish. It is a night of brilliant entertainment that any Simon and Garfunkel fan would not regret attending.
This is the duos first visit to England, and the audience at St Georges Hall gave them a very warm welcome which will no doubt encourage them to visit us again! I highly recommend checking their tour dates on http://www.sg-revival.de/ or visiting their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Simon-Garfunkel-Revival-Band-210355885642756/
Reviewer: Sarah Goldsmith.
Date reviewed: 7th March 2016
