Paul Simon - Live at the Tower Theatre

Rating:
Summary: Great, But Misleading DVD Length
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Audio 10 - Video 2 1/2 - # of Tracks 0
Review: First of all this is Paul Simon (without Art) at his very best. This was one of his best concert tours ever; with the best band backing him. The Audio on this DVD is a 10.

Now to the other two areas. The Video shot in 1980 is not up to standards. I've seen less grainy prints from decades earlier. Now my biggesr beef. I paid $32.95 + tax Canadian for this DVD. Yes I knew how many tracks were on it when I bought it. However; after watching it and remembering the original concert tour (Toronto Stop) I know there were many more songs performed than 11. No one twisted my arm; but to get those musicians and Simon together was a must. I will cherish it; but boo to whomever put it together. Maybe there was nothing they could do about the video on this one performance; but they could have given us the WHOLE SHOW! I have to leave on a positive note. The playing and the 5.1 sound is fabulous!

Rating:
Summary: One Trick Pony Live!
Review: Paul Simon "Live At The Tower Theatre", may be the finest solo Paul Simon concert ever filmed. This is bare bones Simon, with a four piece band, that starred with him in the movie "One Trick Pony". It is actually nice to hear the songs, without the different world music arrangements and caribbean orchestras, that plagued his live shows during the nineties. The band is made up of ex Stuff members Steve Gadd[drums],The late Richard Tee[keyboards and vocals], The late Eric Gale[guitar], and Tony Levin[bass]. These guys crank, and may well have been Paul Simons best band ever assembled. The rockin "Ace In The Hole", is one of several cuts from the much overlooked album 'One Trick Pony", and features Richard Tee sharing vocals with Simon, while pounding his gospel tinged keyboards. Other favorites include, "Late In The Evening", "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover", "Me And Julio", and "One Trick Pony", to name a few. The sound and picture quality is very good, considering that the show was recorded in 1980. The only negative, is that the concert is a tad short at 55 minutes, but this is all quality, and Paul Simon never sounded better in concert. Paul Simon along with top session men, Steve Gadd, Eric Gale, Richard Tee and Tony Levin, is not to be missed, if you are a fan of vintage Paul Simon.

Rating:
Summary: One Trick Pony Live!
Review: Paul Simon "Live At The Tower Theatre", may be the finest solo Paul Simon concert ever filmed. This is bare bones Simon, with a four piece band, that starred with him in the movie "One Trick Pony". It is actually nice to hear the songs, without the different world music arrangements and caribbean orchestras, that plagued his live shows during the nineties. The band is made up of ex Stuff members Steve Gadd[drums],The late Richard Tee[keyboards and vocals], The late Eric Gale[guitar], and Tony Levin[bass]. These guys crank, and may well have been Paul Simons best band ever assembled. The rockin "Ace In The Hole", is one of several cuts from the much overlooked album 'One Trick Pony", and features Richard Tee sharing vocals with Simon, while pounding his gospel tinged keyboards. Other favorites include, "Late In The Evening", "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover", "Me And Julio", and "One Trick Pony", to name a few. The sound and picture quality is very good, considering that the show was recorded in 1980. The only negative, is that the concert is a tad short at 55 minutes, but this is all quality, and Paul Simon never sounded better in concert. Paul Simon along with top session men, Steve Gadd, Eric Gale, Richard Tee and Tony Levin, is not to be missed, if you are a fan of vintage Paul Simon.

Rating:
Summary: Pioneer DVD mis-labeled and I am not happy
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Pioneer DVD mis-labeled and I am not happy
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Performance
Review: This is the first time this concert has been available on DVD which will please many fans because the VHS was discontinued some years ago and is very hard to find.

The concert was recorded in Philidelphia on 7th October 1980 during the One-Trick Pony tour and features amazing performances of Simon's hits such as 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, Late in The Evening, Me an Julio Down By The Schoolyard as well as Simon and Garfunkel numbers such as The Boxer and The Sound Of Silence.

Simon's band are the band that appear in the One-Trick Pony movie and sound excellent on the lesser known tunes such as One-Trick Pony, Ace in The Hole and Jonah. In fact this video is the only place that these songs are available live.

Simon looks comfortable with the crowd and chats amiably between songs speaking to audience members who call out to him. Someone calls out Happy Birthday to which Simon says "It's not my birthday" which is followed by an exchange about the fact that the guy in the audience would not see Simon on his birthday - so he says "I accept"!

Paul Simon's voice is strong and clear on every song and it is clear why the soundtrack to this concert was widely bootlegged on audio CD in the 1990s.

Pre-order now and enjoy!