Paul Simon, Who Retired From Concerts Seven Years Ago, Will Return With Intimate ‘Quiet Celebration Tour’ in 2025 – Variety

By

Chris Willman
Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic
On the heels of opening the “SNL50” special Sunday night in a duet with Sabrina Carpenter, Paul Simon revealed Tuesday that he is un-retiring from live concerts, announcing his first road outing since what was billed as his farewell tour back in 2018, albeit with more “intimate” arrangements and locations than the bigger tours of old.
The “Quiet Celebration Tour” will take place in mid-sized theaters and concert halls and be focused around his most recent album, the acoustically based “Seven Psalms,” although it will include other selections from his vast catalog.
The tour will begin April 4 in New Orleans and end in Seattle on Aug. 3. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. local time.

Related Stories

VIP+

Visual Effects Workforce Isn’t Feeling AI Pinch Yet

How ‘Nosferatu’ Made Count Orlok’s Arthritic Fingers, Prosthetic Penis and ‘Red as Hell’ Blood Pools

Dates along the tour include five nights each at the Beacon Theater in New York and L.A.’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, and three nights each at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Chicago’s Symphony Center and Toronto’s Massey Hall, among many other stops.

Popular on Variety

The tour is scheduled to hit 20 cities in all, for a total of 50 shows. (The greater Los Angeles area will be alone in getting six chances at seeing Simon, since his five-night stand at downtown L.A.’s Disney Hall will be preceded by a single date at Long Beach’s Terrace Theater.)
The band will include Caleb Burhans (viola), Jamey Haddad (percussion), Gyan Riley (guitar), Mick Rossi (piano, keys),  Andy Snitzer (saxophone), Nancy Stagnita (flute), Mark Stewart (guitar) and Eugene Friesen (cello), with Steve Gadd and Matt Chamberlin alternating on drums.
In the time since doing his farewell tour in venues like the Hollywood Bowl in 2018, Simon had revealed he suffered from hearing loss, but recently had also said that he was finding ways to deal with the loss in a performance setting, hinting that he might feel comfortable doing live concerts again.
In a recent “CBS Mornings” interview, Simon discussed how he had worked with the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss and his own production team to redesign his stage setup, including surrounding himself with monitors, to make live performance viable again.
Simon opened the “SNL50” three-hour special doing a duet with Sabrina Carpenter of the 1960s Simon and Garfunkel classic “Homeward Bound.” He had first performed it on “SNL” as a duet with George Harrison in 1976. Carpenter quipped in the introduction that even her parents had not yet been born at that point.

Variety reviewed the “Seven Psalms” album in May 2023 and subsequently named it one of the best albums of 2023, saying, “The quietly stunning ‘Seven Psalms’ is unlike any other Simon album, starting with how the singer-songwriter so wants you to experience it as a full concept album that he has digitally released its seven distinct songs only in the form of a single long track. With Simon now in his 80s, the running theme could be described as “for whom the bell tolls,” but he finds a lot to address within that framework. It’s a song cycle that’s in turn mysterious, sobering, funny, God-haunted, agnostic, lovestruck, pragmatic about mortality, and still caught up in miracle and wonder.”
Meanwhile, you can read Variety‘s review of his 2018 farewell tour here.
The full itinerary for the Quiet Celebration Tour:
April 4 Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LAApril 5 Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LA
April 8 Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TXApril 10 Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TXApril 11 Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
April 14 Paramount Theatre, Denver, COApril 16 Paramount Theatre, Denver, COApril 17 Paramount Theatre, Denver, CO
April 20 Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MNApril 22 Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MNApril 23 Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
April 26 Midland Theatre, Kansas City, MO
April 28 Stifel Theatre, St. Louis, MOApril 29 Stifel Theatre, St. Louis, MO
May 7 AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas TXMay 8 AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas TX
May 11 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TNMay 13 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TNMay 14 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
May 17 Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WIMay 18 Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI
May 21 Symphony Center, Chicago, ILMay 23 Symphony Center, Chicago, ILMay 24 Symphony Center, Chicago, IL
May 27 Massey Hall, Toronto, ONMay 29 Massey Hall, Toronto, ONMay 30 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON
June 6 Wolf Trap, Vienna, VAJune 7 Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA
June 10 Boch Center, Wang Theatre, Boston, MAJune 12 Boch Center, Wang Theatre, Boston, MAJune 13 Boch Center, Wang Theatre, Boston, MA

June 16 Beacon Theater, New York, NYJune 18 Beacon Theater, New York, NYJune 20 Beacon Theater, New York, NYJune 21 Beacon Theater, New York, NYJune 23 Beacon Theater, New York, NY
June 26 Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PAJune 28 Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PAJune 29 Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA
July 7 Terrace Theater, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, Long Beach CA
July 9 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CAJuly 11 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CAJuly 12 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CAJuly 14 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CAJuly 16 Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CA
July 19 Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CAJuly 21 Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CAJuly 22 Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA
July 25 The Orpheum, Vancouver BCJuly 26 The Orpheum, Vancouver BCJuly 28 The Orpheum, Vancouver BC
July 31 Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WAAugust 2 Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WAAugust 3 Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA
A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast The Business of Entertainment

Source: https://variety.com/2025/music/news/paul-simon-tour-dates-2025-out-of-retirement-snl50-1236311728/