The Simon & Garfunkel Story

We went to see a show called The Simon & Garfunkel Story. This is the story of Simon & Garfunkel, the world’s most successful folk-rock duo. Yes, they had to be that specific to be the worlds-best something, and that’s what it turns out to be. Who’s the second-best? Is there a trio who were more successful? Who cares?

We had planned to start our Burger Wellington journey on this night, but it turns out someone had booked a table at Fork & Brewer, our chosen venue, for the wrong week. We turned up there and it was absolutely jampacked, so no chance of getting a table without a booking. It being a Friday night in Wellington, Cin Cin and Concord were both similarly full. Highwater, however, could fit us in if we didn’t mind sitting at the bar, so we did that instead.

Then we crossed the road to the Michael Fowler Centre for the night’s entertainment. This consisted of two Simon & Garfunkel lookalikes and soundalikes playing the songs, more or less in chronological order, from the earliest Tom & Jerry (the name they originally recorded under) and other early material; the big songs from The Graduate, Bookends and Bridge Over Troubled Water. In between, they narrated the story of the band, where they were, who they were with, what they were doing etc. Unlike, say, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, whose story was dramatized as Jersey Boys, Simon & Garfunkel just aren’t that interesting. There was nothing really to dramatize, so they just…narrated. Once they’d split, they followed some solo careers, but didn’t play any music from that; then they reformed to play a gig in Central Park, and then went on a world tour. The show finished up with the Everly Brothers’ Bye Bye Love, their traditional gig ender.

…but wait! They’ve not played The Boxer or Bridge Over Troubled Water! Guess what? They came on and played an encore of those two songs. That was really the end of the show.