Paul Simon closed Hard Rock Calling festival last night (15.07.12).
The ‘You Can Call Me Al’ hitmaker played the whole of his seminal ‘Graceland’ album at the event, backed by trumpet player Hugh Masekela and South African male choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo who both appeared on the original 1986 album.
Paul opened his set in London’s Hyde Park with a cover of ‘The Harder they Come’, with the song’s writer, Jimmy Cliff, and included a number of other tracks from across his career in his three-hour set, concluding with an encore of Simon and Garfunkel tracks ‘The Sound of Silence’ and ‘The Boxer’, and solo song ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’.
Paul fared a little better than Bruce Springsteen, who’s encore on Saturday (14.07.12) was cut short by organisers after he ran over his allotted stage time.
Bruce performed Beatles tracks ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Twist and Shout’ with the band’s Sir Paul McCartney during his encore, but they were stopped from saying goodbye to the crowd when the power was pulled from the stage, as they had run over their 10.30pm cufew.
A spokesperson for promoters Live Nation explained the decision, saying: "It was unfortunate that the three-hour plus performance by Bruce Springsteen was stopped right at the very end but the curfew is laid down by the authorities in the interest of the public’s health and safety.
"Road closures around Hyde Park are put in place at specific times to make sure everyone can exit the area in safety."
Earlier in his 29-song show, Bruce had been joined by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and former Creedence Clearwater Revival singer John Fogerty.
Other performers over the weekend included boy band Lawson, Lady Antebellum, Christina Perry and Friday night (13.07.12) headliners Soundgarden.