Paul Simon – The Quiet Celebration Concert (3xLP)

Paul Simon’s The Quiet Celebration Concert captures the first complete live performance of Seven Psalms, the seven-part song cycle he originally released in 2023. Recorded at McCaw Hall in Seattle during the Quiet Celebration tour in August 2025, it documents Simon’s return to the stage in small, acoustically minded venues after building new live arrangements for music that was first conceived as a continuous, contemplative work.

That context gives this set its shape. The concert opens with the full Seven Psalms sequence, preserving the piece’s reflective, interconnected character, then widens into a carefully chosen survey of Simon’s catalogue. Rather than leaning only on obvious hits, he places songs such as “Graceland,” “The Late Great Johnny Ace” and “The Cool, Cool River” alongside deeper cuts, which makes the set feel less like a victory lap than a fresh reading of a long career.

What comes through most strongly is the intimacy of the performance. Source material consistently points to new arrangements, attentive listening-room acoustics and a close-knit ensemble, all of which suit the quieter, more intricate writing of Seven Psalms while also casting familiar songs in a warmer, more conversational light. For anyone curious about how Simon translated one of his most meditative late-period works to the stage, this is the useful part of the story: it is both a live premiere and a broad, thoughtfully sequenced portrait of his songwriting.

Features

• 3xLP, Stereo, Black Vinyl
• Recorded live at McCaw Hall in Seattle in August 2025
• Includes the first complete live performance of Seven Psalms

Reviews

• a surprise and a revelation - The Guardian