The Regent Centre, 17 October
Review by Janine Pulford
‘The Sound of Silence’ was a brave opening, but it was only the start of a beautiful and gentle evening that created incredible harmony at the Regent Centre taking the audience on a journey to the Sixties. Throughout ‘The Simon and Garfunkel Story’, black-and-white stills relived the ‘summer of love’ as did the songs. West End performer Dean Elliott and Jonny Smart filled in the story and it was refreshing to see a youthful tribute band emulating their idols in their younger days too.
The pair’s polished performance and stunning harmonies took us back 50 years, then brought us forward with a repertoire of over 20 songs from Simon and Garfunkel’s greatest hits, to some of their lesser known compositions.
Along with Leon Camfield (bass), Murray Gardiner (guitar) and Josh Powell (drums), the boys gave an exquisite performance amid the back story of one of the most famous duos of all times and combined it with incredible harmonies and great guitar playing.
With nowhere to hide when it came to ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’, Smart pulled it off it without a waver. And as his voice soared around the theatre, the audience rose to their feet. However close to perfect it was, it has to be said that in 50 years, we have never had another Simon and Garfunkel, and though Elliott and Smart brilliantly gave us ‘The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)’, ‘Scarborough Fair’, ‘The Sound of Silence’ and ‘Homeward Bound’, with harmonies and great musical backing, the famous duo in my estimation, still remain in a class of their own.
But that doesn’t take away from the show, which was memorable for its closeness to the original songs. People also got up and danced. And as if ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’ wasn’t just the greatest encore, Elliot and Smart gave us another: ‘The Boxer’. If you want to relive Simon and Garfunkel, then don’t miss this show, it is incredibly special and a true slice of nostalgia. My only crit was that I wanted the duo to stand closer together when singing.
The tour takes in London’s Leicester Square Theatre in the West End, so if you want to see this show, visit The Simon and Garfunkel Story website.
