2/24/16-Paul Simon Tour/LP

Paul Simon will kick off an extensive North American tour after performing at Jazz Fest in late April. He played arenas on a co-headlining run with Sting in 2014, but hasn’t played the United States on his own since 2011. The tour focuses largely on indoor theaters, though it will wrap up June 30th at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York. The historic stadium, which reopened for concerts in 2013, is just blocks away from Simon’s childhood home.
There was no mention of a new studio album in the official tour announcement, though an advertisement for the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium concert states that a new album entitled Stranger to Stranger will be released this spring. A spokesperson for Simon confirmed the new album. Stranger to Stranger will be Simon’s first new studio LP since 2011’s widely acclaimed So Beautiful or So What.
Simon last played Forest Hills Stadium in July 1970 on Simon and Garfunkel’s tour in support of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Art Garfunkel also grew up in Forest Hills, Queens and the duo became friends in the sixth grade, attending Forest Hills High School together. They haven’t performed in public together since vocal problems derailed a planned tour in 2010. Garfunkel’s voice has recovered, though last year he vented his frustration over Simon’s reluctance to launch another reunion. “How can you walk away from this lucky place on top of the world, Paul?” he said. “What’s going on with you, you idiot? How could you let that go, jerk?”