THE CONCERT IN KORAKUEN-STADIUM

DISC ONE:

 1.Mrs. Robinson

  2.Homeward Bound

 3.America

 4.Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard

 5.Scarborough Fair

 6.My Little Town

 7.Wake Up Little Susie

 8.Still Crazy After All These Years

 9.Bright Eyes

10.Late in the Evening

The reunited unglimmer twins toured Japan and Europe in the spring/summer of 1982; this was one of three nights in at a huge Tokyo stadium. May 10 has definitely surfaced on bootleg, but I’m not sure about the 12^th. All the classics are covered of course, including quite a few of Simon’s solo hits, but you get a sense that the pair is just going through the motions. Indeed, you can detect a degree of awkwardness between Paul and Artie. (For example, at the start of Disc 2 Simon starts to address the audience and says he wants to have a “conversation”; then, after a long pause, he gives up and says he’s at a loss for words, almost as if he caught a glimpse of Garfunkel glaring at him for being such a putz. (Or maybe Garfunkel had left the stage temporarily.)

As one astute S&G fan site summarized this period for the band:

“In 1981, Paul appeared on Art's Scissors-Cut LP, adding vocals to a song called “In Cars.” Shortly afterward, they reunited for the 9/19/81 concert in New York's Central Park. Following that, they announced plans for a world tour and a new album. The tour (1982-83) happened. The album didn't.”

As there is substantial crowd noise – clapping, plus jostling sounds from the taper himself – and the stadium having typically cavernous acoustics, the sound is really only average. Vocals are fairly clear, but still... I suspect only die-hard S&G fans will want to listen to this more than once. 

Nice artwork – it’s a takeoff on the official The Concert In Central Park. Although the thought does occur that if you want some good-sounding live S&G, why not simply pick that album up since most of he same songs were performed? -- OSWALD