NYT Defense: “Diamonds on the Soles, Paint on the Walls, Nostalgia in the Air,” by Jon Caramanica

Using the recent Presidential inauguration as an attention grabbing lede, NYT music critic Jon Caramanica reviews a concert performed by Paul Simon and friends at New York’s newly renovated Beacon Theater on Friday, February 13. The critic takes the reader back to the origin of the song “American Tune,” for the inauguration of Jimmy Carter. Caramanica seems to use this reference to say that like the song, Simon was at his best in earlier years. The title of the article mentions nostalgia and it is clear that the critic is nostalgic for the Paul Simon of decades past.

In the article from Monday, February 16, Caramanica alternates between mild praise and mild disappointment in his review of the concert. His descriptors relate a mediocre and mixed opinion of the performance. In the third column he uses the words “dour” and “uninspired” as well as “cheerful.” While this is a music review, Caramanica spends some time in the short article with the changes to the theater space, which he also finds to be mediocre after recent renovations, noting the style “toes the line between arresting and gaudy.” It seems that the critic includes the architectural review to further emphasize that both the space and the performance did not live up to expectations, were not all that they once were or could have been. This is a concert review and spending space on the architecture says that the reviewer was not enthralled by the performance. Also noting the other guests in the audience, like Paul McCartney who nearly received more attention than Simon, shows Caramanica’s half-invested interest.

It is not until the end that Caramanica has a definitive opinion of a certain part of the night, where Art Garfunkel joins Simon on stage. “A stirring medley,” are the words selected to describe the shows closing. The closest approximation to a “but,” comes at the article’s close as Caramanica notes the sense of nostalgia for the Simon (and Garfunkel) of the past.