Paul Simon tour adds club concerts to spring theater dates

Seven new club concert dates are on the calendar for preeminent American musician Paul Simon. The dates are an addition to the artist’s previously announced spring theater tour.

Simon’s original 2011 itinerary kicks off April 15 at the WaMu Theater in Seattle, WA, with the more recently revealed club dates interspersed throughout. Seattle’s club date, for instance, follows on April 17 at Showbox at The Market.

The North American trek ends with a pair of performances in Boston, MA, starting with a theater show on June 1 at the Wang Theatre, and wrapping with a June 2 club gig at the House of Blues. Other cities hosting theater and club dates include San Francisco, CA; Toronto, ON; and Washington, DC.

Ticket sales for the club dates (designated on the itinerary below) begin April 1 and 2, with ticket prices starting around $50, based on current Ticketmaster.com listings. That price is similar to Simon’s larger theater shows, though many of those dates have seating options available around the $100 mark, as well.

Simon’s latest studio album, “So Beautiful or So What,” is scheduled for release on April 12. On the upcoming tour, audiences can expect to hear a mix of these new tracks, as well as hits that span Simon’s decades-long career.

“I want to play several songs from the new album and music from my repertoire that I either haven’t played in concert or have played very seldom,” Simon told Rolling Stone in regards to his planned setlist.

Simon added, “I’ll play a few songs by other people, maybe a couple of Simon and Garfunkel songs. And then late in the evening, who knows, I might pick up my acoustic guitar and sing whatever comes into my mind.”

Simon had booked a Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour with longtime collaborator Art Garfunkel in 2010. But during the tour’s early dates, Garfunkel was struck by vocal paralysis, which led to the postponement and eventual cancellation of the remaining concerts.

But that’s not to say a Simon and Garfunkel tour isn’t potentially on the horizon.

Garfunkel is reportedly on the mend and hoping to make up the cancelled shows with Simon soon, according to a recent interview he did with Billboard. “At the rate the voice is coming back, I should be in pretty good shape by, as the corporations say, the fourth quarter of 2011,” Garfunkel said, adding later, “I swear to you, we’ll do those dates.”

The “Bridge Over Troubled Water” singer also noted that Simon has been supportive — not only of his recovery process, but also of the prospect of a future tour.

Garfunkel explained, “He called me a few weeks ago and said, ‘When you’re ready, I’m very happy to bring the guitar around the house and let’s try “The Boxer,” let’s warm up, let’s see where we’re at.’ So he’s definitely rooting seriously for me.”

Paul Simon itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)

* new club date