The owner of a generation defining voice slipped quietly into the region on Saturday night.
Art Garfunkel was the latest in a lengthening line of top-drawer artists who would probably not have ventured this close to our ears, but for the determination of those at The Newcastle Opera House.
Fresh from receiving the lifetime achievement award, together with Paul Simon, at The Grammys in February, and looking remarkably unchanged from his early years, the man had lost none of his distinctive vocal power.
He opened, to a pin-drop silent, reverent audience, with El Condor Pasa from the mighty Bridge Over Troubled Water.
He followed with American Tune, especially poignant in these troubled days.
The rest of his set was equally pleasurable with songs from his latest album Everything Waits To Be Noticed mixing comfortably with several more Simon and Garfunkel songs, the inevitable Bright Eyes and other hit songs from his solo career.
Readers of a certain age will smell the patchouli oil again when I tell you he announced Scarboro Fair with, 'Here's a song that comes from a few miles down your coast - it's about loss', before singing a barely accompanied, solo version of the song that launched a million bed-sit parties.
Highlights from the new album included the title track and also The Thread, both written by Art. Although his career has spanned five decades, he has never written his own songs until six of the tracks that appear here.
The whole album is a collaboration with Maia Sharp and Buddy Mondlock, both of whom appeared on stage alongside him on Saturday.
Banter from the man Jack Nicholson dubbed 'The G' revealed a humorous and grounded personality, in contrast to his sometimes-perceived eccentricity.
He spends his time writing private poetry (some of which appears on the new album, set to music for the first time) and taking lengthy walking holidays around the world, although always returning to his base on Manhattan's East Side.
He chatted affably about a question he is often asked, and must be heartily tired of hearing, "Why did Simon and Garfunkel split up?"
The answer, he quipped, is that at the beginning he wanted to call the band Garfunkel and Simon, but Paul 'convinced me very cleverly that it should be alphabetical'... He said he thought his asking Paul to slightly alter the lyric of Mrs Robinson to "Jesus loves you more than you ever knew - woo woo woo" may also have contributed to their demise.
By now the audience were in the palm of his hand, laughing appreciatively at his gentle humour.
After closing the main set with Mrs Robinson (complete with his very own 'woo woo woo' lyric) and an achingly lovely Bridge Over Troubled Water, he returned to the stage for several more, including a tear-inducing version of Kathy's Song, preambled with some heartfelt reminiscence on his life-long love for England and his days on the road with Paul and Kathy - "I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets, to England where my heart lies...".
He closed the encores with The Sound Of Silence, whereupon the audience leapt to their feet with a standing ovation, and continued to stamp and clap long after the lights came up and the roadies began to strike the set.
There are rumours of a re-union tour with Paul Simon later this year. Don't miss it...
