Bookends performs at Community Building Complex

By Kathryn Menue
Editor
BELVIDERE – Some may be surprised to hear that it wasn’t really Simon and Garfunkel performing at the Community Building Complex on Saturday, April 9.
Instead it was the duo Bookends, comprised of local performers Dan Holmes and Dave Walters who stole the stage projecting their near perfect renditions of Simon and Garfunkel’s notorious yet peaceful folk music compositions.
At 7:30 p.m., Holmes and Walters began their tribute concert to not only honor Simon and Garfunkel, but to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. With tickets being sold for $5 and over 200 people comprising the audience, the duo raised over $1,000 for an hour and a half show.
The night also allowed the Belvidere Bucs Music Boosters to raise money for their organization.
Bookends opened the show with “Red Rubber Ball.”
After thanking the crowd for coming out on the bitter cold night, Holmes said they performed the song in tribute to Paul Simon’s lyrical skills, even though Simon and Garfunkel never performed “Red Rubber Ball.” Simon wrote it for the band the Cyrkles.
Holmes further explained the evening would progress with just the two of them performing on the big stage, much like Simon and Garfunkel did at Carnegie Hall.
With that introduction, the concert continued with the first act focusing on the early work of Simon and Garfunkel. These songs were shorter, roughly a minute and a half each, since Simon and Garfunkel started with their songs on AM Radio, which had shorter air times for songs than FM Radio.
Holmes and Walters performed “Wednesday Morning, 3 a.m.,” “Sparrow,” and “April Come She Will,” before performing “I Am a Rock.”
“This might have been the first hit of Simon and Garfunkel,” Holmes said.
After “I Am a Rock,” Bookends performed another popular classic: “Kathy’s Song.”
“It never dawned on me to ask you folks to sing along until now…but not on this one,” Holmes joked with the audience.
As Holmes began to play the first few chords on the guitar, the audience erupted with applause as they realized they would hear an old time favorite: “Scarborough Fair.”
After the duet, Walters performed a solo piece with Holmes accompanying on the guitar.
“I’ll try to do it justice,” Walters said as he went on to perform “Juniper and Lamplight.”
“You should definitely sing along with this next song,” Holmes told the audience. The quiet hum of the audience mumbling the words to “Homeward Bound” echoed through the Community Building and continued as the audience helped Bookends with the words in “Feeling Groovy.”
Bookends ended the first act with a powerful performance of a song that gained national respect in the 1960s.
“This song became an anthem of the 1960s,” Holmes said. “This song is probably my inspiration for playing guitar.”
The song is “The Sound of Silence.”
“The Sound of Silence” has since transcended multiple generations with its influential lyrics and has even crossed into the rock genre with Disturbed’s cover.
With anything but silence emitting from the crowd as Bookends finished the song, the duo left for a 15 minute break, returning for the second act even stronger than in the first.
With no introduction, Bookends began the second half with “America” and “Mrs. Robinson” featuring Walters crazy dance moves.
“Before we came out here, we were talking to Julie and she said ‘Dustin Hoffman me,”’ Walters said about his dance moves. “I didn’t know if I could do that, so I did some Elvis Presley.”
Bookends continued their performance with “At the Zoo” and “A Hazy Shade of Winter,” before focusing on more of Paul Simon’s solo work with “American Tune.”
In the next song, Bookends performed a song attributed to Art Garfunkel.
“This is the only song in the program that wasn’t written by Paul Simon, but it was performed by Garfunkel,” Holmes said about their next piece: “A Heart in New York.”
Afterwards, Holmes completed a solo performance of Paul Simon’s “Duncan.”
“Before I started teaching a long, long, long time ago, I played music and this is one I performed in coffee shops,” Holmes said.
From “Duncan” the duo moved onto “Slip-Slidin Away” and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.”
“We’ve got a couple of songs left—the biggies. How are we going to do ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ without a piano—well, we’re not—yes we are,” Holmes teased the audience before the duo successfully recreated “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
As the night winded down, Holmes thanked the community for their support.
“Thank you for coming out to support the American Cancer Society,” Holmes said.
The night ended with Bookends favorite performance piece, “The Boxer,” which received a standing ovation as Dan Holmes and Dave Walters left the stage.