Paul Simon closed out Outside Lands by calling Bob Weir on stage to join him for a performance of Simon & Garfunkel’s 1969 song “The Boxer.” The musician, who announced he would donate the proceeds of his appearance at the festival to San Francisco Parks Alliance and nonprofit greening organization Friends of the Urban Forest, brought Weir up after a lengthy set of his classics like “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes,” “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and “You Can Call Me Al.”
Simon recalled first meeting Weir in 1967, when he knocked on the door of the house where the Grateful Dead were living, hoping to invite the band to perform at the Monterrey Pop Festival. “Bob Weir opened the door,” Simon told the audience. “And we’ve been friends ever since. But actually this is our first duet.”
The pair performed the emotional track on guitar and vocals with the help of Simon’s backing band, drawing it out to nearly six minutes. After the song finished the musicians put their arms around each other and grinned at the audience.
Outside Lands, held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, also included performances by Childish Gambino, blink-182, Twenty One Pilots, Kacey Musgraves, The Lumineers and Lil Wayne.