You could say Paul Simon owed Bournemouth a concert, having had to cancel a 2011 performance on the night of the gig because of a throat infection.

If so, he more than repaid the debt with a superb show that embraced all phases of a 50-year career in a set lasting around two and a quarter hours.

He began with The Boy in the Bubble, the opening track on his massively successful Graceland album from 1986, and followed it by leaping back 11 years to 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. This was a concert where hits separated by several decades were played back to back and worked together perfectly.

You might think it would take more than one band to handle the variety of musical influences that Simon has drawn on over the years. But this dazzling set of musicians glided between the South African rhythms of the Graceland album, the Brazilian sounds from The Rhythm of the Saints and the reggae vibe of the hit single Mother and Child Reunion. They were equally impressive giving dramatic support to Simon & Garfunkel’s epic The Boxer and pop’s blank verse masterpiece, America.

Strong as this backing was, it never threatened to overwhelm Simon’s voice, which may have matured but has lost little of its range and resonance. While that sweet voice may have earned him the image of an introspective solo performer, Simon seemed happiest leading the band through rollicking renditions of up-tempo hits such as Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard and Late in the Evening.

He hasn’t always been talkative on stage, but on this occasion Simon invited contributions from the crowd, and told some personal stories. He even recalled a night many years ago when he slept on a floor in Bournemouth with his girlfriend Kathy after they missed the last train to London.

Material from his latest album didn’t appear until nearly an hour into the concert, but new songs such as Wristband and The Werewolf earned their place among the classics. Homeward Bound, the Simon & Garfunkel hit written by a lonely 23-year-old folk singer on Widnes railway station, sat on the set list alongside the title track from Stranger to Stranger – the work of a 75-year-old artist who, as this show demonstrated, is still at the top of his game.

Darren Slade