Legendary folk star Paul Simon sympathises with Bono and The Edge of U2 over the criticism of their Spider-Man musical because he went through a similar ordeal when he ventured into theatre production.

Back in 1998, Simon staged a Broadway musical called ‘The Capeman’ which closed after only three months following consistently bad reviews.

The U2 rockers scored the current musical about the web-slinging hero, called ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’, but poor reviews and the departure of director Julie Taymor have left the show on hiatus, undergoing a revamp before reopening on June 14.

"Yeah, ‘The Capeman’ went through what (the) Spider-Man (musical) is going through now,” said Paul Simon to Mojo magazine, “but in its day ‘The Capeman’ was the most expensively produced musical to fail, or so they said.

However, the singer has hinted that he may have another go at the stage, adding: "The play definitely had its flaws, but it was much harder than they said it was. It will probably be back again in 2012."

Listen to Paul Simon talking about the inception of ‘The Capeman’ in 1998 below: