Was great to see clips from this yesterday.

Good on Brandi Carlile for making this happen.




Joni Mitchell surprises folk festival crowd with first full set in 20 years

Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell stole the show with a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island on Sunday, playing her first full set in more than two decades alongside country star Brandi Carlile.

The 78-year-old singer, who last year celebrated the 50th anniversary of her album “Blue,” played some of her biggest hits, including “Big Yellow Taxi” and “A Case of You.”

Seated in a pink wingback armchair, her blond hair pulled into pigtails beneath a dark beret, Mitchell drew applause from the opening lines of “Both Sides Now.”

The set had been billed on the festival lineup simply as “Brandi Carlile and Friends.” Mitchell has mostly kept out of the limelight in recent years after suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015 that left her disabled but not defeated.

“Joni’s looked at life from so many sides and she came out of the storm singing like a prophet,” Carlile wrote on Twitter after the show. “After all she’s been through, she returned to the Newport Folk Fest stage after 53 years and I will never forget sitting next to her while she stopped this old world for a while,” she wrote, adding: “I can’t even watch it without the tears from coming back.”
[www.washingtonpost.com]

Let’s hope for a tour!

Wonderful to see her relaxed and happy and in great voice too.

A girl of Mick's age

Feel blessed to have seen of her last full shows, back in '98 in Los Angeles. Dylan opened, Joni was the middle, and Van Morrison closed. They switched the lineup at other gigs.

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24FPS
Feel blessed to have seen of her last full shows, back in '98 in Los Angeles. Dylan opened, Joni was the middle, and Van Morrison closed. They switched the lineup at other gigs.

I had front row in Detroit. No Van that night, just Bob and Joni. Fantastic show in a half-filled hockey arena, and only $45 for front row! She toured again a couple of years later, in 2000, but I think that was just doing jazz standards with an orchestra.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-07-27 15:34 by tatters.

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GeirGG
Let’s hope for a tour!

We can hope, but it's not likely. She's only toured twice in the last 40 years.

Looks like Wynonna was there.

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Elmo Lewis
Looks like Wynonna was there.

Correct, she's in the background of the thumbnail of the video lol.

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NilsHolgersson
A girl of Mick's age

why do you say that?

What a great surprise music wise. There are a number of videos on YouTube of songs done by/with Joni at Newport. The take she does on "Summertime" is excellent. "Both Sides Now" is very touching. And try not to sing along when they do "The Circle Game". Have fun/enjoyment listening.

That's one tough broad. And I mean that in a great way.

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tatters

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GeirGG
Let’s hope for a tour!

We can hope, but it's not likely. She's only toured twice in the last 40 years.

I checked setlist.fm and indeed, her live appearances are few and far between, even way back in the past. She has rarely toured outside Canada and the US of A. In fact, her world tour of substantial scale materialized only once — the “Wild Things Tour” in 1983. Which is quite surprising considering her long career as well as wide-spanning influence in the music and cultural scene, let alone her fame as one of the seminal female singer songwriters.

I was fortunate enough to see her at the Festival Hall, Osaka, 4 March, 1983. Let me unashamedly confess that I didn’t have her record at all back then, and bought a ticket out of morbid curiosity in her status of music celebrity. In hindsight, that had me catch her rare live exposure outside North America — sometimes unhealthy motivation contributes to life.

A trivia for the Stones fans —
The only other occasion Joni performed in Japan was at The Great Music Experience, the three-day music event staged in the front garden of Todai-ji, the temple that houses the giant Buddha statue, Nara, 20-22 May, 1994, partly backed by UNESCO. The lineup is identical everyday (i.e. the musicians played all three dates). During her short set of five songs, Tomoyasu Hotei played the electric guitar in the background. Twenty years later, he was picked for the guest appearance at the Stones’ show, Tokyo Dome, 6 March, 2014, and played the guitar for Respectable. I remember, though, back in time I read a report that Joni didn’t approve of Hotei’s play that often interfered with her performance.

[en.wikipedia.org]

When you can allow a backup band like this you have established everything.

...legend.

really moving

Younger days: "I play open tuning like rockers".







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-09-15 00:28 by TheflyingDutchman.

She's not done yet.

[www.msn.com]

"When you can allow a backup band like this you have established everything."
yes ! legendary backing band !

The Newport show was really an instant classic, with Both side of now and Summertime as highlights.

Let's hope the next shows will be as good.

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djgab
"When you can allow a backup band like this you have established everything."
yes ! legendary backing band !

The Newport show was really an instant classic, with Both side of now and Summertime as highlights.

Let's hope the next shows will be as good.

I hope so but the Shadows and Light DVD/
Jazz Rock era was my absolute favourite.

I was thinking as good as the last Newport.

I do agree, the Mingus Jazz Rock will stay as legendary.

Here's a recent interview with Joni by, of all people, Elton John. Nice to see her looking so vibrant and happy. Chuck Berry even gets a mention at around 16 min.

must have been one helluva surprise for all those in attendance!!