JONI & ME – November 7, 2018

My piece on Joni Mitchell’s 75^th Birthday Concert was just published in the December issue of the Songwriters Square Newsletter!

We were very fortunate to attend Joni Mitchell’s 75th Birthday concert this past Wednesday night, and I’m still processing the experience. Just to be in the same space with so many of my heroes to celebrate this musical maverick who has been such a profound inspiration to us all, the creator of a body of work that defined an era and became the emotional soundscape for generations of artists, lovers, writers and poets. But while I continue to process, I wanted to share some of my reflections and highlights from the evening…

Rufus Wainwright sang ALL I WANT – his velveteen voice wrapped around Joni’s melody so beautifully, and the way he swooped up into his falsetto again and again made it feel like a tipsy love anthem.

Seal sang BOTH SIDES NOW – this guy is so tall and striking, his presence so commanding and regal that I knew something magical was about to happen the moment he took the stage. Seal got inside the song, and sang with such conviction and vulnerability at the same time it was breath-taking.

Graham Nash sat down at the piano and said “All the songs you’ll hear tonight were written by Joni – except this one, which I wrote for her when I was 27 and she was 26.” He then launched into a solo version of OUR HOUSE. The audience sang every word, including me and Larry as we held hands and teared up at the lyric “with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, now everything is easy ‘cuz of you…”

Brandi Carlisle sang DOWN TO YOU right after she did a touching duet of sorts with Kris Kristofferson on the song A CASE OF YOU. He now has dementia, so she tenderly guided him onto stage and helped him through the song. It was mostly Kris singing with Brandi filling in the blanks whenever it seemed he might be forgetting the words, but she was so generous and loving with him that it made the performance very poignant! Next she sang DOWN TO YOU – her crystalline voice so much like Joni’s early voice (except for her twang), and it was thrilling to hear her glide up and down along that glorious melody, like a beautiful red tailed hawk, floating on the thermals.

And then, finally, Joni Mitchell herself – After the final song, BIG YELLOW TAXI, the curtain closed and the crowd roared. After a few minutes the curtain raised again and there was Joni, all in red, beaming that radiant toothy smile! She can’t walk after the brain aneurism that nearly killed her in 2015, so her aides must’ve wheeled her center stage while the curtain was down, then helped her stand but remained by her side, holding her up. We sang happy birthday to her, someone brought out a cake and she blew out the candle. The band launched into a reprise of BIG YELLOW TAXI, and everyone in that theater sang every word of Joni’s classic song to her, while she did a sort of bop and groove in place, her aides holding her tightly. It was poignant, beautiful, tragic and glorious! I cried like a baby, silently sending Joni my deep gratitude and love for all the music and grace and art that she so generously shared for 50 years! She is a profound influence on so many, and it was humbling to be in her presence – the genius high priestess of poetry, art and song. Joni was luminous and broken, as we all are, a glorious goddess of humanity … and pitch perfect in every way.

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