Joni Mitchell announces first scheduled concert in 20 years
The last time audiences could pay to see a Joni Mitchell concert was back in 2000. In the time since, Mitchell had largely retired from music before suffering a brain aneurysm back in 2015. The legendary singer-songwriter had to relearn most of her basic motor functions, and it was presumed that Mitchell would likely never sing again.
This year, however, Mitchell has proved that notion wrong by getting on stage for two separate occasions. The first was at the MusiCares Person of the Year gala, at which Mitchell was being honoured. Mitchell surprised the crowd by joining in the crowd of voices that closed out the celebration with ‘The Circle Game’ and ‘Big Yellow Taxi’.
Then, at this year’s Newport Folk Festival, Mitchell played a surprise 12-song set with a large group of backing musicians. The “Joni Jam” featured the likes of Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford, Wynonna Judd, and more. Mitchell even strapped on her custom-made all-tunings guitar to play the solo for ‘Just Like This Train’. It was an incredible scene, but Mitchell isn’t done yet.
During her appearance on The Daily Show last night, Carlile got to discussing her ‘Echoes Through the Canyon’ concert earlier this year, which celebrated the songwriting prowess and legacy of the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Carlile announced that she would play a concert on June 9th, 2023, and the following night, Mitchell will headline her own concert as well.
“She said, ‘I want to play again.’… Joni Mitchell is going to play. No one’s been able to buy a ticket to see Joni Mitchell play in 20 years,” Carlile explained. Carlile also explained how the original “Joni Jam” came to be. “We thought it was a jam. We didn’t know that she was going to sing all the leads on those songs. She just started singing. We had rehearsed the songs ourselves. And we didn’t know whether we should stop or what we should do, you know, so we just sang with her… She always has a plan. She knows what she wants to do, even if she doesn’t say it.”
There has yet to be an official concert announcement, so no tickets have gone on sale yet. Suffice to say that when it does, it will be a hot summer concert ticket. You can watch Carlile discuss the concert down below.
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