On Saturday night at Joni Mitchell’s Hollywood Bowl Show, the esteemed singer-songwriter gave an enthralled audience her first-ever live performance.
Wait, let’s take a moment here to really understand that word. At Joni Mitchell’s Hollywood Bowl Show. What were the odds? Isn’t it?…Sorry, I’m back to my regular reviews.
On Saturday night at Joni Mitchell’s Hollywood Bowl Show, the esteemed singer-songwriter performed a 30-year-old deep cut that borrows biblical themes, “The Sire of Sorrow (Job’s Sad).”・Song)” was performed for the first time to an enthusiastic audience. The book of Job asks God, who is “tireless”: Why crucify the saints? and you will make the wicked prosper. ” In an election year, the choice felt as much political as it was theological.
Following this sombre, musically sophisticated number, unofficial emcee and evening booster Brandi Carlile alludes to the song’s dark, biblical origins, before the setlist takes a left turn. It was announced that there was. “She was worried that this piece would make you sad, so she asked us to follow her up with another piece,” Carlyle said.
Next on the show’s divine playlist is “God Must Be a Boogie Man.” Although it wasn’t one of the few live premieres of the night, it was the first time since 1983 that Mitchell performed the fun song from his 1979 album Mingus.
They say there are no atheists in the trenches, but on Saturday night Mitchell came back from the brink to deliver his biggest and most substantial set yet, tucked away in the Hollywood Hills where the Bowl is held. There may not have been any atheists at Dell either. Ever since she suffered an aneurysm in 2015…or rather, since her last tour 24 years ago, her last one was headlining the Los Angeles Greek in 2000. I felt it all night long, paying homage to Job’s suffering. At least they must like us as much as the boogeyman over there.
There are few shows where the audience enters with as little certainty about what they’re going to get as the crowd at this bowl. (The two-night run will include a second performance on Sunday night.) Since the health crisis, Mitchell has made a very gradual return to the stage. At Music Cares’ Salute to Her in Las Vegas in early 2022, she mostly watched from the side of the stage, only chiming in for a few lines near the end. So when she said this in July of that year, fans were shocked. At the Newport Folk Festival, she made a surprise appearance with the Carlyle-led “Joni Jam,” in which she took lead or shared vocals on quite a few songs, while an all-star guest fronted There were some songs that stood out. This mix format was repeated for another show during Carlyle’s Weekend in Gorge, Washington in June 2023, and later for three songs at the Brandi Carlyle & Friends show here at the Bowl. A mini-Joni jam was played as an encore. In October of last year. Clearly, she’s back as a capable performer for the two extended shows she’s appeared in over the past 27 months…but still, anyone who buys a ticket for this weekend’s show will be hoping for another jam-style show. I really didn’t know if it was going to happen or not. Maybe, just maybe, it was a truly all-out Mitchell performance.
The answer was “both.” Production-wise, the setting was much the same as the previous two Joni Jam shows, with a large cast of musicians and singers sitting on chairs and couches around the legendary throne. And there were two moments when other stars stepped forward and effectively serenaded Mitchell with vocals — Annie Lennox on “Ladies of the Canyon” and Marcus on “California.”・It’s Mumford.
But if you came to hear Joni Mitchell sing her heart out for a long time without giving up the stage beyond those two cameos, that’s what you got Saturday night at the Bowl for the first time in nearly four quarters. It is something that -century. It was another step in her return to public performance, but it also felt like a huge leap forward for Mitchell — the singer commanded the stage for about three hours (not including intermissions). , is exactly what you’d expect from her at any point in her long career that was the seemingly impossible moment of delivering a song.
She clearly had a lot of help getting here and once again thanked Carlisle for convincing her to come out of retirement as she worked to regain her fitness. But was Mitchell in the driver’s seat? All I can say is that when I spent three hours watching her sit on her throne, flapping her trademark wolf-headed cane to the rhythm, I tried to think of what it reminded me of. , I finally figured it out. Like someone operating a stick shift and having a great time.
Mitchell’s enjoyment was evident in the packed room even before anyone caught her eye. The bowl’s rotating stage had to rotate to reveal a cast of players already seated in place, but in doing so, it was as if they were riding the slowest rollers in the world and laughing their heads off. Star’s laughter echoed through the bowl coaster. She kept that jovial mood going all night — sometimes with Carlyle’s behavior, sometimes with her own lyrics, but mostly because it was as ridiculously funny as it was wonderful to be alive and celebrated. It seems that it was because of the feeling that this might be the case. After everything that happened. Mitchell came under fire for changing the lyrics of “Night Ride Home” from “I love the guy next door” to “I’m mad at the guy next door.” In a year when women’s smiles became a real campaign issue, it’s safe to say that anyone who objected to Kamala Harris’s laugh would be. Really I was offended by Joni Mitchell’s performance.
Speaking of elections…Legend hasn’t been shy about making his feelings public. (A sentiment that shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone in attendance.) Towards the end of the second set, he performed the viral “Dog Eat Dog,” his first performance since the album’s release in 1985. It was broadcast live. The same name appeared. Following the lyrics’ references to “snake-bitten preachers, extortionists and big money financiers,” she added, “…like Donald Trump.” After the song ended, she said: I am Canadian. I am one of those terrible immigrants. ” she finally blurted out, fearing that some people might doubt her position. “Fuck you, Donald Trump.” This received a standing ovation.
The 27-song evening was split into two halves, each with its own personality and partially performed by different sets of musicians. The first set was a truly hardcore Mitchell head that had jaws dropping with a completely unpredictable song selection. The second was a more overtly crowd-pleasing set…and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. That’s because superfans who were ecstatic over the obscure songs that dominated the first half didn’t suddenly start cringing when they heard “Big Yellow Taxi” or “A.” The second of “Case of You”.
In its first half, the performers had a slightly more intimate set, but it was still a significant ensemble by most standards, with vocal duo Lucius providing choral vocals from a nearby couch and SistaStrings augmenting the choir. I participated in this project and provided the string arrangement. There’s a perch a little further away, with Mitchell’s longtime favorite Mark Isham adding grace notes on trumpet and soprano saxophone. The Hanselot Twins played guitar and bass, with Blake Mills and Robin Pecknold splitting further guitar duties, Jacob Collier providing initial keyboard work, and Abe Rounds on drums. Part 2 features additional guests, with Marcus Mumford adding percussion, Taylor Goldsmith of Celis and Dawes on guitar and vocals, Alison Russell on vocals, Newport and The -It became like the Joni Jam seen in the Gorge. Joni Jams, Jon Batiste, and Rita Wilson joined the battalion on keys and backing vocals, respectively.
Aside from a moment in the first 15 minutes where Mitchell sounded like she hadn’t yet found her voice, she sang with a full throat and, given her current range, admirable. In this career-spanning show, the vocal ensemble carries some weight in moments of songs written for Mitchell’s higher, more original voice, such as “Raised on Robbery.” There are moments when you have to. In some cases, Carlyle floated in and out of the higher parts, complementing the lower registers that Joni was singing, as if Mitchell’s older and younger voices were playing a fun duet with each other. .
But it’s worth noting, and perhaps a little surprising if you’ve ever been lucky enough to see a rare Joni Jam, that no matter how much expert support you get from the cast, Regardless, how dependent this performance was on Mitchell’s solo voice. The songs, culled from parts of her career in the ’80s and ’90s, when she was already developing a more mature voice, work especially wonderfully now that she’s found her way back into performing. . Hearing her sing all eight minutes of “Come in from the Cold” can now count as a highlight of anyone’s concert-going year, and it should — Carlyle A level that elevates this number to something even more transcendental, with or without the added angelic crevice swirl.
What Carlyle added musically as a background vocalist or featured descant singer cannot be underestimated. And as a highlight, along with “Come in from the Cold,” the penultimate song “Shine” is a late Mitchell song that is Carlyle’s personal favorite in his overwhelming catalog. , and there’s a good reason for that. The song is at once an epic protest song and an epic gospel song, with a deeply cynical portrayal of the world, from politicians to minor traffic violators (always a laugh). When he asks Hikari, it sounds like he means it. To shed light not only on the just but also on the unjust. And what a gift it is that the world (or a small part of it) will get to hear such a great and underrated song come back in 2024. Shall we? “Shine” was followed by the final group singing of “Circle Game.” “Apart from the fact that it’s one of the most moving songs ever written, it almost felt like an anti-climax.
As well as her complementary vocal parts, Carlyle is also invaluable in these Joni Jams in the role she was truly born to play: Mitchell’s hype man. She usually refrains from applying it too thickly, but sometimes she just can’t resist. “I don’t want to surprise anyone,” Carlyle blurted out after the third song, “but I just heard Joni Mitchell sing ‘HEJIRA’!” The backing announcement couldn’t have been better. , or frankly nothing suitable.
Joni Mitchell and Joni Jam Setlist, Hollywood Bowl, October 19, 2024:
set 1
be cool
Harlem in Havana (Live Premiere)
Hejira
cherokee louise
coyote
carry
The Sire of Sorrow (Live Premiere)
God must be the boogeyman
sunny sunday
If I Had a Heart (Live Premiere)
road shelter
night ride home
now both sides
set 2
big yellow taxi
I grew up robbing
California (sung by Marcus Mumford)
magdalene laundry
Ladies of the Canyon (sung by Annie Lennox)
Summertime (Gershwin cover)
Coming in from the cold
in your case
I’m Still Standing (Elton John cover with rewritten lyrics)
dog eat dog
amelia
if
shine
circle game
