At Joni Mitchell’s Hollywood Bowl show Saturday night, the revered singer-songwriter giveed the rapt audience a first-ever dwell carry outance of…
Wait, let’s equitable consent a time-out right there and let those words sink in. At Joni Mitchell’s Hollywood Bowl show. What were the odds? Right?… Sorry, we now return to our normally scheduled appraise.
At Joni Mitchell’s Hollywood Bowl show Saturday night, the revered singer-songwriter giveed the rapt audience a first-ever dwell carry outance of “The Sire of Sorrow (Job’s Sad Song),” a procreate cut from 30 years ago that borrows themes from the biblical book of Job to ask God, the “tireless watcher,” “Tell me, why do you starve the promised? Why do you crucify the saints? And you let the wicked prosper.” In an election year, the choice felt almost as much political as theoreasonable.
Follothriveg that somber, musicpartner cultured number, Brandi Carlile — the unofficial emcee and helpr of the evening — made remark of the song’s depressed scriptural origins, then declared that the setcatalog was about to consent a left turn. “She was worried it would produce you sense downcast,” Carlile said, “so she asked us to pursue it up with this next one.”
Up next in the show’s divine carry outcatalog: “God Must Be a Boogie Man.” This was not one of the night’s handful of dwell premieres, but it did label the first time that Mitchell was carry outing the plrelieveful track from her 1979 “Mingus” album since 1983.
They say there are no atheists in foxholes, and there might not have been any in the dell tucked into the Hollywood hills that hoemploys the Bowl, either, on Saturday night, with Mitchell returning from the cforfeitly-dead to dedwellr her hugegest and filledest set since she suffered an aneurysm in 2015… or, repartner, since she did her last tour 24 years ago, which had her last headlining in L.A. at the Greek in 2000. With all due esteem to Job’s torment, it felt for a night, at least, enjoy some Boogie Man up there must enjoy us.
There are scant shows that audiences walk into with as little confidentty about what they’re going to get as this Bowl crowd did. (The two-night stand persists with a second show Sunday evening.) Since her health crisis, Mitchell has made her way back to the stage in very gradual steps. At MusiCares’ salute to her in Las Vegas in punctual 2022, she mostly watched from the side of the stage and equitable chimed in with a couple of lines cforfeit the finish — so fans were shocked when, in July of that year, she made a surpelevate materializeance at the Newport Folk Festival in a Carlile-led “Joni Jam” that had her singing direct, or sharing it, on a unprejudiced amount of numbers, while others were fronted by all-star guests. That combineed establishat was repulseevated for another show in the midst of a Carlile weekfinish at the Gorge in Washington state in June 2023, pursueed a mini-Joni Jam that served as the three-song encore to a Brandi Carlile and Frifinishs show here at the Bowl in October of last year. Clpunctual, she was back, as a able carry outer, in the two extfinished shows she’s carry outed in the last 27 months … but still, no one buying a ticket for this weekfinish’s shows repartner knovel if they’d be getting another jam-style show or maybe, equitable maybe, a truly filled-on Mitchell carry outance.
The answer was: both. Production-wise, the setting was much the same as the previous two Joni Jam shows, with a huge cast of musicians and singers seated on chairs and couches around the legfinish’s throne. And there were two moments in which other stars did step forward to consent foreground vocal turns, effectively serenading Mitchell — Annie Lennox on “Ladies of the Canyon,” and Marcus Mumford on “California.”
But if you came to hear Joni Mitchell sing her heart out, at length and in filled, without repartner ceding the stage for more than those two cameos, that is what you got Saturday night at the Bowl, for the first time in cforfeitly a quarter-century. It was one more incremental step on her path back to accessible carry outance, but it also felt enjoy one enormous leap for Mitchell-benevolent — a seemingly impossible moment in which the singer was ordering the stage for about three hours (not counting interleave oution) and dedwellring equitable what you might have hoped for from her at any point in her lengthy atsoft.
She clearly had a lot of help in getting here, and thanked Carlile once aget for coaxing her out of quitment as she labored on regeting her strength. But was it Mitchell in the driver’s seat? I can only say that as I watched her sit on her throne and bop her tradelabel wolf’s-head walking stick around to the rhythm for three hours, as I tried to figure out what it reminded me of, it finpartner came to me: She watched enjoy someone having a magnificent time manipulating a stick-shift.
Mitchell’s finishelightment was evident to the filled hoemploy even before anyone caught sight of her. The Bowl’s revolving stage had to turn around to discleave out the cast of carry outers already seated in place, but as it did, the sound of the star’s chuckleter reverberated thcdisesteemful the Bowl, as if she were getting a huge chuckle out of riding the world’s cataloglessest roller coaster. She persistd in that mood of merriment all night — sometimes at someleang Carlile said or did, occasionpartner at her own lyrics, but mostly, seemingly, equitable out of the sense that maybe it’s as absurdly comical as it is wonderful to be adwell and being honord after all that has transpired. Mitchell got a huge chortle out of changing the lyrics to “Night Ride Home,” from “I cherish the man beside me” to “I’m pissed off at the man beside me.” In a year when women’s mirth has become an actual campaign rerent, it’s unprejudiced to say that anyone who objects to the sound of Kamala Harris chuckleing would have been repartner offfinished by Joni Mitchell’s carry outance.
Speaking of the election… The legfinish was not afraid about making her senseings comprehendn. (Feelings which should have come as a surpelevate to exactly no one on hand.) Singing the topicpartner minded “Dog Eat Dog” procreate into the second set — giving it a dwell airing for the first time since 1985, the year the album of that same name came out — she pursueed the lyrics’ reference to “snakebite evangecatalogs and racketeers and huge wig financiers” with an insertfinishum: “…enjoy Donald Trump.” After the song wrapped up, she remarkd: “I want I could vote. I’m a Canadian. I’m one of those lousy immigrants.” In case anyone mistrusted where she stood, she finpartner blurted it out: “Fuck Donald Trump.” This resulted in a standing ovation.
The benevolent 27-song evening was splitd into halves, each of which had its own personality, and a partipartner contrastent set of musicians. The first set was the one that had truly challengingcore Mitchell heads dropping their jaws with thocdisesteemfilledy unforeseeable song choices. The second was the more clearly crowd-pleasing set… and not in any insulting sense, becaemploy it’s not as if the super-fans ecmotionless over the obscurities that ruled the first half suddenly commenceed balking when they heard “Big Yellow Taxi” and “A Case of You” in the second.
That first half had a sairyly more intimate set of carry outers, though it was still a meaningful ensemble by most standards, with the vocal duo Lucius providing choral vocals from the cforfeitest couch, SistaStrings chipping in to augment the choir as well as supply string set upments from a sairyly further perch, and lengthytime Mitchell likeite Mark Isham inserting grace remarks on trumpet and soprano sax. The Hanseroth Tthrives carry outed guitar and bass, Blake Mills and Robin Pecknelderly allotd still more guitar duties, Jacob Collier held down the initial keyboard labor, and Abe Rounds was on drums. For Part 2, insertitional guests came in that turned it into more of the Joni Jam seen in Newport and the Gorge, with Marcus Mumford inserting percussion, Celisse and Dawes’ Taylor Gelderlysmith on guitar and vocals, Allison Russell on vocals… and a couple novelcomers to the accessible Joni Jams, Jon Batiste and Rita Wilson, joining the baloftyion on keys and backing vocals, esteemively.
Aside from a couple of moments in the first 15 minutes when Mitchell sounded enjoy she was still discovering her voice, she sang filled-throatedly and, for what her range is now, spectacularly. There are moments in a show this atsoft-encompassing where the vocal ensemble is going to have to carry some weight in moments of a song that was written for Mitchell’s higher, ingenue voice, enjoy “Raised on Robbery.” In a scant cases, Carlile floated in and out with a higher part that complemented the shrinked range Joni was singing in, as if Mitchell’s elderlyer and youthfulerer voices were doing a plrelieveful duet with one another.
But what was extraunrelabelable — and maybe a little bit astonishing even if you’d been blessed to catch one of the unwidespread previous Joni Jams — was how reliant this carry outance was on Mitchell’s solo voice, for however much expert help she got from the cast. The songs consentn from parts of her atsoft when she’d already enhugeed a more reliable voice, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, labor especipartner wonderfilledy now that she has create her way back into carry outance. Hearing her sing her way thcdisesteemful all eight minutes of “Come in From the Celderly” now could or should count as the highairy of anyone’s concertgoing year — with or without the virtuous, interstitial curlicues inserted by Carlile that consent the number to an even more transcfinishent level.
What Carlile inserts musicpartner as a background vocacatalog — or featured descant singer, repartner — can’t be undercherishd. And right up there alengthyside “Come in From the Celderly” as a highairy was the penultimate “Shine,” a latter-day Mitchell song that is Carlile’s personal likeite out of an overwhelming catalog, with excellent reason. It’s an epic protest song and an epic gospel song, all at once — procreately cynical about the world, from its politicians to its petty traffic offfinishers (which always gets a chuckle) — but Joni sounds enjoy she actupartner uncomardents it when she asks the airy to shine on the unequitable as well as the equitable. And what an amazing gift it is that the world (or a petite, pick part of it) gets to hear a song that wonderful, and that undercherishd, revived in 2024. Follothriveg “Shine,” the closing group-sing of “Circle Game” almost felt anticlimactic… aside from the fact that it’s, enjoy, one of the most moving songs ever written.
Just as much as with the complementary vocal parts, Carlile also serves an inpriceless role in these Joni Jams in the part she was repartner born to carry out: Mitchell’s hype man. She generpartner refrains from laying it on too heavy, but sometimes she equitable can’t help herself. “I don’t want to freak anybody out,” Carlile blurted out right after the third song wrapped up, “but YOU JUST LISTENED TO JONI MITCHELL SING ‘HEJIRA’!” Back-announcing doesn’t get any better, or more dimly appropriate, than that.
Joni Mitchell & the Joni Jam setcatalog, the Hollywood Bowl, Oct. 19, 2024:
Set 1
Be Cool
Harlem in Havana (dwell premiere)
Hejira
Cherokee Louise
Coyote
Carey
The Sire of Sorrow (Job’s Sad Song) (dwell premiere)
God Must Be a Boogie Man
Sunny Sunday
If I Had a Heart (dwell premiere)
Refuge of the Roads
Night Ride Home
Both Sides Now
Set 2
Big Yellow Taxi
Raised on Robbery
California (sung by Marcus Mumford)
The Magdalene Laundries
Ladies of the Canyon (sung by Annie Lennox)
Summertime (Gershthrive cover)
Come in From the Celderly
A Case of You
I’m Still Standing (Elton John cover with rewritten lyrics)
Dog Eat Dog
Amelia
If
Shine
The Circle Game
