Joni Mitchell is back in concert as a headliner after 24 years
Joni Mitchell held his first headline concert in Los Angeles after 24 years, featuring numerous rarities. The last concert of the singer of Canadian origins dates back to June 2, 2000 at the Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Center in Camden, New Jersey, the last date of the “Both Side Now Tour”.
Since then some performances on different occasions, limited to a few songs, until 24 June 2022 when she took the stage at Newport Folk Festival for a set of 13 songs
On Saturday 19 October Joni Mitchell (born 1943) returned to the stage for her first headline concert at theHollywood Bowl of Los Angeles after 24 years, live that goes by the name of “Joni Jam”.
To mark the special occasion, he performed several fan favorites that hadn’t been played live in years: some were last performed in 2000 and others as far back as 1985. To kick off the first Joni Jam date in Los Angeles, Mitchell began with “Cool“, last performed in 2000. He then performed some songs live for the first time including “Harlem in Havana” (from the 1998 album “Taming the Tiger”) before moving on to “Hejira“, also last performed in 2000.
Other songs performed for the first time in years included “Cherokee Louise” (first time since ’95), “Coyote” (first since ’01), “God Must Well TO Boogie Man” (first since 1983), “Sunny Sunday” (first since 1995) and others, including the politically significant “Dog Eat Dog“, which he hadn’t performed since 1985.
Other songs that debuted on the show include “The Sire Of Sorrow (Job’s Sad Song)” And “If THE Had TO Heart” (see full setlist below). After performing “Dog Eat Dog,” a fan shouted an insult directed at Donald Trump, to which Mitchell responded, “Fuck Donald Trump.” Mitchell continued: “Everyone go and vote. This is an important vote. I wish I could vote – I’m Canadian. I’m one of those disgusting immigrants.”
Joni Mitchell performed the following evening (October 20) with the same setlist in a second show of her all-star “Joni Jam” at the Hollywood Bowl. On both nights, Mitchell was accompanied by musicians such as Brandi Carlile, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, Annie Lennox, Marcus Mumford, Jon Batiste, Jacob Collier and many others.
Earlier this year, Mitchell won his tenth Grammy Awardfor Best Folk Album with 2023 Live Album “Joni Mitchell at Newport“. The album was recorded on the occasion of the musician’s surprise concert in 2022 at the legendary music festival – which she last attended in 1969 – with a set of 13 songs including “Carey”, “A Case Of You” and “Big Yellow Taxi”.
Joni Mitchell’s Joni Jam Los Angeles 2024: the setlist:
‘Be Cool’ (first time since 2000)
‘Harlem In Havana’ (live debut)
‘Hejira’ (first time since 2000)
‘Cherokee Louise’ (first time since 1995)
‘Coyote’ (first time since 2001)
‘Carey’
‘The Sire Of Sorrow (Job’s Sad Song)’ (live debut)
‘God Must Be A Boogie Man’ (first time since 1983)
‘Sunny Sunday’ (first time since 1995)
‘If I Had A Heart’ (live debut)
‘Refuge Of The Roads’ (first time since 1998)
‘Night Ride Home’
‘Both Sides, Now’
‘Big Yellow Taxi’
‘Raised On Robbery’
‘California’ (with Marcus Mumford)
‘The Magdalene Laundries’ (first time since 1998)
‘Ladies Of The Canyon’ (with Annie Lennox)
‘Summertime’ (George Gershwin cover)
‘Come In From The Cold’
‘A Case Of You’
‘I’m Still Standing’ (Elton John cover)
‘Dog Eat Dog’ (first time since 1985)
‘Amelia’
‘If’
‘Shine’
‘The Circle Game’