Joni Mitchell Hollywood Bowl Concert, Night One Review

The moon is shining bright over the Hollywood Bowl and Joni Mitchell lets out a laugh.

It’s the first of two sold-out Joni Jam concerts at the outdoor venue, her first headlining concert in Los Angeles in over 24 years; a couple years since Mitchell returned to the stage at the Newport Folk Festival, a year after her first ticketed concert in two decades at the Gorge — and about nine years after a brain aneurysm nearly killed her and sent her to the hospital. But for close to three hours on Saturday night, Mitchell delivered a landmark concert filled with stunning classics, thrilling deep cuts, and laughter in between.

Surrounded by her Joni Jam band — Brandi Carlile, Jacob Collier, Lucius, Blake Mills, Robin Pecknold, and others — Mitchell sat on a throne-like armchair as the musical royalty she is. Mitchell’s set felt like it could’ve been plucked out of an intimate hangout with friends nearby over in Laurel Canyon.

For instance, there was a lamp sitting on a side table next to Mitchell, with plenty of other vintage-looking furniture spread around the stage. The incredible duo Lucius sat on couch, while Brandi Carlile sat next to the music legend most of the show, acting as a thoughtful fan and host of the evening, making sure everyone knew just how special each and every moment was. That is, when Carlile wasn’t also singing her heart out. (“I’m honored to have her as a friend because she brought me out of retirement,” Mitchell would say later in the night.)

A couple songs into the show, Mitchell played the title track from her classic Hejira. “I don’t wanna freak anybody out, but you just listened to Joni Mitchell sing ‘Hejira,’” Carlile said, as she and Mitchell laughed over the crowd’s applause.
 
“Joni, look at that crowd,” Carlile said.

Mitchell launched into “Cherokee Louise,” then came “Coyote,” the Hejira stunner inspired by Sam Shepard that opened the 1976 classic LP and appeared in the Band’s farewell show documentary The Last Waltz. “No regrets, coyote,” Mitchell sang, with the Bowl stage cast in a warm, orange hue and lamps glowing behind the band.
 
“Y’all ready for a singalong?” Carlile soon asked the fans, later assuring them they knew it. Of course, they did. With more laughter and cheers, Joni and the Jam proceeded to strum through a cheerful “Carey” from the 1971 masterpiece Blue.
 
Next, Mitchell delivered the live debut of “Sire of Sorrow,” the closing track from Mitchell’s 1994 release Turbulent Indigo. “That’s the first time I ever played that before because I’ve never had background singers,” Mitchell said, with a laugh. “That’s the story of Job — ‘Job’s Sad Song.’”
 
“She was worried it’d make you feel sad,” Carlile said, “so she asked us to follow it up with this next one.” Mitchell and the Joni Jam dug deep into the crate — back to 1979’s Mingus — for the next tune, “God Must Be a Boogey Man,” followed by a string of treasures from the singer-songwriter’s later catalogue, from “Sunny Sunday” to “If I Had a Heart.”
 
“What do you think,” Carlile said, “should we lay one more on ‘em, boss, before we spin around?”

The stage lights dimmed — it was time for “Both Sides Now.” “But now old friends are acting strange / They shake their heads and they tell me, Joni you’ve changed / Well, something’s lost, but something’s gained, in living every day” Mitchell sang, laughing as the crowd roared and the song swelled into the overwhelming, emotional chorus of one of the legend’s most beloved songs — closing out the first set of the night.

A half hour later, the stage spun around again, revealing Mitchell still sitting in her chair in the middle of the rotating floor. Mitchell and her Joni Jam — now joined by Taylor Goldsmith, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Marcus Mumford, Celisse, Annie Lennox (who later joined Mitchell for a powerful rendition of “Ladies of the Canyon”), Allison Russell, Rita Wilson, and Jon Batiste — got the Bowl up and dancing with “Big Yellow Taxi.”

After the song, Carlile explained that the crew had started jamming around five-and-a-half to six years ago “sitting in Joni’s living room, and she didn’t use to sing with us — we used to just sing her songs to her, which is bloody terrifying. And then she just started singing, more and more and more until she sounded like this,” Carlile laughed, before asking Mumford to join Mitchell for the next tune: a soulful, electric guitar-backed take on the Blue favorite “California.”

The second half moved right along with “Magdalene Laundries,” the Lennox-featuring “Ladies of the Canyon,” “Come in From the Cold,” the Elton John and Bernie Taupin song “I’m Still Standing” (the version with Mitchell’s rewritten lyrics, of course), and the slow-burning standard “Summertime.” 


“You just sang the shit out of that, Joni,” Carlile said, after Mitchell played “Summertime.” “She knows too.”

After performing “Come in From the Cold,” Carlile offered a warning: “Joni’s about to destroy us right now, guys,” the songwriter told the audience. Collier sat at the piano and Mitchell began to sing “A Case of You” in her smooth alto. A silence fell over the Bowl, with the crowd hanging on to every lyric and note for one of the most moving, spiritual moments of the night.

Later in the set, Mitchell performed “Dog Eat Dog” from the Eighties album of the same name, referencing Donald Trump after the “big wig financiers” lyrics.

“Everybody get out there and vote, this is an important one,” Mitchell told the crowd. She added, “I wish I could vote, I’m a Canadian — I’m one of those ‘lousy immigrants,’” Mitchell joked. “Well, you just made about 17,000 people vote,” Carlile responded, “so I’d say you did your part.”