(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . A triumphant return: Joni Mitchell surprises Newport Folk Fest with 1st full set in nearly 20 years [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2022-07-26 This story gives us all reason to hope in these otherwise depressing times. It’s a display of true grit and how with a little help from your friends you can overcome all kinds of adversity. Brandi Carlile & Friends was billed as the closing act at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival. But it turned out that one of the country rocker’s friends was Joni Mitchell—and what a stunned and teary-eyed audience heard was Mitchell performing her first full set in public in nearly 20 years. It was also Mitchell’s first performance at the Newport Folk Festival since 1969. Two years earlier, Judy Collins had introduced the then unknown Mitchell at an afternoon concert featuring up-and-coming singer-songwriters that also included Leonard Cohen, Janis Ian, and Arlo Guthrie. Mitchell performed a short set that included “Chelsea Morning” and “The Circle Game,” receiving a standing ovation. Cohen performed “Suzanne,” which Mitchell described as “one of the greatest songs I ever heard.” “He made me feel humble, because I looked at that song and I went, `Woah. All my songs seem so naive by comparison. It raised the standard of what I wanted to write.” x Leonard Cohen & Joni Mitchell Photography © David Gahr Newport Folk Festival Rhode Island 1967 pic.twitter.com/isW5q3QMhk — MixTape (@music_mix_tape) September 21, 2021 Mitchell and Cohen had a brief affair and during that time she was inspired to write “Rainy Night House” and “A Case of You.” And life came full circle on Sunday night at Newport when the 78-year-old Mitchell performed a 13-song set that closed appropriately with “The Circle Game.” It was her first full-scale public concert since November 2002, when she played the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. It was a triumphant return for Mitchell, who suffered a near fatal brain aneurysm in 2015. She remained largely out of the public eye, but last December she gave a rare public speech as she accepted a Kennedy Center Honor, and in April, made a televised appearance at the Grammys. It was Carlile who encouraged Mitchell to return to the stage at Newport. Over the past few years, Carlile has been closely involved with Mitchell, performing tribute concerts and writing liner notes for Mitchell’s archival recording series. And it was Carlile who organized informal, private “Joni Jams” at Mitchell’s Bel-Air home in which music stars like Elton John, Chaka Khan, the band Lucius, and Harry Styles would stop by to enjoy making music together. At Newport, Carlile created a public “Joni Jam” on a stage that was set up like her California living room. Mitchell came onstage sporting a beret and stylish sunglasses. Her supporting cast of friends included Celisse Henderson, Allison Russell, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of the band Lucius, Blake Mills, Taylor Goldsmith, Marcus Mumford, and Wynonna Judd. The opening number was “Carey,” from Mitchell’s iconic 1971 album Blue, considered one of the greatest albums ever by a female singer-songwriter for its honest look at all facets of relationships. Mitchell went on to perform a set that spanned most of her career, NPR wrote, including her biggest hits like the environmental protest song “Big Yellow Taxi, ”Both Sides Now,” “Amelia,” and “Help Me.” There were songs from later in her career like “Shine,” the title track of her last album of original music released in 2007. And she did some covers—the rock tune “Love Potion No. 9” and the Gershwins’ “Summertime,” reflecting her jazz influences. Mitchell received one of her loudest ovations when she strapped on an electric guitar and performed a guitar solo on “Just Like This Train” from her 1974 album Court and Spark. She told CBS News that she had to teach herself how to play again after the aneurysm. CBS Mornings broadcast a report Monday on Mitchell’s performance at Newport. Correspondent Anthony Mason asked Mitchell, "Are you at all nervous about singing in front of an audience again?" "No, I've never been nervous about being in front of an audience," Mitchell replied. "But I want it to be good. And I wasn't sure I could be. But I didn't sound too bad tonight!" [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/26/2112624/-A-triumphant-return-Joni-Mitchell-surprises-Newport-Folk-Fest-with-1st-full-set-in-nearly-20-years Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/