I have had the pleasure of seeing Joni live twice. Once in 1972 in Ohio
while in college. She toured briefly with Paul Simon and James Taylor in a
benefit for Democrat Presidential candidate George McGovern who ran
unsuccessfully against Tricky Dick. I could not believe the good fortune of
being able to see three of my faves on the same stage. I remember praying
that she would sing all of Ladies of the Canyon and Blue, two of my well
worn LP's at the time(as well as Sweet Baby James.) Indeed, she played a few
of them, but as I recall she presented some of her "For the Roses" material.
I have since learned that this was immediately following her early
retirement to BC where she wrote FTR in response to JT's imminent foray to
stardom and their breakup.
The second time was last October at the Toronto Hommage. My pal,
Betty and I had tickets in the front row # 30 something. Having no idea what
the stage set-up would be, we thought we'd be far to the side somewhere.
When we walked in and saw there was another row of seats in front of us, we
were slightly indignant since we paid for FRONT row. I quickly decided to
check out what kind of tags were on this extra row of seats. When I saw what
was on these tags I literally became faint. Joni Mitchell was seated
immediately in front of Betty and me. Klein (to my right) was seated in
front of Coyote Rick, and Killauren was seated in front of Jimmy. When they
were all escorted in and sat down I honestly thought I was going to expire
right then and there. I tried to contain myself and calm my loudly beating
heart and not gasp too loudly. I was so overcome I shook and cried and
melted down. Thank God Coyote Rick grabbed me to keep me upright. Tears well
up in my eyes now just thinking about it.
She was a mere 18 inches from me throughout the entire Hommage. I was
able to hear her every utterance to Klein and her reactions to the
performers, the music, and the video clips. She moved in her quirky rhythmic
manner in response to some of the music. I memorized every hair on her head
and every fold of her Issy outfit. I wanted to put my arms around her and
tell her what she meant to me, but it was more important to honor her
privacy.
When she ascended to the stage, it was impossible to digest that I had
just shared her air space for over an hour. When she performed some of the
selections from her new CD, she looked right down at Klein to get his
direction on some things, which was right in front of us again. She was
brilliant, witty, and vibrant and so gracious with that little nod she gives
when receiving honor. When it was all over, she descended the stage to be
escorted out with her entourage and it was then that Betty and I spoke of
our love to her. She replied with genuine gratitude. My life is complete. I
am not sure I could move for awhile after that, but Rick did. He
surreptitiously removed Joni's name label and grabbed her leftover program
and slid them in my lap. You are the best, Coyote, even if you did have to
listen to me sing along with her to your song.
Much Joni, Janine
