Joni Mitchell Has a Vegas Evening as Brandi Carlile, Jon Batiste and All-Star Cast Offer Three-Hour Salute for MusiCares
variety.comChris Willman Music WriterWith due respect to Joni Mitchell’s lyrical prowess, never were there less prophetic words than “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” — if only for the due that Mitchell herself is receiving while she is around to take it in.
The queen of singer-songwriters got what may be the best of all possible salutes Friday night, feted and serenaded in a three-hour tribute concert that capped MusiCares’ annual pre-Grammy MusiCares fundraising dinner.And even though the event, like the Grammy telecast itself, was transported to Las Vegas this year, with the main ballroom at the MGM Grand Conference Center sitting in for MusiCares’ usual L.A.
Convention Center setting, the California-centric mood of Mitchell’s music wasn’t much affected by the shift in locale… Luck, be a lady of the canyon tonight. “That was such an exciting musical evening for me, to hear my music performed so well by everybody that was on stage,” said the “Chelsea Morning” singer, enjoying her Vegas evening. “I could retire now and just let other people do it.” The irony in that is that she has been assumed retired since suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015, yet there are frequent reports that she has been a cheerful singer at house parties, and in fact the MusiCares show provided a too-brief hint that the world may not have heard the utter last of her voice yet.As potent as the three hours of performances by an all-star cast were, Mitchell managed to provide the highlight just with a single line.
The legend has not appeared very often in public settings since suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015, and has sometimes been in a wheelchair when she has gone out.
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