Folk icon Joni Mitchell made a surprise appearance during Brandi Carlile and Friends‘ set at Newport Folk Festival on Sunday. What began as a sit-in ended up being a full Joni Mitchell concert, marking the Kennedy Center Honors recipient’s first full show since 2000 and her first performance at Newport Folk Festival since 1969.
Brandi Carlile opened her set with a cast of friends featuring Allison Russell, Jess Wolfe, and Holly Laessig of Lucius, Blake Mills, Taylor Goldsmith, Marcus Mumford, and Wynonna Judd in addition to her bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth and Celisse Henderson. She made an impassioned appeal to the crowd about the power of folk music and the community it creates before declaring, “This scene shall be forever known henceforth as the Joni jam!” referring to the fraternity of artists who have communed at the folk legend’s L.A. home as she has made her return to music after suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015. Carlile, who has done a lot to promote Mitchell’s music in recent years including performing tribute concerts and writing liner notes for the elder musician’s archival series, then welcomed the 78-year-old Mitchell to the stage.
The ensemble went on to play a set featuring some of Joni Mitchell’s most popular songs, beginning with a singalong rendition of “Carey” on which she sang only a few lines. She then took charge of the performance as the band traversed classics like “Big Yellow Taxi”, “Amelia”, “Help Me”, which featured a guitar solo from Celisse, and Gershwin‘s “Summertime”, as well as newer compositions like “Shine” and “Come in From the Cold”.
During Court and Spark‘s “Just Like This Train”, she drew emotional reactions from the crowd as she strapped on an electric guitar and performed a long, solo interlude—a skill she has had to relearn since her brain aneurysm—and between songs she regaled the audience with stories of her illustrious career, including one about the cross-country trip in a “bad Mercedes” that inspired her mid-’70s classic, Hejira, and another about meeting fellow jazz-folk innovator Tim Hardin along with a cappella group the Persuasions, who ended up joining her for the Shadows and Light tour. The band concluded the set with “The Circle Game”, a song Mitchell performed at the festival 55 years prior.
Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile sat down with CBS News to discuss the historic performance and Joni’s harrowing recovery. Watch the interview here, and check out photos and fan-shot videos from her triumphant return to the Newport Folk Festival stage with Brandi Carlile and Friends below.
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Setlist | Joni Mitchell With Brandi Carlile And Friends | Newport Folk Festival | 7/24/22
Set: Carey, Come in From the Cold, Help Me, A Case of You, Big Yellow Taxi, Just Like This Train, Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers), Amelia [1], Love Potion #9, Shine, Summertime (George Gershwin), Both Sides Now, The Circle Game
Note: COYOTE JAM set announced day of with artist unknown; renamed JONI JAM; artists onstage included Alison Russell, Blake Mills, Hanseroth Twins, Josh Neumann, Kyleen King, Lucius, Shooter Jennings, Sista Strings, Marcus Mumford, Taylor Goldsmith, Wynona Judd, Celisse Henderson.