Joni Mitchell to perform first full concert in over two decades
The event will be the singer’s first complete live performance since her near-fatal brain aneurysm in 2015.
Image: Douglas Mason/Getty
Joni Mitchell will be returning to the stage next year, marking the folk-rock icon’s first full concert in over twenty years.
The performance is set to take place on 10 June 2023, at Washington’s Gorge Amphitheatre.
The announcement was made by Brandi Carlile, a close friend and collaborator of Mitchell’s, during an interview on The Daily Show earlier this week (19 October), and has now been confirmed by Mitchell’s team via social media.
“[Joni] said, ‘I want to play again,’” Carlile told the show’s host, Trevor Noah. “Joni Mitchell is going to play. No one’s been able to buy a ticket to see Joni Mitchell play in 20 years.”
Carlile’s relationship with the singer-songwriter developed following a series of “Joni Jams”, an event in which numerous musicians came together to play alongside the musician as she recovered from her health issues.
Thrilled to announce Joni’s return to the big stage headlining Saturday night at ‘Echoes Through The Canyon' at the Gorge Amphitheatre on June 10th, 2023. pic.twitter.com/nkQvPZKngi
— Joni Mitchell (@jonimitchell) October 20, 2022
While it comes as a somewhat of a surprise that the musician is ready for a full concert quite so soon, Mitchell’s eagerness to return to the stage has become increasingly clear over recent months.
Earlier this year, the musician played two of her tracks after receiving the MusicCare Person Of The Year Award and also made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, performing a full set for unsuspecting fans.
The latter, Carlile says, was the moment she realised Mitchell was making extensive progress following the aneurysm, which initially left her struggling to both speak and walk. Stating how seeing the musician perform at Newport caught her off guard, she told The Today Show:
“She just started singing… We had rehearsed the songs ourselves and we didn’t know whether we should stop or what we should do, you know – so we just sang with her.”
Mitchell’s last official headline shows took place over twenty years ago, during her Both Sides Now tour in 2000.
Tickets for Joni Mitchell’s upcoming performance go on sale next Friday (28 October), pre-sale options are also available. Brandi Carlile will join Mitchell on stage for the event.