While Joni Mitchell had made a few one-off appearances around this time, she hadn’t actually committed to a tour in more than a decade. Secondly, Turbulent Indigo was the revered singer-songwriter’s first album in three years, and first for Reprise Records since 1971. So Joni Mitchell s informal show in the Griffith Park facility’s Wells Fargo Theater was promoted by local triple-A station KCSA-FM and featured a selection of nearly two hundred invited guests. Here, Mitchell confirms once again that she’s an artist with a promising future as well as a celebrated past. Never one to rest on her illustrious laurels, she opens with Refuge of the Roads from Hejira, before making her way through a loosely thematic set of songs emphasizing her recent oeuvre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdOxS6aWuO4&list=PLcelsvB9aaTKWwGFsYRaD8JTH9056no1Q
I was surprised to see this product which is a radio concert from January 1995. Anything new from Joni Mitchell is worthy of investigation and here she was promoting the Turbulent Indigo album in front of just 200 invited guests and prize winners at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Los Angeles with a, for this period, rare fully acoustic performance. It’s an intimate setting which informs some of the inter-song stories, charmingly told and revealing too. To hear Joni live from this period is a treat indeed, with “Refuge Of The Roads”, “Hejira” and “Song For Sharon” being especially welcome to these ears. The concert is clear, though with evident background hiss and a radio ident towards the end between tracks, revealing its origins, and at 72 minutes good value too. For someone who has spent many happy hours listening to “Miles Of Aisles” and “Shadows And Light” finally hearing a later concert to compare these with is a find. Recommend for any Joni Mitchell fans.
Track listing
1. Refuge of the roads
2. Being Roy (rap)
3. Sex kills
4. Moon at the window
5. Night ride home
6. Loves cries
7. Yvette in English
8. Cherokee Louiseq
9. Sunny Sunday (rap)
10. Hejira
11. Just like this train
12. Happiness is the best facelift
13. Song for Sharon
The Fat Angel Sings 