In 2023, Joni Mitchell will return to the stage for her first headline show in 23 years.
The news of Mitchell’s live return first came during Brandi Carlile’s appearance on The Daily Show, as Pitchfork reported, with the artist telling host Trevor Noah that Mitchell would be taking to the stage in Grant County, Washington next June. Carlile will perform her own show in the city on Friday June 9, taking to the stage at the 27,500-capacity Gorge Amphitheatre – during her interview with Noah, she dropped the news that Mitchell will play the same venue the following night.
The show has since been confirmed, according to the Guardian. The two-night event, called Echoes through the Canyon and known as Joni Jam II, will be Mitchell’s first headline show since June 2, 2000, when she capped off her full North American tour in Camden, New Jersey.
She’s since performed a handful of one-off sets at festivals and other events – five in total, two of which took place year. Her first public performance since 2013 came at a benefit gala for MusiCares, where she was bestowed with their 2022 Person Of The Year award.
July then saw Mitchell performing a surprise set at the Newport Music Festival – which she last appeared at in 1969 – delivering a 13-song “Joni Jam” set that featured Carlile on the tracks “Carey”, “A Case Of You” (for which Marcus Mumford was also welcomed out) and “Big Yellow Taxi”.
Also in her interview with Noah, Carlile revealed that Mitchell had been hosting these jam sessions in private for several years, forming part of her recovery from a brain aneurysm suffered in 2015.