[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> God, I'd almost forgotten about John Kelly -- I saw him here in SF in 93(?).
> Glad to hear he's still doing his Early Joni shtick. He promised way back
> then he'd eventually start work on the next segment of JM's work. I assume
> that's what "Shiny Hot Nights" is?
Yes, it's his next Joni show. He mentioned that he was working on it and
tried out "For the Roses" with the forewarning that he hadn't performed
it yet in front of an audience. It was very tentatively done and a
couple times he asked for help from the audience on the lyrics, and
completely left out the "guess I seem ungrateful" verse. He seemed
relieved when he finally finished the song; it was sweet and very
special to be allowed into his creative process. He did mention that
he'll be using a VG-8, calling it a "VG-8 thing" and briefly explaining
it means pushing a button rather than having guitars all over the stage.
Very cool, Michael Paz, that you're helping him with it.
The new show will be at Fez in NYC for five Saturday nights starting in
mid-October. I wonder if Joni will again celebrate her birthday there.
It is that time of year. I imagine that John's Paved Paradise helped to
get Joni interested in performing again. There's an article on jmdl.com
in which she talks about seeing his performance in 1996(?) and watching
people react to her music. I got the impression that for the first time
she could experience her music as her audience does, and appreciate it
instead of taking it all for granted. After that she started doing
individual shows, and then a tour, and all of a sudden she was visible
again. I don't think his show was the only influence; her improved
health and getting the VG-8 added to her being able to tour, but I was
struck when reading the article that it seemed she experienced her music
anew by watching his show and was inspired by that. So, thank you, John.
Paved Paradise was much more of a performance piece than I expected,
rather than just mimicking Joni, although there was plenty of that, as
in hearing the words about "...the more out of tune voices the better"
said with Joni's Canadian accent, and then everyone joined in singing
the Circle Game. I was surprised at how emotional that made me, even
teary-eyed, to be among so many other Joni fans. It was a brief "oh my,
how time has flown" reaction too. Not only is that what the song is all
about, but I was also in my old neighborhood and from the garden could
almost look into the back window of my first apartment in NYC, a
"cold-water flat" with the bathtub in the kitchen and $120 a month rent.
I got a lot of painting done there. Back then, almost 20 years ago,
there were lots of burned out and abandoned buildings, and heavy drugs
being bought and sold and even used right on the streets, and the little
safe-feeling garden we were all sitting in didn't exist. It feels like
it was yesterday.
Anyway, John Kelly went into and out of the Joni persona, which I found
very interesting, and also used some goofy props like a twirling
chicken and a huge sunflower-covered hat. I also liked hearing "Joni"
talk about capturing love and holding onto it for a while and then it
flies away. I'd never heard that story before. It was very touching.
So it was an enjoyable, and complex, evening for me. I'm looking forward
to seeing Shiny Hot Nights in October.
In the opening scenes of the tv show "NYPD Blue" there's a brief shot of
a huge wooden sculpture and I always wondered where that was. It's in
that garden so that was a wonderful surprise, being able to see that
close up, even though it was in the dark. Looking up toward the top of
it I looked even higher and saw that the stars were visible, which is
rare here. Then I got into a conversation about the stars with someone
nearby holding his baby, and he pointed out Mars and an unusually bright
star he said he can usually see, and then I walked over to 5th Street to
see if my old building was still there. And it was, cleaned up and
changed a bit but still recognizable. I'm glad I could recognize it but
also glad I don't live there anymore.
Debra Shea
