I only saw Joni live once and that was in 1976 but i am so glad that I did. I did not realize at the time that it would probably be the only time in my life that I would ever see her perform. Anyway, I've been thinking about what to write about that concert.
I wish I had it all stored right in my head, but you know it was (I just did the math) 27 years ago, so it's not a whole video, just images or moments that fit into a larger scenario. Anyway, I do remember being really close. This is when great artists/musicians could actually play for people. I remember being awestricken. I remember Joni being very thin and noticeing that, thinking she was too thin. I know she wore black pants. I clearly her remember sitting at the piano. And I remember her introducing and performing "Coyote" as a new song. Andrea I saw Joni perform on that same tour. I think Joni wore the same, or similar, black slacks at the show I attended, in January or February I think at the University of Cincinnati Fieldhouse (a building now gone, I think). The place was over-sold (it's amazing the fire marshall didn't shut the show down, people were sitting in the aisles) and there was a lot of controversy about the promoter overselling the house and perhaps moving the show to a larger venue. Anyway, Joni didn't say a word that night, other than asking the audience something like "So, are you guys a little crazy?" as a way of introducing Twisted. She wore a feather boa while doing Raised on Robbery. She laughed a little while singing "the wind rushed around in the dirty town" in For Free, perhaps a comment on how she viewed Cincinnati. She was indeed very thin. I remember she announced some new material and then sang a long medley of Coyote and DJRD (which sounded very similar to each other at that time, the final arrangements hadn't been worked out, and DJRD lacked Jaco's incredible bass performance). Anyway, I remember thinking Joni seemed rather distant and vulnerable, while being kind of "icy." But I loved that, it added to the Siquomb mystique. During that tour, Rolling Stone published a scathingly negative concert review that included a very awful photo of Joni looking very skeletal and wraith-like. Anyway, I was very young and impressionable at the time (still in high school) and I think it was my first concert. Obviously, it had quite an impact... Bryan
