Joni Mitchell Announces First Headlining L.A. Show in Almost 25 Years
The legendary Canadian singer-songwriter will bring her 'Joni Jam' concert format, featuring Brandi Carlile, to the Hollywood Bowl on October 19, continuing a series of high profile comeback performances.
California, Joni Mitchell is coming home. After nearly 25 years without a headline performance in Los Angeles, the legendary Canadian artist who helped make L.A.'s Laurel Canyon famous will take the stage this fall at the Hollywood Bowl, for a Joni Jam concert featuring Brandi Carlile on October 19.
The concert announcement comes ahead of Mitchell's performance at the Grammys this weekend, a first for the nine-time winner. Mitchell is nominated this year for Best Folk Album, with her live record Joni Mitchell At Newport. The album captures Mitchell's surprise 2022 performance at the Newport Folk Festival, her first public performance following an aneurysm suffered in 2015. That concert sought to recreate a series of sessions, the Joni Jams, that Mitchell had been hosting in her living room, and brought together musicians like Lucius, Marcus Mumford, and Canadian Grammy nominee Allison Russell, to perform classic Mitchell songs.
The 2022 show kicked off a comeback for Mitchell, whose "Both Sides Now" began charting following the performance. Mitchell followed it with three appearances in 2023 — two Joni Jams at the Seattle Gorge in June, featuring guests like Annie Lennox and Blake Mills, as well as a guest appearance at Carlile's Brandi Carlile and Friends concert at the Hollywood Bowl in October.
Mitchell's comeback has been remarkable beyond just the physical feat — Mitchell has had a massive influence on countless musicians, through both her songwriting and musicianship, and her return to the stage marks a chance for artists and fans to honour the icon, who turned 80 last fall. Canadian fans travelled to the Gorge for Mitchell's headlining concerts there last year and will likely do the same for her L.A. performance, to witness as for one night only the Hollywood Bowl stands in for Mitchell's living room.
General sale for the Hollywood Bowl concert starts Friday, but pre-sale is available now.