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It feels silly to ask why its overwhelming to seeJoni Mitchellperforming in 2022.
The question contains its own answer.
Overwhelming is a given.
You drag your feet to slow the circle down.
The performance from Newport is not that.
For one, Mitchells voice has changed enough that theres no dislocating feeling of uncanny comparison.
Mitchells songs, and the way she performs them now, are cumulative.
They only collect more associations and more meanings with time.
Theres a fitting, flower-child sentimentality to that image.
And yet the most moving thing about Mitchells performance is so much simpler.
She seems to be having afantastictime.
She begins dancing in her chair as Big Yellow Taxi starts playing.
I want to be good, Mitchell said after the performance.
And I wasnt sure I could be.
But I didnt sound too bad tonight!
