Wesley Morris

So when more of these Joanie jams got scheduled at the Hollywood Bowl, I knew I had to get myself on a plane to hear her with my own ears and see her with my own eyes. I also knew my friend Sasha Weiss was going. Sasha's a writer and my editor at The Times Magazine, and we talk a lot. And I wanted to ask her what it felt like to be there at one of these shows. We went on different nights.

So when more of these Joanie jams got scheduled at the Hollywood Bowl, I knew I had to get myself on a plane to hear her with my own ears and see her with my own eyes. I also knew my friend Sasha Weiss was going. Sasha's a writer and my editor at The Times Magazine, and we talk a lot. And I wanted to ask her what it felt like to be there at one of these shows. We went on different nights.

She went on Saturday. I went on Sunday. And I wanted to talk about who Joni Mitchell is to her and how it feels to experience an 80-year-old in full command of her meaning. Hi, Sasha. Hi, Wesley. How are you? I'm good. I want to talk about the concert, obviously, but before we do that, I just, I gotta ask you what your relationship to Joni Mitchell is. Like, what's your first Joni Mitchell moment?

She went on Saturday. I went on Sunday. And I wanted to talk about who Joni Mitchell is to her and how it feels to experience an 80-year-old in full command of her meaning. Hi, Sasha. Hi, Wesley. How are you? I'm good. I want to talk about the concert, obviously, but before we do that, I just, I gotta ask you what your relationship to Joni Mitchell is. Like, what's your first Joni Mitchell moment?

She's a traveler.

She's a traveler.

All I want is, you know, the first line is... I'm on a lonely road and I'm traveling, yeah. Traveling, traveling, traveling.

All I want is, you know, the first line is... I'm on a lonely road and I'm traveling, yeah. Traveling, traveling, traveling.

Yep. It's sort of doing a parallel bar routine where like it goes from a low bar to the high bar, flips around a little bit, goes back down, comes up and then sticks the landing every time.

Yep. It's sort of doing a parallel bar routine where like it goes from a low bar to the high bar, flips around a little bit, goes back down, comes up and then sticks the landing every time.

What does that look like?

What does that look like?

Oh, my God. We just started talking and my eyes are already welling up. Okay, I first heard Joni Mitchell in the 90s because I was listening to this radio station when I was a kid that was really singer-songwriter heavy.

Oh, my God. We just started talking and my eyes are already welling up. Okay, I first heard Joni Mitchell in the 90s because I was listening to this radio station when I was a kid that was really singer-songwriter heavy.

Night Ride Home was my first Joni Mitchell album. I bought a cassette and the voice on it was unlike any of the other people they were playing in this radio station. The voice was deeper than the leaping that you're talking about.

Night Ride Home was my first Joni Mitchell album. I bought a cassette and the voice on it was unlike any of the other people they were playing in this radio station. The voice was deeper than the leaping that you're talking about.

All of that beauty, which I would describe in some ways as young womanish, by 1991 had really solidified into something that moved less but weighed more. There's a song on that album called Passion Play When All the Slaves Are Free. And... It's essentially the sort of song that she had begun to really luxuriate in, which is a kind of moral judgment on the condition of this.

All of that beauty, which I would describe in some ways as young womanish, by 1991 had really solidified into something that moved less but weighed more. There's a song on that album called Passion Play When All the Slaves Are Free. And... It's essentially the sort of song that she had begun to really luxuriate in, which is a kind of moral judgment on the condition of this.

Well, I'm going to say the United States. She's Canadian, lives in Los Angeles, according to her, is her workplace and her home in Western Canada is her home. But she has a real sense of, you know, the way the world is operating and the way the world is different in 1991 from how it was in 1974 or 69 even.

Well, I'm going to say the United States. She's Canadian, lives in Los Angeles, according to her, is her workplace and her home in Western Canada is her home. But she has a real sense of, you know, the way the world is operating and the way the world is different in 1991 from how it was in 1974 or 69 even.