Okay, continuing the series of complete Joni concerts, I offer up here a newly-fixed version of an immaculate stereo soundboard recording of Joni on her 1983 tour. If you dismissed Joni after the 70s, you ought to check this out--at least listen to the sample below. In 1983, Joni embarked on her "Refuge" tour (I've included a scan of one of the backstage passes in the torrent). Backed by a band which included new husband Larry Klein on bass, Russell Ferrante on keyboards, Michael Landau on guitar, and Vinnie Colaiuta on the drums, Joni changed from the Jaco-Metheny stretched-out style to a more rock-based sound, though still with lots of jazz influence--sort of in a Steely Dan vein. (For those who are not familiar with these altered presentations, most can be seen in the 1983 video "Refuge of the Roads".)

This particular set comes from an really nice soundboard of the whole show, marred only by some SBEs in the original set, some funny track changes (a bit of D1T12 at the beginning of D2T1), and a lack of any fade-ins/outs, making the beginnings and ends a bit abrupt. I have fixed all of these problems, so what you should have is a gapless, mostly seamless show. There are a few audience noise transitions which are audible (i.e., the taper pressed pause and then restarted when the audience was at a slightly different volume). These can be "smoothed" but I generally don't like to alter the actual sound of the sources--seems too subjective, what I like may not be what you like. My only cosmetic changes were to fade in audience noise at the beginning and end of each disc, over audience sounds in 3 of 4 cases, and over drum re-mic-ing for D2T1. No music was removed or altered.

Performance highlights include "Cotton Avenue," which is not as good as a straight-out rock number, but such a great, overlooked Joni tune that the new interpretation is a revelation. "Edith And The Kingpin" is brilliant as always. "A Case Of You" is not reworked at all, and Joni just nails it vocally, with the wisdom/wearinesss in her post-70s voice perfectly fitting the bittersweet lyrics. Low point (for me): "You're So Square." Never could figure out that choice, and the arrangement is just ugly. Finishes up with a great, upbeat "Solid Love" though, so all is well.

Overall, this one is a keeper.

Enjoy!

--Doc

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JONI MITCHELL
1983-07-30
Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO

SBD > ? > wav > shn > shntools (no SBEs) > wav > goldwave (fades at beginning and end of each disc, over audience noise or [D2T1] tuning/mic setup) > flac6

Disc 1
01. Coyote
02. Free Man In Paris
03. Cotton Avenue
04. Edith And The Kingpin
05. You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio
06. You Dream Flat Tires
07. Sharon
08. God Must Be A Boogie Man
09. Real Good For Free
10. Big Yellow Taxi
11. A Case Of You
12. Announcement

Disc 2
01. Wild Things Run Fast
02. Sweet Bird
03. Banquet
04. Raised On Robbery
05. Refuge Of The Road
06. Your So Square
07. Solid Love