Joni Mitchell Stuns Giant Stadium With ‘Hejira’ Performance In 1986

Joni Mitchell Stuns Giant Stadium With ‘Hejira’ Performance In 1986 | I Love Classic Rock Videos

via Classic Rock on MV / YouTube

There’s no denying that Joni Mitchell is one of the greatest musicians that we know. Her poetic lyrics, magnificent aura, and her ability to create something out of anything are simply the things that we admire about her. Yet, her musical greatness does not merely focus on her theatrical lyrics, but also, she is one great performer.

Her 8th album Hejira spurred the experimental side of Mitchell, who wanted to explore the world of jazz music on her songs. Among the song highlights is “Hejira,” which shares the same name as its album.

In this 1986 performance of the song, Mitchell delivers a sweet, melancholic style of singing. Feeling all the emotions of the song, the singer calmly strums the guitar she’s provided, and the instrumental that surrounds the whole song is also feeling the simplicity of the orchestration. Much like how Mitchell would’ve wanted it.

Yet albeit the simple structure, Mitchell admitted that this was the hardest tune that she had to write for the whole album. Though the prominent bass was provided by Jaco Pastorius, he wasn’t present in this performance, although the bassist assigned executed it in a neat manner. Altogether, the jam that they did was mesmerizing.

The video below was filmed during the 1986 Conspiracy of Hope concert held at the Giants stadium. You can check out the rest of the performance here.