Ten years ago she was a little-known barroom singer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Tuesday night, 15,000 people jammed the University of Georgia Coliseum craving her music.

For Joni Mitchell, 1O years may mean more than success: it is a time of accepted progression keeping her alive in a rock scene which can rapidly change one from chart topper to discount-dollar rack dweller.

At Tuesday night's concert, Mitchell displayed her progress with new style songs and rejuvenating sass to her old tunes.

Gone is the mellow passion-stinging Mitchell; arising is the jazzy Mitchell, spicy Mitchell, the Mitchell of the heavy brass tones which cascaded the stage with the help of the L.A. Express, her backup group.

"I've had to bump some of the old tunes so I could get some of the newer songs in," she told the audience who was ranting old requests like "Both Sides Now."

She didn't play it, or "Woodstock," or any other of her past A.M. radio sellers.

Mainly, she stuck to her newer albums, relying heavily on her recent "Hissing of Summer Lawns."

"Shades of Scarlet Conquering," "Edith and the Kingpin," and "Harry's House" were selected from her new album, which shows some strains of the old Mitchell but with too much jazz seasoning to grab the flashback taste of her bygone sweet piano and dulcimer melodies.

She also played heavily upon "Court and Spark," her last album which began her association with L.A. Express and brought her new life in the music scene she had been absent from, album-wise, for two years.

"Raised on Robbery" and "Twist," racy delvings into worlds of prostitution and insanity respectfully, rounded out the concert.

"You got to be crazy in tis world, otherwise you're not going to make it," she told the audience and then left the stage.

If some missed the old Mitchell, they were a minority lost in the thunder of applause and screams.