Bye bye, Joni Mitchell…

by Michel Caspary
24 heures
April 20, 1983

Translated from French by Lori Reason

The news, totally unexpected, fell yesterday afternoon: the wonderful American singer Joni Mitchell will not come to Lausanne on 29 April as planned. The organizers of this unique and first Swiss concert, VSP (Geneva) and Good News (Zurich), have not yet received any explanation from the artist's managers and tour operators, but already specify that tickets can be refunded in the usual rental locations.

For the organizers, they told us yesterday, as for the connaisseur, it was with amazement and consternation that we had to accept this disappointment. Joni Mitchell at Lausanne was the musical event of the year. Musician, composer and author of rare poetic sensibility and originality, with a voice of flexibility to make the Vatican dance, Joni Mitchell worked and surrounded herself with the best jazz and jazz-rock musicians. She has recorded more than one masterpiece, including "Mingus", "Shadows and Light", and "Wild Things Run Fast". In the United States, Wembley, in London is seen as a sacred monster, and this weekend, Wembley has sold out three evenings in a row. On the continent, Joni Mitchell is still not saying much to the general public. On Monday, only five hundred seats had sold for her show in Beaulieu - one third of the capacity of the hall, but the ad campaign had just begun. Is this one of the reasons that prompted Joni Mitchell's managers to cancel the concert? Probably. Especially since, for them, the Swiss market probably represents a breadcrumb. Distressing attitude towards the work of the organizers, and of an audience that rejoiced in her concert as an unexpected miracle.


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