Two weekends ago I spent two magical nights at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Central Washington state enjoying the music of two women singer-songwriters I have long admired. What made the weekend even better was that I shared it with two other women I greatly admire — and love more than I can say — my two daughters, Sarah and Jenny. Each of us is drawn to performers whose lyrics poetically and truthfully describe our human condition and whose powerful voices express them beautifully, and Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile (and her bandmates, Phil and Tim Hanseroth) certainly match that definition.

On Friday we enjoyed a mother-daughters four-plus-hour roadtrip from Portland to our lodgings in Ellensburg, the closest accommodations we could get to the remote concert venue, some 45 minutes away. Both girls work and are mothers, so this was a welcome respite from everyday responsibilities for them, and a gift of time with them for me. After checking in, we gathered up our concert gear (snacks, blankets, chairs and rain gear . . . just in case) and headed to the Gorge, enduring a final 30-minute crawl on a two-lane road to the parking lot. Thankfully, security lines moved quickly, and we soon joined the masses headed for the massive bowl overlooking the mighty Columbia River.

Rolling Stone magazine recently ranked the Gorge Amphitheatre third on its list of top U.S. outdoor concert venues, and it’s easy to see why. The venue, with designated seating as well as (mostly) lawn general admission seating, typically holds up to 20,000 patrons who face the open-backed stage at the bottom of the bowl and the massive, 300-foot-high basalt cliffs of the Columbia River Gorge beyond.   Precipitation is rare here in the summer, and temperatures can easily reach the 90s or above, but they usually drop as the sun sets and strong breezes draft up the canyon walls. And those sunsets can be tremendously dramatic as the light and colors change across the landscape and reflect on the river, often just as the headliners take the stage. Most who play here rave about the setting, and the acoustics impress as well.

We found a good spot on the lawn, purchased drinks and food at the vendor booths (lines moved impressively quickly considering the large crowd), took an obligatory selfie, and settled in for the opening acts, Allison Russell and Marcus Mumford, who performed, alone with an acoustic guitar, songs from his recent solo album. Unfortunately on this evening, clouds obscured the sunset, but we were nevertheless treated to a moody shifting of the light as evening fell.

Brandi and her band then took the stage for more than two hours, providing, as always, a lively show and powerful vocals. She is always generous in promoting other performers, both up-and-comers and established singers, and on this night there was lots of speculation as to who would appear. Lucius singers Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, Allison Russell and Brandy Clark each joined in on a song, and the crowd roared in welcome as Sarah MacLachlan performed “Hold On.” The biggest surprise came during the encores as Annie Lennox (of the Eurythmics, for you younger generations) came on to sing “Why,” again to welcoming cheers from this skewing-older crowd.

Afterwards, it was close to 2 a.m. by the time we made our way back to the car, crawled slowly out of the lot and back to the interstate and, finally, our hotel. The next morning we slept in, enjoyed a hearty brunch in Ellensburg’s historical downtown core (filled with lovely 19th- and early 20th-century buildings) and meandered through the weekly growers and crafters market. Late afternoon found us back at the Gorge, enduring an even longer, slower line into the parking lot and an epically long security line. Part of the reason: This evening over 27,000 fans would pack into the amphitheatre to witness Joni Mitchell’s first announced performance in 23 years. Everyone was in high spirits, though; the sun was out; and we found a spot a little farther down the lawn towards the stage (though still pretty distant), surrounded by three generations of excited fans. The stage was set to mimic the “Joni Jams” which take place at Mitchell’s Bel Air home with a shifting cast of the singer’s musician friends. These sessions were instrumental to her recovery from a 2015 aneurysm which for a time left her unable to walk, talk or sing, and Carlile prevailed upon Joni to come to the Newport Folk Festival last summer in a surprise performance that mimicked those jams. Set with couches, armchairs, lamps and tables, the stage had little room for an elaborate opening act, so Brandi and the Hanseroth twins came on to perform an acoustic set which beautifully showcased their amazing three-part harmonies. We basked in the sun’s lowering rays, the music and the anticipation of the main act. 

At last, the “jammers” made their way onstage as the light faded, among them musicians Celisse Henderson, Taylor Goldsmith, Blake Mills, Rick Whitfield, Mark Isham, Ben Lusher, Matt Chamberlain, and Wendy and Lisa (members of Prince’s The Revolution band). Lucius, Marcus Mumford, Sarah MacLachlan and Annie Lennox sat in; and Brandi Carlile served as host/M.C. and introduced Joni to a prolonged ovation from the crowd.

The concert began with the bouncy “Big Yellow Taxi,” as the audience sang along, and continued for nearly three more hours, covering some of Joni’s most iconic tunes, some lesser-known songs and a few covers of favorites of hers (Gershwin’s “Summertime,” “Love Potion No. 9” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”). Many songs were sung as duets or with supporting vocals by the others, but Joni took the lead on several, and as the evening went on she seemed to become more at ease and confident, truly enjoying her time with an audience again. Having seen video of the Newport Folk Festival performance, I can say her voice has grown stronger over the past year, and though she no longer reaches those high, pure notes of her earlier career, there is a depth and maturity and wisdom there which makes songs such as “Both Sides Now,” “A Case of You” and “Circle Game” extremely powerful and poignant.

As the evening deepened, we were also treated to Joni’s wit and some delightful stories. She talked of living for two months in a cave in Greece, inspiration for her song “Carey,” and she reminisced about being invited to join Prince onstage (and not knowing the words to “Purple Rain”) and playing at the Gorge many years ago with Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. During the encore, the amphitheatre bloomed with thousands of cell phone lights, and Joni, referencing her “Woodstock,” gratefully exclaimed, “You are stardust, and golden.” Ever the poet, she proclaimed we looked like “a fallen constellation.” She brought out her guitar and played and sang one of her favorite songs, “If,” based on Kipling’s poem, and concluded with a cover of Frank Sinatra’s “Young at Heart.” That evening she certainly embodied that quality, for which we were all grateful.

I remember playing Mitchell’s Court and Spark album incessantly my freshman year in college, and her music was a constant for much of my life. To experience it again live, in this setting, with my daughters and at this stage in my life, was truly a gift. Lindsay Zoladz, writing for The Los Angeles Times, expressed perfectly what this performance meant to so many of us there: “To hear Mitchell hit certain notes again in that inimitable voice was like glimpsing, in the wild, a magnificent bird long feared to have gone extinct.”

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor