My friends and I had anticipated this event anxiously. This was to be our first Joni concert. What my friends didn't know was that I had secretly gone to see her the night before in Sacramento... Instant Karma took care of that, though, when I was stopped by a CHP on the way home and got my first and only speeding ticket... The concert, of course, was fantastic.

In the period 1972-1976 I was absolutely mesmerized by Joni- her haunting ballads, lyrics, voice so enthralled me when I was in college! Blue was the album that turned me on to her- For the Roses hooked me. I moved to San Francisco to go to school and dreamed of her picking me up as I hitch hiked down the coastal highway towards LA. I finally saw her at this concert in Berkeley- she was mesmerizing me still with her melodies. I still listen to her music from those days when I am in the operating room- even the nurses know Joni when I turn her on now. Carey, Richard, Free man in Paris, California--it just doesn't get any better- even to this day as I am pushing 60 myself!

In 1974, I was in the US Navy returning to America through San Francisco International Airport in my sailors uniform. At 2 am I sat in the empty terminal sipping iced tea when all of a sudden, I looked up. Across the counter only 6 feet away sat Joni gazing into my eyes. She was with John Guerin. They must have just finished the Berkeley gig. She sat there with the most surrealistic smile I had ever seen on any one as she peacefully stared at me. I never saw her look away or say one word. I looked down for a moment and when I looked up again they had vanished. I'll always wonder what she was busily scribbling on her napkin as she looked at me. I'll always wonder if Joni remembered this brief encounter.....I will always remember that serene and beautiful moment. Rod Chapman, Chelsey, New Zealand  [ed.]