This show is permanently etched in my memory. Mitchell opened with "Free Man in Paris" just as I was about to occupy my seat. I said to my date, "this is my song." I had just returned to the the Washington DC area the year before after living and studying for a year in Paris. As Ernest Hemingway famously wrote to a friend in 1950, "if you are fortunate enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then no matter where you go and no matter what you do for the rest of your life, Paris will stay with you - for Paris is a moveable feast." The first set with Tom Scott and the LA Express rocked! They played most of the tunes from "Court and Spark." The second set was more mellow and more traditional Mitchell folk tunes. All together it was an excellent show and one I will never forget.

Talk about a strange twist. I had two Row 7 tickets for this concert, but this really wonderful girl at work (The Red Fox Inn in Bethesda, MD, whose house band at the time was Emmy Lou Harris and the Angel Band) made the comment that she would LOVE to go to the local Fair on Saturday night. Saturday night happened to be the night of the Joni Mitchell concert at Meriwether Post on August 24, 1974. I was so thrilled to be going somewhere with her, I never mentioned the 2 tickets, went to the Fair, went home with her, and subsequently just passed our 35th anniversary together since that night. And, I later found out she was "dying" to go to that Joni Mitchell concert. There's a song in there somewhere. And we have seen Joni in concert at least 15 times in the past 35 years--always one of our favorites. Oh, and "Court and Spark" was playing in her apartment the first night we spent together.

Soon after returning home from traveling out west in the summer of '74, tickets went on sale for Joni's tour with Tom Scott and the L.A. Express, which stopped in at the Merriweather Post Pavilion on August 24. Of course I purchased my lawn seat, and made plans to attend. I had found a cabinet maker by the name of Lucky Diamond, who had taken to manufacturing these beautiful concert sized dulcimers, each individually tailored to its user. Come the day of the concert I packed up the dulcimer, threw it over my shoulder, and headed out to the show very early in the day. These were the days before oppressive concert security, and I was able to find my way backstage during load-in where I met up with Robben Ford and we hit it off quite nicely, him being only 4 years my senior. He spent a good bit of time giving me a backstage tour, and we talked about all types of music. When it came time for the soundcheck he let me know I had to leave the stage but passed on to me tickets for two great seats, and a hint as to where they were staying that evening post show. At that point I wandered down into the empty pavilion, picked a seat right up front, and listened to the L.A. Express do their sound check in an almost completely empty pavilion, with me and a few sound engineers or roadies being the sole audience. At showtime I passed my awesome seats on to a friend (he had a date, I was solo...what else are friends for?) and enjoyed one of my all time favorite concerts. I didn't follow up on Robben's invitation to come to their hotel afterward, but I've always wondered what might have happened. Would it have been possible to have Joni actually play my instrument? What 18 year old could imagine such a thing?

Later that year, when 'Miles of Aisles' was released I went out and bought a copy right away. I found it very cool that the cover depicted Merriweather in all its glory. But even more amazing was the back gatefold cover, where it appears that while I was listening to the sound check, Joni was behind me taking photos. And right down there in the front are two lone figures, checking out the stage. I believe with all my heart to this day that I am one of those lucky people, rising above all those empty seats making up those miles of aisles.  [ed.]