Joni sounded really sick this night. I mean that from a pathological perspective. Even though it was near the beginning of the world tour, she'd blown her voice out completely. It was like listening to Tom Waits. The band was uncomfortably load. Her mood was very sparse borderline angry. Despite repeated calls from the audience for some interaction/acknowledgement, "talk to us", she didn't really at all.

But it was great to see her, the acoustic set was memorable as were some of the other songs. I don't like Wild Things - its production seems contrived so the screaming guitars etc she'd laid over some of her songs were a bit of a distraction.

The encore was Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" which was fun.

I remember, even in my callow youth, thinking - why has she stressed her voice like that? All in the name of innovation and art, I guess, but only a few moments ago, Shadows and Light had appeared and her voice was at its height in terms of control, tone (it sounded like a saxophone) and exploration. This night she sounded like heroin-broken-down Lady Day.