Letter to the Editor

It was quite predictable that the Citizen's reviewers would pan the Bob Dylan-Joni Mitchell concert that took place at the Corel Centre Friday night: the Citizen's reviews of just about every concert in town are unfavourable ("Dylan rocks, Joni balks," Nov. 2).

It is very fortunate for the performers that most people who want to see them are willing to pay for a ticket, as opposed to the ill-informed individuals who wouldn't recognize a good musical event even if they had the ability to listen to the music rather than judging it in advance.

I will admit that I am biased in the case of Joni Mitchell as I have been a fan of hers for years. The interesting thing is that, as a long-time fan, I wanted to hear a wide range of her music and not only Free Man in Paris as reviewer Chris Cobb did. Come on, Chris, get some ears man.

How can the reviewer say that she played all new material and no back catalogue? Believe it or not, she played only two songs from her new album. They were The Crazy Cries of Love and Face Lift. Other than these, she played a very wide range of music, with selections from the following albums: Court and Spark (1974), Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975), Hejira (1976), Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977), Wild Things Run Free (1982), Night Ride Home (1991) and Turbulent Indigo (1994).

You know, I think I should have written the review: At least I know the material and your guys obviously don't. And by the way, the concert was great.

Mike Fluckiger,
Gloucester