The Circle Game: Joni Mitchell & my daughter's coming-of-age ‘ceremony’
Some moments in life beg to be marked in a meaningful way and my daughter’s 14th birthday was one of them. I didn’t want this milestone to pass us by without putting some heart and thought into it. Instead of holding a ceremony, we chose to mark her coming-of-age by going on an epic mother-daughter road trip, from which we returned home only four days ago.
Covering over 3000km in seven days, the road trip offered us much-needed time together. Time to unwind and rest, and to discover new parts of the world, ourselves and - most importantly - each other.
Drizzly weather? No problem! We stayed cozy in the back of the vehicle while we waited for the weather to clear ahead of the Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford & Allison Russell concert at the Gorge Amphitheater on June 9, 2023. Photo: Karla Combres
We travelled by car from Saskatoon, through the mountains of Alberta and BC, down through Idaho and into Washington state. Our trip included fun adventures and sight-seeing in Seattle and several towns and cities along the way, as well as tickets to see Brandi Carlile and friends perform over two days at the Echoes Through The Canyon festival at the awe-inspiring Gorge Amphitheater. But the crowning jewel of our trip was without a doubt the second day of the festival: the ‘Joni Jam’.
Pre-concert excitement ahead of the epic Joni Jam - the crowning jewel of our mother-daughter coming-of-age road trip! Taken at the Gorge Amphitheater, June 10, 2023. Photo: Karla Combres
Joni Jam
The Joni Jam was Joni Mitchell’s first ticketed live performance in more than two decades and 27,000 people made a pilgrimage from around the globe to experience it. Joined by a star-studded group of her friends and musical collaborators (Brandi Carlile, Annie Lennox, Sarah McLachlan, Marcus Mumford, Allison Russell and Lucius, to name just a few), Joni delighted her adoring audience with three hours of music, including her most iconic hits (‘Big Yellow Taxi’, “A Case of You’, ‘Both Sides Now’), deepest cuts (‘If’, ‘Come In from the Cold’, ‘Night Ride Home’), and favourite cover tunes (‘Love Potion No. 9’, ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love’ and ‘Young at Heart’).
Brandi Carlile talking about the monthly music jams she and other musicians have been participating in at Joni Mitchell’s home over the past few years. Here, she’s setting the stage for what would be a transcendent night of music at the Gorge Amphitheater, June 10, 2023. Video by: Karla Combres
To say that it was a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience is a serious understatement. A collective feeling of awe hung in the air. (You don’t have to take my word for it. You’ll find tons of glowing reviews online, such as these from the CBC, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, the BBC, and The Guardian).
Everyone in attendance was grateful and inspired to be witnessing this living legend, especially since Joni suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm in 2015. As Lindsay Zoladz wrote in her New York Times review of the concert:
“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.”
“You look like a fallen constellation.”
Following the setting sun’s blue, peach and coral illuminations of the Gorge canyon cliffs, the crowd illuminated the amphitheater with our cellphones in a display of love for Joni.
Delighted, Joni wondered aloud, “Where did they get those lights?” (Another reminder of what a rare gift it was to be there that night; she hadn’t performed like this since cellphones had become mainstream…) She went on to say, “How beautiful… you look like a fallen constellation."
The Circle Game
Joni always finds the perfect words. But as I sit here writing this, I’m struggling to adequately express what I’ve been feeling this past week. The road trip, the time with my teenager, the concerts (especially the Joni Jam) - all of it contributed to a coming-of-age experience for my daughter, and it was also a transformative experience for me.
I’m still processing and integrating our trip, but the memory of one song in particular from the Joni Jam will always stand out in my mind. Toward the end of the concert, Joni played her iconic song, The Circle Game. For most of the evening, my daughter had been taking photos and videos, trying to digitally capture as many concert moments as possible. But when this song began, she sat next to me and rested her head on my shoulder as we listened to the words and sang along:
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game
Once again, Joni always finds the perfect words. I couldn’t help but think about how her career was coming full circle that night while, at the same time, we were marking a new season in my daughter’s life.
As my girl turns 14, these lyrics continue to spin round and round in my mind. It’s true what they say: time flies. Some days (and even some years!) can feel like a blur. With this road trip, I’m so grateful that we stepped off the carousel for a few days to mark her milestone birthday in a meaningful way.
Although I could never fully articulate all that they mean to us, I can say that the memories, feelings and songs from this trip (particularly The Circle Game) are tattooed on our hearts. Even if words fail me now, I know that for my daughter’s coming-of-age, this concert and road trip were the ritual and ceremony we needed.
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Photo: Emma Love Photography
AUTHOR: KARLA COMBRES
As a Legacy Guide & Celebrant, I help individuals, couples, families and organizations make the big and small moments in life count, and shape their legacy along the way. I offer:
Drawing on my vast experience as a Life-Cycle Celebrant and in working with people at the end of life, I am uniquely qualified to help people move through transitions meaningfully and to think about how they want to leave this world so they can live better now.
I’m based in Saskatchewan, Canada and serve clients worldwide. Read more about me here.
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