Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration

I enjoyed some of the interpretations of her songs, but the zooming in and out of badly framed visuals, coupled with truly awful editing make this not worthy of a cinema release. Nine cameras over two nights? In fact you can find better iPhone footage of the concert on YouTube.

This movie is not about the cinematography or editing; it's about Joni's music and watching these masterful performances by so many great musicians honoring her legacy is not to be missed. The love and passion for her work and personhood permeates everything in this film, from the backstage interactions to the performances, and including the backdrop photos/videos and audio of a younger Joni. Such a well thought-out tribute to her life and inspiration.

While this is a touching tribute, there is almost nothing of Joni in this production except interpretations of her songs by other artists. Joni is so iconic and unique that watching pale imitations of her music was painful for me. Norah Jones doing Joni?? No... just no. The one bright spot was Graham Nash performing "Our House" which he wrote for Joni during their Laurel Canyon era. Poignant.