BOTH SIDES NOW: JONI MITCHELL LIVE AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT 1970

Joni Mitchell herself leads the viewer through one of the most difficult performances of her career, with a rowdy audience who literally tried to hijack the show. When Joni Mitchell took the stage Saturday afternoon, August 29th 1970, the Isle of Wight Festival had already seen its share of tumult. The promoters created, at great expense, one of the era’s finest concert lineups, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Miles Davis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, The Doors and many more. Fences were broken down while a radical movement were pushing to declare the venture a free festival. All these artists played through what Joni termed “mountains of amplifiers” and could easily drown out any unruly audience. Joni, however, had only an acoustic guitar, a dulcimer, a piano., and her own singular voice. Joni Mitchell herself leads the viewer through a blow-by-blow of one of the most difficult performances of her career, face-to-face with what she calls “a beast”: a rowdy audience who literally try to h