I Want to Be an Oasis

Over the nearly 100 issues so far there are three names that pop up all the time: Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, and Prince. Over 48 hours last weekend I had the chance to experience all three in person (in some form or fashion) in back to back live shows on Friday and Saturday night.

Friday night I saw Peter Gabriel at The Forum. He’s been releasing music from his new record, I/O, for months and I’ve obsessed over every track. The show was as Peter Gabriel-y as you could possibly get. Along the way he told us snippets of a narrative behind the album that tied together brain-computer-interfaces and harnessing artificial intelligence to help solve some of the major issues we face as a species. Each song from the new album had corresponding artwork projected onto screens above.

It was epic, forward thinking, cerebral, and often emotional, like the new rendition of "Don't Give Up." With everything going on in the world that song hit me harder than ever. Singing those words over and over again along with thousands of people was soul fortifying. “Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up.”

Saturday night Julie and I saw Brandi Carlile and friends at The Hollywood Bowl. From the moment I bought the tickets I was desperately hoping that the “and friends” part meant Joni Mitchell.

I have spent many a late night going down the rabbit hole on YouTube, watching every video I could find from her appearances with Brandi at The Newport Folk Festival and The Gorge. I would start with present day Joni, marveling at how her voice has transformed into something so powerful and still so uniquely her, then I would travel back in time and watch entire concerts before circling back to the Newport Folk Festival videos again.

As hard as I tried to not get my hopes up that she would be there I couldn’t help myself. And as the concert went on I was more and more resigned to the fact that maybe she wasn’t going to show and I was more than okay with that. Just Brandi Carlile would have been enough. She’s a fucking force of nature.

But along the way she brought out Allison Russell, Annie Lennox, and Wendy and Lisa from The Revolution. They weren’t just there to back Brandi up, she gave them each the spotlight to play their own songs. Wendy and Lisa played "Mountains," which got the sold out crowd on their feet, dancing and singing, “Love will conquer, if you just believe.”

Late in the concert Brandi put the spotlight on SistaStrings who brought the house down. Then the lights came up and the turntable on the stage began to spin, revealing a comfy living room jam session setup on the other side, and at the center of that semi-circle was Joni Mitchell, sitting on a golden throne.

Listen, I’m a softie.

It only gets worse the older I get. I will tear up at the drop of a hat. So imagine the waterworks when I saw the woman who wrote “A Case of You” sitting a hundred yards away from me. I have listened to that song thousands of times over the course of my life. There was a period of time where I collected as many covers of it as I could find. (Two of my favorites are Tori Amos and Jane Monheit)

As far as I’m concerned going to see a show at The Hollywood Bowl is the most fun a person can have in LA. I hate getting there. It’s a logistical nightmare. It doesn’t matter who I’m seeing there’s always a point where I’m stuck in traffic on Caheunga or waiting for the shuttle where I think, “This was a mistake.” But once I get inside it is genuinely magical. Part of that is the setting, how it’s surrounded by nature, part of it is the history, part of it is the festival atmosphere, with people picnicking and drinking wine and buying cheap plastic light-up toys.

Now combine that atmosphere with Joni Mitchell, flanked by Brandi Carlile to her left, Annie Lennox to her right, Wendy and Lisa, Allison Russell, Sister Strings and the rest of the band backing her up. She sang "Shine" and by the end, seventeen-thousand people held up their phone flashlights while Joni implored us to, “Let your little light shine.” Core memory, for sure.

Those two shows were an oasis in a very dark time. I’ve been reflecting a lot on the heartbreaking posts from Jewish and Muslim friends the past couple of weeks. I’ve seen people who want to debate and challenge instead of listen and lead with love. I can’t imagine how exhausting that must be for people who just want the rest of us to see their humanity.

It reminded me of Jonathan Van Ness, talking to Dax Shephard on the Armchair Expert podcast a few weeks ago. The conversation veered into a debate about the rights of transgender and nonbinary people. Dax played the part of “just asking questions guy” and pushed back until he brought Jonathan to tears of exhaustion.

When I heard that it galvanized a thought in my head and heart. I don’t want to be the kind of person who challenges another person’s basic humanity. I don’t want to be the kind of person that makes someone feel like they have to defend their very existence.

There are so many places in our day to lives and online interactions where other people force us into battle.

I don’t want to be a combat zone.

I want to be an oasis.

I want people to feel comfortable being themselves around me. I want them to feel seen and loved. I want the time they spend with me to be a break from the siege. I want them to feel rested and replenished when they leave.

I want the work that I put out in the world to be a respite. I want to make people laugh, to feel awe, and wonder. For a long time I believed I’d be a disappointment to someone like Rod Serling, who thought a writer should “menace the public’s consciousness.” The older I get the more I feel like holding on to hope and joy is an act of resistance, if not revolution. An undying light in an ever present darkness.

Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Don’t give up.

Love will conquer if you just believe.

Let your little light shine.

Words from Peter Gabriel and Prince in 1986, words from Joni Mitchell in 2007.

I needed all of them this week.

The issues I’ve written about these three artists and their creative process are some of my favorite things I’ve written for this newsletter.

There’s a lot to learn from Joni making her masterpiece.

Here’s an issue I wrote containing sage advice from Peter Gabriel.

Here’s an issue I wrote containing sage advice from Prince and "When Doves Cry."

Nothing new to report on the work front. I thought I was supposed to have a meeting this week but I wrote down the wrong date in my iCal. It’s actually next week.

More soon.

Sending you love and light for the weekend!

PS - my run of spectacular shows started with Coheed and Cambria at The Palladium. Two years in a row they have put on two of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

Must see for any rock fan.