Joni Mitchell needs no introduction, but for the uninitiated, she’s a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, celebrated as one of the most influential musicians of her generation. Known for her personal and unconventional lyrics, she emerged from the 1960s folk scene, and her music evolved to incorporate elements of pop, jazz, and rock. Her critically acclaimed work includes albums such as Songs to a Seagull, Court and Spark, and Blue, the centrepiece of tonight’s show.
This Flight Tonight are Welsh singer-songwriters Kathryn Pepper (vocals and dulcimer) and Paul Zervas (acoustic guitar), supported by Michael Blanchfield on keyboards, Andrew Brown on bass guitar, and Dan Edgecombe on congas and electric guitar.
Like Carole King’s Tapestry, released four months earlier, Blue was a defining record for the baby boomer generation. Even today, decades after its release, people have cited Blue as helping them connect with basic human emotions, proving its continued relevance across generations.
Rather than play Blue in the album’s running order, This Flight Tonight took what is known of Mitchell’s life at that point and sang the songs in the order she may have written them. They opened with ‘California,’ a song Mitchell penned while travelling through Europe as a paean to her home state. At first, I thought there was an issue with the sound balance as I heard an echo on the vocals, but at the end of the song Pepper asked the sound engineer to reduce the reverb on her monitor. This made all the difference, as everything that followed was pitch-perfect.
It was already clear that Pepper bore a resemblance to Mitchell, not just visually, with her long blonde hair, but vocally too. She matched Mitchell’s voice perfectly: its sweet, high, and sometimes piercing soprano range that slides effortlessly between registers. I also thought Zervas had a touch of James Taylor about him.
In early 1970, Mitchell had just ended her relationship with Graham Nash and started seeing James Taylor. Her song ‘All I Want’ reflected this.
‘Little Green’ was next, a song the band left the stage for, leaving only Pepper and Zervas to perform. The duo then sang ‘This Flight Tonight’ before Zervas left the stage to be replaced by keyboard player Michael Blanchfield for ‘My Old Man.’ He stayed on for ‘The Last Time I Saw Richard’ before the band returned for ‘Carey' and ‘A Case of You.’ The final two songs, ‘River’ and ‘Blue,’ featured Pepper singing accompanied by Blanchfield.
It had been an exhilarating opening set. Pepper’s haunting vocals and Zervas’s exceptional guitar playing were supported by Brown’s rhythmic and harmonic bass, Edgecombe’s soft-toned and atmospheric electric guitar, and Blanchfield’s keyboards, which seemed to let the music flow through him to an audience who were clearly transported to another time and place.
The second half of the show moved on from Mitchell’s folky singer-songwriter style toward her more complex, jazz-oriented sound. Pepper and Zervas opened with ‘Chelsea Morning’ from her second album, Clouds. They followed that with ‘Cactus Tree,’ dedicated to David Crosby, who had seen Mitchell performing in a Florida club and was so captivated by her voice and songwriting that he helped her secure a record deal.
The band returned to the stage as Pepper announced they would be playing songs from Court and Spark, which drew an audible gasp from the audience. The eponymous title track was followed by ‘Help Me’ and ‘Free Man in Paris.’
1975’s The Hissing of Summer Lawns provided two songs, the title track and ‘Edith and the Kingpin’, before a wonderful show was brought to an end with ‘Amelia' and ‘Coyote’ from Mitchell’s Hejira album.
However, the audience weren’t ready to let This Flight Tonight leave the stage just yet, so they encored with ‘Woodstock,’ ‘Big Yellow Taxi,’ and ‘Both Sides Now.’
This had been an intimate show in which the audience clearly felt a strong connection to the music. The historical anecdotes and insights into Mitchell's life added depth to the performance. This reviewer found it a powerful and emotional experience, being moved to tears during some songs. This Flight Tonight have certainly captured the true essence of Joni Mitchell's original work, making it a heady experience even for those who may not be die-hard fans.
This Flight Tonight’s tour continues and tickets can be purchased here, Zervas and Pepper Present - THIS FLIGHT TONIGHT - The songs of Joni Mitchell
Reviewer – Adrian Cork
On – 24.10.2025
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