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Little in the world right now seems to bring unadulterated joy; so we must rejoice when something does.

I felt that way last week as I watched YouTube, which is not something I ever imagined saying. Pure joy. And I found myself questioning the often curmudgeonly aspersions I frequently harbour about other people's behaviour. Did I get old and grumpy without noticing?

One thing I've sounded off about is the prevalence of phones and other suchlike mini-cameras at gigs. Go to a decent-sized show and sometimes all you can see of the crowd is a wall of hoisted iPhones.

It does bug me. Not that it causes me any harm, but something about it irritates me. 'Just watch the show,” I want to say. 'Enjoy the moment.”

I'm not alone in this. More than a few big touring acts are now objecting to the practice. While Bob Dylan tours Europe – which he is currently doing – you are not allowed phones at the gigs. There are ‘drop-bags' when you enter the venue; deposit your phone and you can pick it up again on the way out.

I get that. Perhaps Bob doesn't like looking at a sea of cameras, or perhaps he's just vain about being old and wrinkly; perhaps he makes weird faces when he sings and feels self-conscious. Whatever the reason, it chimed with my own prejudices so I was fully on-board.

Joni

Then I sat down last weekend and watched Joni Mitchell on YouTube. Joni Mitchell played at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington on June 10, her first full live performance in more than 20 years. She played a few songs as a guest at the Newport Folk Festival last year but this was different: a three-hour show from the recovering brain aneurysm sufferer whom most thought would never perform again.

And since she hasn't played live in two decades, Joni hadn't seen the 'cellphone show”, a concert arena lit by the glow of cellphones held aloft. No problems for her. 'You're stardust, and golden,” she told the 20,000-crowd, a call-back to 1969 and another live event, and pretty much the perfect thing to say.

I sat at home and watched a lot of the show, Joni regally mounted on what looks like a huge throne with a coterie of women surrounding her. In recent years she has hosted loose wine-fuelled sessions in her home and the set, complete with couches and rugs and friends, was there to replicate that. Joni sang for everyone and her friends – Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, Brandi Carlile and others – sang for her. Magic.

Unofficial

I haven't seen the whole show. It wasn't officially filmed. What I've seen is videos from a dozen, or a hundred, fans at the concert – some from close up, some from the back of the amphitheatre, some shaky, some so intimate that you feel like you could touch her.

So I offer an apology now. To all of you who hold up cellphones at concerts and film (possibly unwilling) performers. Sorry. I am a grumpy old bastard, living in the dark ages. And thank you for bringing a little joy into my life. Joy should never be underestimated.

Now, before I go, a quick studio update. The cold of winter is a perfect time for the recording studio.

At the Boatshed in Whakamarama Irish band The Whittakers is about to start on a new album, husband-and-wife team of Richard Grautstuck and Mitz Amores along with multi-instrumentalist Robbie Laven and bass player Dave Williams. They've previously recorded two albums at Welcome Bay's Colourfield Studio, most recently ‘A Slice of the Whittakers' which mixed Richard's originals with well-chosen covers and a couple of kicking instrumentals.

Meanwhile, at Colourfield, Grant Haua's trio has returned to the album which moved to the back-burner when Grant was signed as a solo artist by French music label Dixie Frog. The band has recorded an extra song, Tim Julian has been adding keyboards, and it's now about finished. If the original recordings from a couple of years back are anything to go by, it will be Da Bomb.