Edward said:Seeing him live must have been quite an experience... Jimi must have been like a visitor from another planet when he arrived on the scene. Just look at the live footage of the Experience in the video above.... the audience in suits and ties (bunch of squares - just like us! lol ), and Jimi being... well, Jimi. My mother saw him live in Belfast during her Uni days, about 66 or 67, I think - she's not clear on the details. Closest I've ever been were the couple of occasions I was lucky enough to get to play the Black Angel, Jimi's custom Gibson Flying Vee that he played, most famously, at the IoW festival. Being a southpaw myself, that was a big deal - not often I get to handle a guitar hero's instrument, let alone one oriented for me to play.... The Hendrix guitar I'd love to get my hands on most of all, though, is his black '68 Strat - the sister guitar to the white, so-called Woodstock Strat. It was the one he played the day he died, and reportedly was his favourite of all the instruments he ever had. If Squier put out a 68 Strat in the Classic Vibe range, I may well pick one up to Hendrix...
Actually at the Fillmore Jimi just fit right in, he was one of us.
The stage at the Fillmore was about 4' high with a small area at the front for lights to shine up at the performers. The audience couldn't see this area. While playing, Jimi would reach down and a hand would pop up and give him a smoke, he'd take a couple drags and then keep playing. We leaned over and saw a young girl down there keeping his smokes lit. Naturally some of us asked for some, to no avail.
I think he was wearing the same outfit that he had on at Monterey, being the same time frame.
Also saw him at an outdoor music festival in California, where I got to be an usher in the VIP section up front. Got to hang out backstage when I was done working, so got up close to lots of musicians from that era. I remember the PA system went out in the middle of Jimi's set, for awhile. So they just jammed w/o mics and the sound system, sounded neat just like in a small rehearsal studio.
SGB