LOS ANGELES TIMES - ‘Burdon headlines concert in Anaheim’ - review by Pete Johnson:
“Eric Burdon, Animal turned Primate, should have stayed on all fours, as he demonstrated Friday night in an Anaheim Convention Center concert which also featured the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Heir Apparent [sic] Burdon was good at growling blues songs such as “House of the Rising Sun,” but his present act is like watching “Swan Lake” performed by a bear in a tutu. He is one of the casualties of rock creativity, perhaps the most embarrassing one because he can sing well and fronts one of the better rock instrumental groups, a quartet which now shares billing with him as Eric Burdon and The Animals. For the second of the two well-attended concerts at the Convention Center, he opened with “If I Were a Carpenter,” mauling Tim Hardin’s delicate lyrics with his crusty voice. Things improved a bit with “Paint It Black,” thanks to some excellent electric violin playing by John Weider. “Rye Whisky” and “Everyday I Have The Blues” followed, the latter reminiscent of 1950s rhythm and blues down to an instrumental section from Joe Houston’s “All Night Long.” This material was more natural for Burdon’s voice but he hammed it up badly. The dramatics had not yet started, as he proved by portraying Flowerman while singing his most recent large hits, “San Franciscan Nights” and “Monterey.” For the finale, Burdon furnished a partially intelligible sermon, based on such lyrical nuggets as “I want to get high on you... I want you to get high on me... I want to be free. A liberally applied smoke generator supplied fitting visual accompaniment for this verbal murk. Plugged in singer-guitarist Jimi Hendrix has calmed down since his first U.S. tour last summer, when his Freudian routine caused several radio stations to ban all his records. He restricted movements to his hands as he wove incredible screams from the guitar. His late performance was brief (four numbers) because, he said, he had blown out his amplifiers during the 8:30 appearance and could not work with what was left. The trio’s best songs were “Catfish Blues,” with a lengthy solo by drummer Mitch Mitchell and ornate guitar work by Hendrix, and “Purple Haze.”
ANAHEIM BULLETIN - ‘Hendrix concert waste of effort’ by Amanda Spake:
“[…] The Heir Apparent [sic] a group from Ireland, are fair copiers of well-known rock groups. But its members have seen too many Elvis Presley movies.
The Soft Machine, an English group, is different, to say the least. The drummer was repulsive, clad only in pink bikini shorts. Their music utilizes dissonance and jazz patterns. I admit they are doing something new but I don’t know how pleasant it is to listen to. Eric Burdon was his usual disgusting self. The Animals are fair musicians, the lead guitar player is even good. But their material reeks. With The Animals was a light show troupe. When The Animals sing ‘San Francisco Nights,’ film of Psychedelic Eric on Haight Street flashes behind the group. This little display puts The Animals on the level of a bad situation comedy on television. The Animals drifted off stage in a cloud of smoke (from their smoke machine) and strobe lights and Jimi Hendrix came on. Hendrix is, of course, noted for his use of fuzz tone, psychedelia, etc. All of this is less than impressive. He can also play guitar with his teeth, which is really boss. But Hendrix has a drummer, Mitch Mitchell, who is fantastic. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. No matter how hard I tried to listen to Hendrix fuzzing away on his guitar, I kept finding myself listening to his drummer. The bass player, Noel Redding, is excellent. He follows the drummer on his bass giving the music a solid, driving sound. While Hendrix is distorting, reverbing and doing all sorts of other turned-on things, it is more than obvious that Mitchell and Redding are far better musicians than Hendrix.”
Sujet: Anaheim (Convention Center) : 9 février 1968 
Mar 13 Juil 2010 - 22:02
Brume!!!!
