Tampa (Curtis Hixton Hal) : 18 août 1968

Tampa (Curtis Hixton Hal) : 18 août 1968


Setlist partielle :

- Hey Joe
- Manic Depression
- Wild Thing


ST. PETERSBURG TIMES - by William W. Jablon:

“The Jimi Hendrix Experience, billed as the most progressive rock act in the world, gave a less than sparkling performance before 7,161 young fans... Interviewed before his performance, Hendrix gave the impression of being very weary. Speaking in almost a whisper, he complained of the length of his almost continuous two-year tour.
Jimi: “I’ve had almost no private life at all in the two years we’ve been on tour,’ he said as he slouched in front of his dressing room mirror. ‘We haven’t had a practice session in almost four months,’ he added.
The obvious weariness carried into his performance. As Hendrix ‘experiences’ go, this one was rather tame. The audience greeted him with screams and banners, but this fervor seemed to generally subside.
Hendrix concocted the wild cacophony of sound, blasting and bombastic, for which he is known. He also played his guitar in only the way Hendrix can, from indescribable positions, working the guitar for every note and screech of sound possible. Yet throughout his performance, he never really seemed to excite his audience to the degree he is supposed to be able.
He had said before the show that ‘If the audience really digs us, we’ll play harder, if not, we won’t try as hard.’ In other words, he wouldn’t try to win an audience. He did not work hard Sunday night. Perhaps a malfunctioning amplifier which plagued him throughout his performance did not allow Hendrix to fully concentrate on his music. Only in two songs ‘Hey Joe’ and ‘Manic Depression’ did the audience get anything that resembled the real Jimi Hendrix experience.
The Hendrix experience is supposed to bring an audience to feel the frenzy of the wild electronic sounds that marks his underground beat. It is supposed to bring body and mind to the crescendo of involvement with the ever increasing wild beats of the supercharged electric pulse and throbs of the guitars.
The audience seemed to sense this feeling for those two numbers, but then it was lost. Perhaps that was why the Hendrix part of the show only involved about eight numbers, and why many of the 7,161 were leaving the auditorium during his last number, ‘Wild Thing.’ Both Hendrix and audience were suddenly very weary.”