Los Angeles (LA Forum) : 25 avril 1970

LOS ANGELES TIMES - ‘Jimi Hendrix at the Forum’ by Robert Hilburn:
“In his first major Los Angeles appearance in more than a year, Jimi Hendrix showed a near capacity audience Saturday night at the Forum that he has lost none of his box office appeal and raw excitement. About a year ago Hendrix went into a period of inactivity. He talked about various regrouping plans, finally appearing with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox under the title ‘Band Of Gypsys’. But Miles was soon back as head of his own group. Thus Mitchell rejoined Hendrix for the current tour. Redding who was asked to do the tour had other commitments.
[…]
Opening Response
Wearing a multi-coloured head band and tight black leather pants, Hendrix drew an enormous opening response from the audience as he went through such early hits as “Foxy Lady.” The newer material generated less enthusiasm. As always, Hendrix was more a personality than a musician. Though his voice and lyrics have few distinguishing characteristics, he generates a charge of electricity that virtually ignites the huge arena. Hendrix is a powerhouse of sex and sound. Hendrix does with his guitar what Joe Cocker does with his voice: reaches new levels of communication and emotion, levels far beyond that which most guitarists and vocalists once felt were possible. On Saturday, he seemed freer of gimmicks, more serious of purpose generally, than last spring at the Devonshire Downs Pop Festival in Northridge. Because of this, perhaps, the audience Saturday was less enthusiastic at times than at Devonshire Downs. But his bombing raid version of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ (as featured in the ‘Woodstock’ movie) and ‘Purple Haze’ brought the audience to its feet for an ovation that lasted several minutes.”

ENTERTAINMENT WORLD - ‘The Jimi Hendrix Experience’ by Jim Bickhart:
“Jimi Hendrix returned to L.A. and a raucous full house last week, but Hendrix, charismatic second-stage demigod of the Cream Generation, who was surprisingly enthusiastic on stage, did not have the audience wrapped constantly around his little finger pick.
The Hendrix Experience, presently a mixture of the original group and last winter’s short-lived Band of Gypsys, is an unbalanced power trio with Jimi a top-heavy leader. Bassist Billy Cox (from the Gypsys) and drummer Mitch Mitchell were next to inaudible behind the - guitarist’s deafening amplification. They did not fill the huge musical gaps left by Hendrix’s noisy, undisciplined guitar style. While the crowd was most enthusiastic for the material from the group’s old albums, it was these songs which made this concert deadly dull. Jimi’s attempt to update too-familiar guitar solos became pure cacophony, and Cox was half asleep as he played bass runs first created by Noel Redding.
New material was a lone bright spot, with Hendrix apparently trying to inject some music into his ‘music.’ ‘Message of Love,’ ‘Easy Rider [sic] ‘, and ‘May I Come Along [sic, Hey Baby} all featured guitar breaks that bordered on being tasteful. The audience seemed bored by them though, waking up for a familiar medley of the national anthem and ‘Purple Haze.’
With Hendrix were the Buddy Miles Express, who played a very good but short set of soul and blues numbers, with leader Miles doubling on vocals and drums, and Ballin Jack, from Washington, playing mediocre Family Stone-like music but eliciting good crowd response.”

DISC & MUSIC ECHO - ‘U.S. Fans are better rehearsed than groups!’ by Judy Sims:
“I survived the Jimi Hendrix concert. I was lucky - just a few bruises and a small cut on my left hand, plus an hour’s worth of tremblies in the legs. I’m beginning to wonder about the whole concert jive trip, where thousands of young people, most of them sane, pay a great deal of money to watch a performer be mobbed by the lunatic fringe. Sure, it’s healthy spontaneous emotion, the fans love Jimi and Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton and Ian Anderson. The fans love them to death, almost. Concerts in this country (and, I suspect, elsewhere) are rehearsals for riots, mini-bloodbaths disguised as good times. I’m sick of all those writhing, shouting masses of people who won’t stay in their seats, who don’t care if the rest of the audience can see, who only want to satisfy their own personal ego urges by getting near the stage and the so called ‘magic’ of the performer. Ian Anderson told a reporter here that American audiences are better rehearsed than the groups, and it’s true; a certain segment of each crowd knows just when and how to elude the guards or ushers, knows exactly the shouts and whistles and hand waving required (and when) and has an uncanny awareness of the performer’s attitude and the ushers’ impotence - or strength. At the huge Forum last Saturday, about 20,000 people crammed in to see Jimi Hendrix in his first appearance here in almost a year. He was preceded by Buddy Miles and his new group, a jive act if ever there was one (and there was) and a new group called Ballin’ Jack. The ‘swinging groovies,’ the spaced-out worshippers, leaped from their seats for Buddy, but they weren’t inspired to rush the stage. Yet. For one thing, the ushers were efficiently keeping the aisles clear and the front of the stage area vacant; for another thing, the crowd wasn’t going to waste its energies for Buddy, they wanted Jimi. For a while I thought Jimi was going to thwart them. He was relaxed, cool as ever, and did an almost casual set. He teased us with a few erotic movements during ‘Foxy Lady,’ but after that he just stood there and played that guitar - mostly new songs from his Band of Gypsys album. I was in the second row, directly in front of him, the best concert seat I’ve ever had. Also the worst.., at the end of the set Jimi broke into our National Anthem and ordered us to stand up, stand up, which we did. The aisles filled, but still the space down front remained miraculously clear. Kids started leaping over the seats so they could stand on chairs in the first two or three rows, and people from the aisles crowded into the rows. The ushers massed in front of the stage. Then Jimi went right into ‘Purple Haze’ and all hell broke loose. It was as if that song were the pre-arranged signal. The aisles spilled forward, and in less than one minute the entire area was solid humanity - waving, shouting people, some sitting on their friends’ necks, some perched precariously on the backs of seats. I was jostled but unharmed. I couldn’t see. As ‘Purple Haze’ ended and the closing number, ‘Voodoo Child,’ began, there was an incomprehensible (and terrifying) backward thrust. Everyone up front was somehow invisibly thrown back with sledge-hammer force. Chairs went over, people went down. Like a fool, I’d been standing on my chair trying to see Jimi through the crowd, so I we over the back of the chair and stayed there, suspended like a trapeze artist.
I like Jimi Hendrix; I think he’s of very few real innovators and a most incredible performer. But it’ll be an icy day in hell before I’ll see him at the Forum again. I’m afraid of his audience.”

Et dire que la famille Hendrix possède le film de ce concert et aussi celui de Sacramento le lendemain!!!!!

Citation :

Et dire que la famille Hendrix possède le film de ce concert

Tu es sûr ?

ça a était sur l'ancien forum, et pas par moi!!!! l'info commence à dater!!!!!!

Black Gold (Steven Roby): "[...] John McDermott discovered a 16 mm film of this concert that photographer Chuck Boyd independently shot [...] et pour celui du 26 Avril idem, même découverte de John McDermott!!!!!!

Tontonjimi a écrit:

ça a était sur l'ancien forum, et pas par moi!!!! l'info commence à dater!!!!!!

Pour Sacramento je m'en rappelle bien par contre pour celui-ci je m'étais arrêté aux rumeurs donc tant mieux !

Merci Mousme. Super photo.

YEAAAAH!
L'avant dernière est superbe!

"Enjoy Jimi Hendrix" bootleg LP : (ça ne nous rajeunit pas ...)

Purple Jim a écrit:

Le "Machine Gun" de ce concert est fantastique !!!

Quelqu'un ce que Jimi baragouine au tout début de la piste audio de Machine Gun

..."don't you ever forget it?"

J'adore les parties parlées en introduction et surtout ces petites notes ascendantes et descendantes.
Machine Gun vraiment puissant pas autant cependant que ceux de Baltimore Civic Center ou Norman Oklahoma.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvTxfUmiBxY

par hasard , je suis tombé la dessus ...  

http://www.rockprophecy.com/hendrix70b.html

que dire et en penser ?

[EDIT : je viens de me rendre compte que dans la partie Ezy Reader du forum, le lien avait déjà été posté, dsl, mais ici sa place n'est pas incongrue non ? ]

J'ai trouvé cette vidéo avec un son plus que correct je trouve...