SAN DIEGO UNION - ‘The Hendrix Experience Remains One’ by Carol Olten:
“Jimi Hendrix reaffirmed his position as one of pop music’s most sensational figures and guitarists in concert Saturday night at the Sports Arena. Appearing in red velvet bell bottoms and a poncho with exaggerated sleeves, Hendrix oscillated the pulse of most every teenybopper in the near sold-out house as well as most older ones, too. He is a wicked showman with a leer in his eye and, although most of his theatrics are sort of stale by now, Hendrix is one of the few pop figures who remains surrounded by enough charisma to bring the antics off.
Magic quality
Playing the guitar with his teeth, behind his back, and doing any number of other things with it, don’t, perhaps, add terribly to Hendrix, the guitarist, because without them, he would be quite good enough. But part of the magic and the mystique of Hendrix would be gone. And what would anyone not offering us some sort of magic be doing on stage to begin with? [exactly!] Officially, Hendrix is only one-third of the act as the billing, Jimi Hendrix Experience, implies his customary trio with Mitch Miller [sic] on drums and Billy Cox (replacement for Noel Redding) on bass. But Hendrix is becoming more and more what is seen and heard in the act. Saturday night the set opened with ‘Fire,’ one of the songs from Hendrix’ first album. The entire set, in fact, was braced by a good deal of Hendrix oldies, ‘Purple Haze,’ ‘Hey Joe,’ and ‘Foxey Lady’ included. He played infinite themes on a variation of feedback and did all sorts of fantastic flare-ups on the wah-wah pedal.
Happy listener
Inevitably you may accuse Hendrix of copping out to theatrics and being musically stale. Personally, I shall be content to listen to ‘Foxy Lady’ and hear Hendrix sing about ‘that red house over yonder, baby’ for a long while. He’s psyched-out soul.
Hendrix was preceded Saturday night by an hour-long set by Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys, a denim act dedicated to outdoors ballads and folk blues. The group originally came from Bob Dylan country and played interesting electronic versions of antique music. Now they are residing on the West Coast and sounding like most other bands who doodle too much.”
SAN DIEGO FREE PRESS - ‘HENDRIX’ by Mickey:
“As I came into the Sports Arena, Cat Mother and the All-Night News Boys had just started their set. Whereas I had expected their music to be basically blues-oriented, I was pleasantly surprised to find their set to be musically well-rounded. While there was nothing exceptionally original about the music of Cat Mother, their performance was quite enjoyable.
Now I don’t care what the San Diego Union thought of Hendrix – I hated his act! Hasn’t Jimi Hendrix matured since his ‘Purple Haze’ days? Apparently not. Most of his set consisted of his old psychedelic garbage, although there was also some new psychedelic garbage. The sell-out crowd was enthralled when their god played his fuzz-toned guitar with his teeth, but it got somewhat boring after the third time he did it.
Admittedly, Jimi Hendrix is a technically capable musician; however, what he does with his talents is nothing but a waste. The set performed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience seemed like just one big song, punctuated by a disappointing drum solo by Mitch Mitchell, and the cheap, overused theatrics of Hendrix himself. Blaring feedback, fuzz-tone, and occasional rhythm-less percussion are, to me, not the meaning of music. But the audience dug it, and if he can make a mint off of his psychedelic bullshit - well, whatever’s right.”