HOUSTON CHRONICLE - ‘Gypsies in Coliseum: Hendrix Hypnotism’ by Jill Melichar:
“A gold star to Concerts West for one of the finest rock concerts that Houston’s hip audiences have ever experienced. Even the Coliseum didn’t seem like such a bad place for Jimi Hendrix since the show began practically on time and the near capacity crowd had surprisingly few gendarmes to trip over.
Ball and Jack from Seattle, Wash. opened. It is a good jazz rock group with six tremendously talented musicians. They totally captured the audience with their hypnotic music and message of brotherhood.
After a decently brief intermission Jimi Hendrix and his Band of Gypsies strolled on stage. The audience rose to its feet – more a gesture of homage than anything else.
Hendrix, one of the brighter peacocks among superstars, was a rainbow-like sight to behold. He wore black leather flared pants, tie-dyed chiffon shirt, multi-hued sequined vest, a super-colorful silk headband and a multi-colored rope belt. Too much!
Hendrix and his guitar ran the gamut of an unbelievable repertoire: rock ‘n’ roll, rock (‘Johnny B Goode’), blues rock (‘Getting My Heart Back Together’), acid rock (‘Let Me Stand’ and ‘Foxy Lady’), hardest rock (‘Will I Live Tomorrow?’) and much more. Every number had that undeniably dynamic Hendrix magnetism and smooth professionalism. Hendrix is better than ever. He has mellowed greatly since his days with The Experience. He has his head together.”
THE DAILY COUGHER - ‘Hendrix Offers Brash, Sexual Concert’ by Eric Gerber
“Dressed in leather pants, multi-hued voile blouse, and a sequined bolero jacket, this gypsy’s garb was as loud as the music he played. On a stage guarded by two black sheriffs was Billy Cox, bearded Mitch Mitchell, and Hendrix who told the crowd of 8,000, “Uh, let me get this pubic [sic, public] saxophone in tune and we’ll get into our own world.” One minute later he broke into a version of ‘Johnny B Goode’ that wasn’t very Chuck Berry and continued to play for over two hours. He had been preceded by Ballin’ the Jack [sic], a Seattle group riding the wave of popularity created by such brass-oriented bands as Chicago and Blood, Sweat, and Tears. They were well organized, but prone to sickly-sweet chit-chat between numbers. The highlight of their set came when they let loose with a Dixieland ending that would have made Pete Fountain proud. After a finale called “Hold On” that included a plea for peace, freedom, and apple pie, they left to thunderous applause.
[ ..]… from the fourth row the sound was deafening; Hendrix’s new Woodstock sound system consists of his old one, three 250-watt Marshall amps, being re-amplified through the PA. Frightening! He played many of the “moldies” such as “Fire,” “Foxy Lady,” “Purple Haze,” and his superb blues number “Red House.” He also introduced (to Houston anyway) “Easy Rider,” “Machine Gun,” and, from the movie Woodstock, “The Star-Spangled Banner” which he insists on calling “America.”
The crowd was made up of middle- class “hippies” shooting the peace
sign at anything that moved. The climax came as Hendrix started “Hey Joe” and the crowd surged forward trying to be part of everything that was happening. The guards, choosing discretion in place of valor, let them come and it wasn’t long until girls began to climb up boyfriends’ backs and lunged at Jimi, screaming nothing in particular, just screaming until it was over.”
Sujet: Houston (Sam Houston Coliseum) : 6 juin 1970 
Mar 13 Juil 2010 - 21:02
