The ticket was a thank you from the guy that I got a World Cup Final ticket for the previous year. My father had got me the footy tickets via a contact high up in the Wembley ticketing operation so I should thank my dad for getting to the Hendrix gig. As a first gig it's been a difficult standard to match since then but I'll keep trying.
The bill included three support groups, the first of which was Eire Apparent who I can only vaguely remember.
The second band on was Humble Pie, notable as being the band that brought Peter Frampton to the limelight who were a step up from the opening band.
Next came "the Crazy World of Arthur Brown" who was definitely memorable. This brings to mind the short list of deranged support acts which includes the Brownster and also Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (who I hadn't actually heard of before I saw them) but I think maybe the winner would be "Mr Pugh's Magic Puppet Theatre". If you have caught his show you'll know what I mean. However if you haven't I don't think it is possible to explain in mere words so I won't bother trying.
The thing that still makes me laugh regarding TCWOAB is his entrance in a dish which was lowered by chain from the ceiling whilst his head was on fire. Health and Safety - you're having a laugh.
Hendrix was just extraordinary. I am sure I sat with my mouth open for the whole show. In a way it was the same sort of effect he had when he first appeared on TV singing "Hey Joe" or when he blew the show Lulu was hosting wide open with his impromptu change of tracks to "Sunshine of Your Love". At each of those events I and many others sat with our mouths open at the audacity of the guy.
The whole playing the guitar with his teeth and the setting fire to it (again with the Health and Safety) was also extraordinary theatre. The highlight track for me was "Wild Thing" which had been a hit for the Troggs and came in the second half of the show. However the single impression burned deepest was the unimaginable sounds he made from an instrument that had previously been used in fairly limited ways in pop music. There was a whole percussive thing that he did and he also made music from feedback. And then he could hold a number of different guitar narratives in his head and play them all in the same track. It was as if the music had gone from two to three dimensions.
Luckily my next gig was to be just as memorable.......
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