Jimi Hendrix - Live at Woodstock
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Avg Rating
[4.5 Stars]
51 Reviews
Pub. 06-Jul-1999;
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B00000JGNW
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$19.98
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Color;
DVD-Video;
Full Screen;
Live;
NTSC;
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Product Description
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Jimi Hendrix's appearance at Woodstock may have been one of his most celebrated performances, as the producers of this DVD put it. But it would be a stretch to call it one of his greatest. By the time the guitarist finally took the stage, weather and endless logistical delays had pushed the show to Monday morning, a day after the festival was supposed to have ended. By then, the audience was too tired, hungry, wet, and stoned for Hendrix's set to be the expected apocalyptic finale. Hendrix himself was reportedly so wasted that he collapsed from exhaustion as soon as he left the stage. Woodstock was the first gig by the Gypsy Sun and Rainbows band, a cross between the song-oriented focus of the original Experience (with drummer Mitch Mitchell) and the jam-happy Band of Gypsys (with bass player Billy Cox). Three other musicians, a rhythm guitarist and two percussionists, were on hand as well, but they are virtually inaudible in the audio mix and all but invisible in the film. That's not all bad; what we get instead are many close-ups of the guitarist at work, including shots of his enormous hands effortlessly navigating the frets and strings of his Stratocaster. And this is Jimi Hendrix we're talking about here, still the greatest rock guitar player ever. So while some of the set--a combination of familiar hits ("Fire," "Purple Haze," "Red House"), newer material "(Izabella"), and several jams--is perfunctory, there are moments of brilliance, like the blazing white noise he musters up on "Voodoo Child." In the end, any footage of Jimi Hendrix is worth having, as there isn't all that much of it around. But from a strictly musical standpoint, there's plenty of better live Hendrix out there, including on the four-CD box set The Jimi Hendrix Experience. --Sam Graham
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While the 2005 version has the complete concert, this 1999 version has its stereo soundtrack mastered at 448 kbps, while the 2005 stereo soundtrack is at 198 kbps. This results in that the 1999 one has more headroom and dynamic range and less compression then the 2005 version.;
[Rating: 4 Stars]
From what I've read on the Experience Hendrix website, a new Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock DVD will soon be released (Sept 13th, 2005) which features more tracks, bonus material, and even a 2nd DVD containing black-and-white footage of the show filmed by a guy who was on the front row. My advice is: WAIT. Don't buy this version. Buy the Deluxe Edition that comes out in a month.;
[Rating: 3 Stars]
I'm giving this 5 starts because its Hendrix.
It seemed like the first part of the concert Hendrix was struggling to get things going. But once he did, that was all she wrote!
I can't listen to his Star Spangled Banner without getting chills. In that moment, in that short piece of unexpected unrehersed music, Hendrix grabbed the whole of the USA by the neck, looked it in the eye and said "You broke your covenent with God, and your promise to your people!" Who else could have bore the weight of such a musical statement?
Permit me to share two personal anecdotes.
When I was 11 years old, I snuck into a theater to see Woodstock. I had little interest in the other performers (although I liked most of them very much). I was interested in Hendrix. When he finally appeared, I was overwhelmed by the power of his performance. It was beyond mere loud rock music. It was something akin to a religious experience. Now, 35 years later, I've yet to recover.
I am a musician. Some years ago, I was concerned because the Indian sitar had become my main instrument, and I feared I had abandoned the guitar, my first instrument, after decades of effort invested in it. I was looking at this DVD at home, and after Hendrix' performance, I realized that my destiny lay with the sitar. Because Hendrix had already done all that could be done with the electric guitar. I would forever be under his shadow.
We should be grateful that a Hendrix once walked the earth. With all due respect to Beck, Reid, Vai, and others; when we speak of the realm of heavily amplified electric guitar, in the end, there is only Hendrix.
There will never be another like him.
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[Rating: 5 Stars]
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