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Corey's Collection

Jimi Hendrix   08/31/1970

Tivoli Gröna Lund, Stockholm, Sweden
Source ? -> CD (Collectors Disk-
Media Shn   2 discs
J-Card Comment Jimi Hendrix
08/31/70
Hendrix/ Cox/ Mitchell
Stora Scenen, Grona Lund, Tivoli Garden
Stockholm, Sweden
"Guitar in The Garden"
"Collectors Disk"

Source: ? -> CD (Collectors Disk-"Guitar In The Garden") -> EAC -> SHN
From Chris Dixon's 30th Anniversary Series ? C S Dixon

DISC 1

01. Intro
02. Lover Man
03. Catfish Blues ? Race With The Devil
04. Ezy Ryder
05. Red House
06. Come On (Part I)
07. Room Full Of Mirrors
08. Hey Baby (The Land Of The New Rising Sun) ?drum solo ?
09. Message To Love


DISC 2

01. Machine Gun
02. Voodoo Child (slight return)
03.In From The Storm
04. Purple Haze
05. Foxy Lady ? Star Spangled Banner

From Chris Dixon's 30th Anniversary Series ? C S Dixon

August 31, 2000 marks 30 years since Jimi's 1970 concert at Tivoli Gardens in Stockholm, Sweden.
The full venue name includes Stora Scenen, Grona Lund and it was the scene of some of the early
Experience concerts. The venue was in a large amusement park and the lighted ferris wheel and
other rides can be seen in pictures taken from behind Jimi for that 'electric circus' effect.
Apparently there was some friction with the promoter about the show's start time and length, as
the amusement park (and income from same) had to be shut down during the concert. Jimi did go on
a little late but played a very long set at 100+ minutes (upsetting the promoter by some accounts).
Jimi very likely was up all night since ending his IoW set in the predawn hours and his exhaustion
(coupled, no doubt, with other bodily abuses) shows during this show. Nevertheless, Jimi being
Jimi, he also manages some unique passages.

One thing we see here, and at subsequent shows, is a side stage voice monitor next to Jimi
consisting of a high frequency horn/driver combination on a tripod stand, and a Sunn speaker
cabinet that may or may not be part of the same rig (could also be a bass guitar extension). The
horn is of a type which is designed to throw a high SPL (Sound Pressure Level) a long distance
yet it is aimed at Jimi's ear, only a few feet away! This would serve to put Jimi's ears (already
assaulted by high levels) in a potentially dangerous path, on the level of an industrial accident,
especially with the high possibility of feedback given the generally poor state of the sound
system equalization art. There were no apparent bad mishaps with this 'air raid siren' (there's
also one on Billy's side in some pics from this week) but it couldn't have done Jimi's already
fragile physical well-being any good. At this and other shows from the tour, the 4 new Altec
monitor cabinets appear to be dedicated drum monitors, stacked 2x2 directly behind Mitch, the
drum mics seemingly controlled by a small mixer in a rack to stage right (near Jimi).

There are three audience tapes listed as circulating for this show. I only have two, one of which
is missing Red House and has a few other between-song cuts. This one is well balanced save slightly
low drums and sounds a bit fuller while the more complete former tape is more trebly with some
distortion and has the nearby audience voices more pronounced. In addition, a video clip, w/sound,
of a few songs circulates and is our last known substantial visual record of Jimi in concert.
Though quite grainy it is probably our only film/video footage of Jimi playing 'Come On (Pt 1)'
live and one of very few visual records of Roomful of Mirrors, Hey Baby and In From The Storm-
the taper should be commended for filming Jimi's less-often played material and not just going
for Purple Haze and Foxy Lady! The taper seems to duck down behind the bank of flowers in front
of the stage at a couple of points and it would seem Jimi's performing days just barely missed
the advent of clandestine audience video (video gear was still quite bulky at the time but,
luckily, concert security was also in its infancy!).

(Setlist): Lover Man; Experiencing the Blues; Ezy Rider; Red House; Come On (Pt.1); Room Full of
Mirrors; Hey Baby; Message to Love; Machine Gun; Voodoo Child (SR); In From the Storm; Purple
Haze; Foxy Lady

After a few words of greeting, Jimi starts the show with about 15 seconds of free form guitar
before a typically short version of 'Lover Man'. As in some other versions it's a little rough
coming out of the 'Flight of the Bumblebee' section but it's otherwise uneventful.

Jimi then starts the slow blues which he used to introduce as 'Experiencing the Blues', but it
has also taken on the name 'Catfish Blues' as recently as the 'BBC Sessions' CD. Here it's really
just a fragment of earlier renditions, but he had not explored the theme in concert since early
'68. At :51 they visit the 'Race With The Devil' theme and end it around 1:20 with a crashing
chord, leading to a drum break...

...which signals the start of 'Ezy Rider' when Jimi enters a couple of minutes later. Technical
problems seem to creep in as the guitar cuts out briefly at a couple of points, during the bridge
and main solo. Afterward, some audience heckling leads Jimi to use the old "...when I say toilet
paper, that's when you come rolling out..." line.

The opening 3 note figure of 'Red House' is followed by an atypical swipe up the neck, and a few
stray crackles are evident. He prematurely uses the "I still got my guitar" after the first verse,
then again in its usual place before the solo. He does some 'slapped' chords as fills during the
second verse. The solo here is back to three 12 bar verses (after five at IoW) with the tone
building to a more distorted aggressive one and Mitch pushing it toward double time. A high
squeal as Jimi starts to sing the last verse prompts him to say "I think I better hurry up with
that.." and there's a little radio interference evident at the end (though not as bad as the
previous night).

After about a minute of drums in a Ezy/IDLT vein, Jimi starts 'Come On (Pt 1), holding the first
chord for a few extra bars. Never an often-played number, this last appeared at the Madison
Square Garden show of 5/69 and at the jam during the Newport (Ca.) festival the following month.
This is the last time Jimi ever plays it. They may not have rehearsed it with Billy much, if at
all, and the chromatic climb going into the solo is a little rough but Jimi seems to have fun
with it, revisiting many of the licks from the Electric Ladyland track. The last solo is played
high on the neck with the wah for a very stinging tone.

Jimi introduces 'Room Full of Mirrors' with a couple of references to the lyrics and thanks "the
Swedish people for coming.." (well, he is *in* Sweden after all...). This is the first documented
version since Atlanta Pop (the only undocumented shows since then are San Diego and Honolulu). He
misses a couple of chords at the start and delays the first verse a bit. At 2:00 we get an
extended solo with wah-inflected rhythm figures and partial chords. Returns for the "love comes
shining..." verse at 3:10 and ends it just afterward.

Jimi says "Hope you don't mind if we do this slow jam" and they slip into the slow improvisation
on E that leads into 'Hey Baby'. This time the interlude has a bit more of a minor blues than a
flamenco flavor. He does some chords that sound like a slowed down 'Bolero' then starts the 'Hey
Baby' intro proper w/Billy at 1:15. At 2:30, instead of beginning the HB main chords, he does an
unaccompanied guitar excursion, with some fast pull-offs leading to some flamenco style playing,
finally starting the Am-G-F progression at around 3:10. Once the band enters, Jimi chooses to
solo over the riff for quite some time, including an above-the-nut bend ala the Woodstock
'Villanova' at 4:05. At 5:05 he sings the opening verse, though he stops playing part way through
the chorus. At 6:40 he takes off for some more soloing, this time taking an unusually (for HB)
aggressive and distorted tone for a very unique and interesting take on the song. He adds the wah
and goes 'full shred' for a bit, eventually returning to the main riff, played with 'power chords'
and then, in another twist, lingering on the F and improvising a little over that. He switches to
some muted strums at 8:30 and drops out for a drum solo. Apparently Jimi leaves the stage at this
point, possibly to have a few words with the promoters who may have been pressuring him to wind
up the show.

Jimi returns to the stage and says "Sorry for the intermission, I just had to get a load off my
mind...I feel better". Despite this, the version of 'Message to Love' which follows is very rough,
with missed chords and out of tune (and focus) soloing. To be fair, Jimi may have been distracted
by more gear trouble as the tone, esp. during the solo, is very buzzy, pinched and trebly. One
surprise is what sounds like Billy throwing in some background vocals on the verse, something not
heard since the BoG shows (could be an audience member, tho...). Jimi manages to stick to the
more 'in tune' strings in the last solo, then seems to correct it a bit during the final chord.

Jimi takes some time to get more in tune, apologizing for same, then dedicates 'Machine Gun' to
"...the girl in the pink underwear...", something he usually saved for 'Foxy Lady', though he
follows it up by mentioning the "...soldiers here". He does the intro and, once the band joins in,
starts with some low twangy blues riffs and steps on the gas, er, fuzz around 1:00. He does some
sustained notes verging on feedback and briefly quotes 'Taps' at 1:25, continuing into a 'full
shred' solo usually reserved for a little later in the song. He does some pick scrapes on the low
strings around 3:20 and lets some notes ring into their overtones before playing a little with
his teeth (rare for MG). He heads into the vocals at 4:30, improvising on the opening verse and
singing "...pick up my axe and *try* to fight like a farmer.." (though he drops the "try" when he
repeats the line). At 6:55 he starts the middle solo with a low trill then hits the familiar high
note. We hear some nice ride cymbal work from Mitch behind the solo about 7:30 (at least on the
crisper tape). At 8:00 they go to a ascending/descending variation on the riff and Billy does a
little improvising on his own behind Jimi, possibly sensing his friend's energy flagging a bit
and eager to help move things along. They go to the more 'traditional' secondary riff at 8:00 as J
imi does his verse around "over yonder stands a mother..". He heads off into some intense soloing
with ever higher bends before returning to the riff at 11:20. He does some nice sustained moving
chords which verge on feedback then some 'rat-a-tat' machine gun effects, followed by the 'wobbly
vibrato' section. He's heard tapping on the neck or back of headstock to excite some feedback
notes and controls them nicely (some luck involved, no doubt). He briefly returns to the wobbly
vibrato notes and finishes with the 'battleground' imitation much like the end of the original
BoG album version.

MG has left the guitar quite out of tune as he heads into the 'VC(SR)' intro, but he gets it
closer on the fly (there is a 'pop' as if the guitar is being unplugged and he goes quiet for a
moment - it comes back awfully fast for him to have switched instruments but it's possible). More
confident of his tuning, he does some opening soloing, switching the wah in and out for effect,
before starting the verse at around 2:00. Starts the main solo at 2:35. Billy improvises on the
riff, adding a bent note to the end of each phrase and Jimi eventually joins him for a few bars.
At 5:00 he vaguely hints at the 'Race With The Devil' groove and goes to some muted strumming at
5:45...

...segueing into 'In From The Storm', a relatively solid version with the changes tight even if
the soloing is tentative in spots. They move through the song briskly with the final riff, ala
Jeff Beck's 'Rice Pudding', coming at the 4:00 mark.

They go into 'Purple Haze' with the guitar yet again showing some tuning problems. Jimi sings
"...whatever it is, that bird put a spell on me...". The solo's distortion is again a bit thin
and buzzy and Jimi throws in an unusual little rock n' roll riff as he goes into the last verse.
At the tag solo, Billy again experiments with a bent note in the riff and Jimi follows him! At
4:00 there's the stop for Jimi's solo coda, which goes for about another minute and, as usual,
features a little dental work.

Jimi says "this is a song we love to do" and they finish with 'Foxy Lady', dedicated again to the
girls in the underwear. FL is not often heard as a set closer. Still a bit out of tune, he drops
out briefly between the first two verses. He solos at 2:30 but the whammy use puts some of the
lower strings *way* out of tune. He manages to avoid them while soloing but the verse chords are
way out ! The restatement of the opening feedback note is very long and he does a solo coda with
pull-offs low on the neck, winding up the night by quoting the first couple of lines of 'Star
Spangled Banner'. With a "Thank you and good bye" Jimi ends a very long day.

Chris


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Owned by Corey · Last Updated May 23, 2023