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“We’re gonna play nothing but oldies-but-baddies tonight, we haven’t played together in about six weeks, so we’re going to jam tonight and see what happens. Hope you don’t mind.”.. and as he steps away from the microphone we can vaguely hear him mumbling something like:  “You wouldn’t know the difference, anyway.”
~Jimi Hendrix (intro to the concert)

On the whole, I can’t understand how anyone who saw us on this tour could have liked us. There was a lot of filming for Swedish TV and compared to similar films in 1967, we were a different group. Jimi was sullen and removed and actually slagged off the audience during the first set. He rarely bothered to sing. I paced grimly in my corner and turned my back on him. The sparkle was gone, very gone, replaced by exhaustion and boredom which showed in the sloppy repeats of the hits as we stared at the crowd with dead eyes. We hated playing Sweden. Always the same problem–no drugs. We were forced to drink the killer Schnapps, and it brought on Jimi’s mood for the first set.
~Noel Redding (Are You Experienced?: The Inside Story Of The Jimi Hendrix Experience)

Those two quotes says a lot. But despite all this.. it’s still a wonderful experience captured by Swedish television – January 9 1969.

Setlist for the first show (this video):

1. Killin’ Floor
2. Spanish Castle Magic
3. Fire
4. Hey Joe
5. Voodoo Child (slight return)
6. Red House
7. Sunshine Of Your Love

Band:

• Jimi Hendrix – lead vocals, guitar
• Noel Redding – bass
• Mitch Mitchell – drums

Check out:

• Jimi Hendrix profile @ johannasvisions.com
• Jimi Hendrix plays Bob Dylan
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience released “Hey Joe” (UK) in 1966
• 30 Best live albums countdown: 25 – Band of Gypsys – Jimi Hendrix

-Egil