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SETLIST:
Fire // Lover Man // Spanish Castle Magic // Red House // Room Full Of Mirrors // Hear My Train A Comin' // Message To Love // All Along The Watchtower // Freedom // Foxey Lady // Purple Haze // Hey Joe // Voodoo Child (Slight Return) // Stone Free // Star Spangled Banner // Straight Ahead // Hey Baby

Jimi and the Experience were chosen to serve as the headline act for the second Atlanta International Pop Festival held in Byron Georgia. Joining Hendrix over the course of the three day event were such groups as Jethro Tull, Cactus, Lee Michaels, and the Chambers Brothers.

Jimi's performance on this hot and muggy Independence Day was capped by a fireworks display which thrilled the audience estimated to number more than 150,000.

Typical of struggles at large outdoor festivals, Jimi was again beset by tuning and equipment problems. At the outset of their performance, Mitch seemed unable to monitor Jimi and Billy's playing and struggled to maintain musical time. Mitch's stage monitoring was woefully inadequate by contemporary standards and the slightest variation could have a detrimental impact on his ability to hear his fellow musicians amid the din of Jimi and Billy's amplifiers.

Dressed in the orange 'Butterfly' stage costume made famous by film footage of this concert and that of the Isle Of Wight nearly two months later, Jimi, Mitch, and Billy struggled to get off on the right foot. Several of the early numbers feel victim to tuning and equipment problems. Midway through the set, the trio began to gel. An enthusiastic "All Along The Watchtower", which Jimi rescued by reversing course on the fly, turned the gig around. From this point forward, the group remained in high gear. Strong performances of "Foxey Lady", "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe" and a superb "Stone Free" followed. An inspired stab at "Straight Ahead" came roaring out of the close of "Star Spangled Banner". Jimi tried to build on the momentum with "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)", but his guitar was by now badly out of tune. Partway through the song, he elected to shut it down and call it a night.

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July 4, 1970

Atlanta Pop Festival, Middle Georgia Raceway, Byron, Georgia
with The Gypsy, Rotary Connection, Cat Mother, Cactus, Jethro Tull, Lee Michaels, Chambers Brothers, Rare Earth

 
 
© 1995-2008 Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.
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