How the Hell’s Angels almost ended Jimi Hendrix’s final show with disaster
Jeff Beck was one of the most revolutionary guitarists to pick up a six-string. During his stint in The Yardbirds and performing as a solo artist, he changed what it meant to be a guitar player, as he drew the artist out of the shadows and planted them firmly in the limelight. So, what did this revolutionary guitar player say the moment he laid eyes on the unrelenting force that was Jimi Hendrix?
“It was probably one of the first shows he did [In London]. It was in a tiny downstairs club in Queensgate. It was a fashion club – mostly girls, 18 to 25, all dolled up, hats and all. Jimi wasn’t known then,” said Beck, recalling the fateful night he saw Hendrix, “He came on, and I went, ‘Oh, my God’. He had the military outfit on and hair that stuck out all over the place. They kicked off with [Bob Dylan’s] ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, and I thought, ‘Well, I used to be a guitarist’.”
“I used to be a guitarist.” These are the words of one of the greatest instrumentalists on the planet. This was the magnitude that Jimi Hendrix carried with him. He was more than just a musician; he was the epitome of rock ‘n’ roll, somebody who could carry a show on his shoulders and change the way people perceived what a musician could be.
His fame was propelled by word of mouth. The show that Beck went to wasn’t a one-off, as the moment Hendrix touched down in London, he started playing shows at every opportunity, which saw him skyrocket to fame as talk of these tremendous gigs was the only topic on music lovers’ lips.
When you consider Hendrix’s live show and how important it was to his progression as a famous artist, you begin to think that his final gig must have been something to behold. It was a send-off for one of the greatest ever to do it and one last hurrah for the man who changed rock. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. Hendrix’s death was a shock to everyone, and his last gig was never supposed to be his last gig. The show ended up being a tumultuous mess as he was thrown in front of a frustrated audience that was beginning to grow restless.
Hendrix was playing at the Isle of Fehmarn Festival in Germany, which had been poorly organised, hit with severe weather, overcrowded and was also victim to multiple bands cancelling at the last minute. The audience was already booing before Hendrix even took to the stage.
“I don’t give a fuck if you boo,” he said, “As long as you boo in tune…”
Amongst the pissed-off punters were the biker gang Hell’s Angels members, who were equally frustrated with the poor performance put forward by promoters. Hendrix managed to pull the audience back somewhat, as his showmanship and ability as a performer existed no matter the circumstance.
Hendrix reeled out hits such as ‘Foxey Lady’, ‘Hey Joe’, ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Voodoo Child’ before a fight broke in the crowd, and the Hell’s Angels truly ran amok. Hendrix and his band decided to leave the stage before things got out of hand, and once they did, the biker gang set fire to it. In what was an anticlimactic final show, Hendrix left the stage ablaze, never to return as he passed away two weeks later.
