Jimi Hendrix Experience concert poster Sun Devils Gym, Arizona Feb 5 1968

Jimi Hendrix Experience concert poster Sun Devils Gym, Arizona Feb 5 1968 This Jimi Hendrix Experience concert poster features an image of the legendary guitarist reversed out of black and printed onto bright orange paper. It was produced to promote a show that took place on February 5 1968 in Tempe, Arizona. We love that the admission price appears on the poster stating entry cost just $3. The bright, bold reproduction print looks fabulous, especially in the larger sizes. The show was put on more than fifty years ago by the students at Arizona State University (ACU) in Tempe, Arizona who hired Jimi for a fraternity show. The concert was performed in what was then known as the Sun Devil Gym which was the University’s main basketball and gymnastics facility. Three thousand fans turned out on a Monday evening for the show. Admission was just $3 and the concert was a sell-out. The concert saw the English rock band return as the support band, fronted by the unique talent that was Robert Wyatt. Before the show Hendrix was interviewed by Dave Gurzenski for the Arizona State Press. The interview was published on February 7. Hendrix took to the stage wearing a Native American choker, Afghan-style coat, bell-bottoms and his signature hat, carrying his white-and-rosewood Fender Strat. Jimi Hendrix was one of the most bootlegged artists of his era. However, a search of the internet reveals there are no recordings of the show. There’s not even a trace of a setlist. However a 2018 article on the ASU news website  “Hendrix rocked this house with his wailing guitar and his feedback and distortion,” said University Archivist Rob Spindler. “… Hendrix was known as an acrobatic guitar player, playing behind his head, between his legs — even burning his guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival the year before.” Along with the setlist, the name of the artist who produced this fantastic Jimi Hendrix Sun Devils Gym poster has been lost to time. It’s possible the poster was created by the students of the university. Original copies of this poster are extremely rare and sell for in excess of £3,000. Other Jimi Hendrix posters Jimi Hendrix was just 16 years old when he made his stage debut at the Temple De Hirsch Sinai synagogue in Seattle in 1959. It didn’t go well! His bandmates at the time thought he was too flashy and tried to steal the show. It didn’t hold him back. Throughout the latter half of 1965, and into the first part of 1966, Jimmy played the rounds of smaller venues throughout Greenwich Village, catching up with Animals’ bassist Chas Chandler during a July performance at Cafe Wha? The ex-Animals bassist, Chandler was soon to become Hendrix’s manager. Hendrix’s debut UK performance took place in a discrete little meeting place in the heart of Mayfair. It was the opening night for The Scotch Of St James and the event was attended by the elite of the British music scene including members of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Animals and The Hollies. Between September 1966 and September 1970, and that first UK appearance to his final gig at the Isle of Fehmarn Festival in Germany, Jimi Hendrix played over 600 shows. Logic suggests that this means that nearly 600 posters will have been designed and printed advertising the legendary artist’s show. We currently have just over a dozen reproduction prints on our website, here are three of our favorites. The Newport 68 poster features a prominent watercolour rendering of Jimi in reddish brown. His face and body are portrayed in a blue-to-white vignette contrasting with the sky-blue background. The name of the festival, Newport 69, is written in hand-drawn lettering, in a superb ‘groovy’ 60s style evocative of the era. In curved blue letters beneath the wording, the text reads ‘At Devonshire Downs’. In the top right-hand corner is the long list of artists that had already been booked to perform at the festival when the poster was printed. Another bold, bright orange poster from 1968 promoted two shows at the Fillmore East in New York City. The wonderfully psychedelic image includes cameos of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. The poster is considered to be one of the holy grails from the psychedelic era. It’s an extremely rare poster in its original form. One original copy sold for $6,400 back in 2014. A personal favorite is a 1970 Isle of Wight Festival poster. Although not strictly a Jimi Hendrix poster, his name appears in the three-day line-up along with artists including The Doors, The Who, and Jethro Tull. The poster depicts a cool image of a psychedelic drummer.