Jimi Hendrix - Plays Berkeley 1970 (2012, Blu-ray)

Derived from a pair of concerts at the Berkeley (California) Community Theater on May 30, 1970, Jimi Plays Berkeley the film has always been a curious chapter in the history of Jimi Hendrix. Shot more as a test than a true documentary, it was hurriedly whipped together as an official film shortly after the great singer-songwriterguitarist's unfortunate death, and actually was put on an European tour with acts managed by the artist's former manager. The final product has protest footage interspersed among the great performances, and at the time, when everyone was so hungry for anything Jimi, it became one of the most popular music films of its era. Now it can be viewed more as a time capsule wrapped around performances by Hendrix et al, performing a distinctly unique set for the time.
The film features excerpts of performances by Jimi, bassist Billy Cox, and drummer Mitch Mitchell from the two concerts. They perform hot versions of such Hendrix favorites as "Purple Haze," a remarkable lengthy tour de force takes on "Machine Gun" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," and the artist's inimitable take on Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode."

Now digitally remastered, Jimi Plays Berkeley finally emerges for the first time on Blu-ray with newly minted stereo and 5.1 surround sound, mixed by original Hendrix producer/engineer Eddie Kramer. As an added audio-only bonus, the Blu-ray features the entire second set from that evening mixed in 5.1 surround sound.

Jimi Plays Berkeley includes footage of:
01. Jimi In Limousine
02. Afternoon Rehearsals
03. Johnny B. Goode
04. Hear My Train A Comin'
05. Star Spangled Banner
06. Purple Haze
07. I Don't Live Today
08. Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
09. Lover Man
10. Machine Gun
11. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Bonus:
The Second Set (1:07:28) contains the entire performance of Jimi's second set at Berkeley on May 30, 1970. This ostensibly audio only supplement plays to some appropriately psychedelic imagery filling the menu screen in 1080p. There are two audio options here, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which streams at an average rate of around 5.0 mbps (sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less) and an uncompressed LPCM 5.1 mix which holds steady at 6.9 mbps.

The set list features:
Pass It On (Straight Ahead)
Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
Lover Man
Stone Free
Hey Joe
I Don't Live Today
Machine Gun
Foxy Lady
Star Spangled Banner
Purple Haze
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Abe Jacob Interview (HD; 7:51) features reminiscences from Jacob (the menu lists his surname incorrectly as Jacobs), who did sound at the Monterey Pop Festival, as well as a slew of great Broadway shows (the first Broadway show I saw as a kid was Pippin, featuring Jacob's stellar work). Jacob was soon hired to do sound for Hendrix while they were on tour and he has some great, often funny, anecdotes to share..