Filmed at the London Hippodrome on October 27, 2007 to celebrate the re-release of Jimi Hendrix' Live at Monterey, Gary Moore and his band played a full set of Hendrix classics in front of a full crowd of appreciative fans. Along with Gary on guitar & vocals, the band was comprised of Dave Bronze on bass and drummer Darrin Mooney, and together they played very faithful renditions of many of Jimi's most memorable songs.
While most of the tunes will of course be extremely familiar, such as "Purple Haze", "Manic Depression", "Foxy Lady", "Hey Joe", and "Fire", Moore plays them all note-for-note, with all the fire that Hendrix had plus dropping in some of the technical precision that Gary has shown throughout his career. Nice treat to hear "The Wind Cries Mary" and especially the wild "I Don't Live Today", which the band gives a ferocious treatment. Great to see Experience & Band of Gypsies members Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell come out to play with Gary on a few cuts, especially tearing it up on a dramatic "Red House" and a rockin' "Stone Free" , complete with sizzling guitar solos from Moore. Of course, the main highlight is the encore of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", complete with plenty of wah-wah licks and a wealth of volcanic Moore solos to close out the set.
Sadly, both Moore and Mitchell are no longer with us, both passing away in the years following this recording. As such, Blues for Jimi is a great tribute to the late Jimi Hendrix, but now also one that is fitting for Mitch Mitchell and especially Gary Moore as well.
The High-definition quality on the Blu-ray is pretty good, perhaps not the best I've seen on the many Eagle Rock releases, but the close ups are quite clear and overall it's a very strong presentation. Prepare to really enjoy the audio though, which is simply spectacular and will allow you to fully test your home theater speakers to the max.
Track Listing
- Purple Haze
- Manic Depression
- Foxy Lady
- The Wind Cries Mary
- I Don't Live Today
- My Angel
- Angel
- Fire
- Red House
- Stone Free
- Hey Joe
- Voodoo Child (Slight Return)