Forgotten Concerts: Jimi Hendrix Experience at Clark University in Worcester on March 15, 1968

Cover art for the Jimi Hendrix Experience album "Live at Clark University." (Dagger Records)

By Ray Kelly | [email protected]
July 21, 2015 at 9:46 AM

Worcester experienced guitar god Jimi Hendrix at his peak during a pair of March 15, 1968 concerts at Clark University.

The Worcester stop – a year after his memorable performance at the Monterey Pop Ferstival and a year before Woodstock – was part of a U.S. tour in support of "Axis: Bold As Love," which had been released five months earlier.

With tickets priced between $3 and $4, the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed before two sold out crowds in a hall that could accommodate 600 students. (An untorn ticket from the Worcester show sold at auction last year for $300).

The first show started shortly before 11 p.m., The Worcester Telegram reported at the time. It had been scheduled for 8 p.m. with the second slated to start at 10:30 p.m.

"It's not me," Hendrix said he slipped into a side door at Atwood Hall. "It's the equipment. It just got here."

The performances might have been lost to history if not for a recording released 29 years after Hendrix' death.

"Live at Clark University," released by Dagger Records in 1999, preserves interviews with Hendrix and bandmates Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, as well as five songs: "Fire," "Red House," "Foxey Lady," "Purple Haze" and "Wild Thing."

It is believed the Jimi Hendrix Experience also performed "Are You Experienced?," "Hey Joe" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" that Friday night.