Hendrix, Cream, stadiums youth and experience (from 2008)

I was just thinking about Jimi Hendrix and imagining him still alive today. He would be about 68 tears old I wonder what he'd be doing? We'll obviously never know. Just imagine though! Imagine what he would have accomplished in the last 37 years. It's mind boggling, really. I saw him perform with band at Madison Square Garden in NYC. That was his short set. Someone evidently dosed him with LSD and he couldn't play. I just remember it as being an amazing experience. I really don't remember anything else including the music. Hey, I was young. It was one of my first concerts, so I was probably blown away by the scene. I also saw the Cream at the Garden also. It was one of their last concerts. This was all in the late '60s. If anyone can remember the dates for me, let me know. I remember the Cream concert - at least a little more than the Hendrix concert. By the way, I don't know for sure, but I probably was stoned out of my mind for both shows. I did a lot of pot in high school and I'm sure, for those concerts, I was stoned. But I digress. They played on a revolving stage. Not a fast revolving stage, of course. The place was packed and the noise was incredible! The excitement too. They were incredibly loud. Every time that the front of the stage turned to us, the blast of sound hit us with such force that we were pushed back against our seats. That's what it seemed like anyway. It was really amazing. I was a very impressionable 16 or 17 year old. A musician too. I had never heard or seen anything like it before. It was a very visceral experience - and one I'll never forget. Thinking about it now from a jaded old man's point of view, makes it seem different somehow. I now "know" what it is all about. Been there done that, so to speak. I've played loud too. But to have that "remembrance" , that visceral remembrance is something I'll always remember and I know it's kind of special. I'll always have the Garden. I do still like my music loud - sometimes. But, more importantly, I like my music good - loud, soft or in-between. What a difference a 35 year perspective makes. Another thing that has changed is my liking for a different setting than the big concert setting. I like a more intimate setting. I went to hear Phil Lesh and Friends and The Levon Helm Band last summer at The Boston Pavilion. It was a real fine show, but I was too far away. I couldn't get the feeling right. I couldn't actually feel the music. I could feel the crowd some, but that didn't quite seem enough for me. I really like being close up - big halls have lost their appeal to me for sure. I've spent the last 4 years doing live sound for bands at Johnny D's in Somerville, MA. It's a 200 person club. Being close was very nice. I could smell the performers. Not really, but you get the idea. I like it that way now. Being close really makes you part of the music. That's where i am a now. The big old stadium days for me had its uses and had its fun for me. But the early stadium music experiences will be something I'll always have a fond place in my heart for, Hendrix and the Cream live on for me and every time I play a small 50 seater, I try to channel that Hendrix and Cream energy through my guitar - not in volume but in experience.