| There is no denying it: Jimi Plays Berkeley ain't The Last Waltz. Visually, Peter Pilafian's direction and camerawork look like a student film compared to Scorsese's rock masterpiece. Instead of thanking fans and formally saying farewell to the road, Hendrix's manager Michael Jeffery created an exploitation film to simply squeeze as much cash he could out of the overworked guitarist. Despite the cheesy documentary footage, clips of silly protesters, butchered songs ("Hear My Train A Comin'" is literally chopped in half!), and the continuously shaky head shots, Jimi Plays Berkeley is great. Why? Because of Hendrix's flawless performance with Mitch Mitchell on drums and Billy Cox on bass. The band never sounded better live, and Eddie Kramer's 5.1 surround remix on the DVD really lifts the sound to a new level. In addition, the DVD includes the entire audio recording of Jimi Plays Berkeley: 2nd Set, arguably Hendrix's best live performance ever recorded. It's just perfect. --Rob Bracco |
