Jimi Hendrix Had the Biggest Concert of His Life Saved By a Pink Floyd Member Who Wasn’t Performing
Jimi Hendrix remains a member entrenched on a short list of legendary guitarists. Once he settled on being called Jimi after ditching two different names and arrived in a thriving London music scene, he left a trail of incendiary guitar solos and hit songs. Not long before he tragically died at age 27, Hendrix had the biggest concert of his career saved by a Pink Floyd member who wasn’t even performing.
Jimi Hendrix was one of the headliners at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival
Roughly a year after his psychedelic version of “The Star Spangled Banner” rocked the Woodstock festival in the United States, Jimi Hendrix was one of the main draws at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.
In addition to Hendrix and his group, the bill included some of the biggest acts of the day. The Who, Joni Mitchell, the Moody Blues, Miles Davis, Jethro Tull, Sly and the Family Stones, and The Doors also played. Still, Hendrix had a prime slot playing late on the festival’s final day. (It ended up being the early morning hours of the following day).
The Guardian estimates at least 600,000 people attended the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. That would make it Hendrix’s biggest concert in terms of attendance, and it took a member of Pink Floyd to save the day once Jimi took the stage.
Hendrix had his Isle of Wight concert saved by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour
Pink Floyd were on their way to success in 1970, but they weren’t yet quite a household name. Floyd didn’t play the Isle of Wight in 1970, but guitarist David Gilmour attended as a fan and sat in the crowd when Hendrix took the stage for the biggest concert of his life.
Hendrix followed Jethro Tull on the stage. The bands possessed drastically different sounds, and the sound engineers encountered some issues setting up for Hendrix’s set. Gilmour had some experience working mixing boards after producing former Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett’s solo albums. So he stepped in and salvaged Hendrix’s biggest concert, per Prog magazine (via Guitar World):
“I went down to go to [the Isle of Wight], and I was camping in a tent, just being a punter. I went backstage where our main roadie guy, Peter Watts, was trying to deal with all the mayhem with Charlie Watkins of [Watkins Electric Music]. They were very nervous; they were going to have to mix Hendrix’s sound. I did some mixing stuff in those days and they said, ‘Help! Help!’ So I did.”
David Gilmour explains how he saved Jimi Hendrix’s biggest concert at the Isle of Wight
The sound crew had some issues before Gilmour saved one of Hendrix’s biggest concerts. Unfortunately for Hendrix, he encountered more troubles on the road after the Isle of Wight show.
Hendrix’s bass player quit the band shortly after Gilmour saved the day
Hendrix’s biggest concert was saved by Pink Floyd’s Gilmour. But even the prog-rock guitar legend couldn’t save Hendrix from what happened next.
Hendrix cut a concert in Denmark short in early September. He played a festival in Germany and drew boos from the crowd. After flying back to London, Billy Cox, the on-again, off-again bassist for Hendrix who played the Isle of Wight, quit the band a few days after the German festival performance. Less than two weeks later, Hendrix’s chilling prediction about his death came true when he died on Sept. 18, 1970.
The music, including Jimi Hendrix’s concert for the ages at the Isle of Wight, lives on. The official live album from the show, Blue Wild Angel, came out in November 2002 and reached the Billboard album charts later in the month, more than 30 years after his death.
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