Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Recalls Jimi Hendrix’s First UK Concert In New Post
Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Press
In a new post via his official Instagram, Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters recalls witnessing Jimi Hendrix‘s first British concert.
The performance in question occurred at London’s Regent Street Polytechnic on October 1, 1966, where a then-unknown Hendrix was called onstage to perform alongside Cream.
“Halfway through the show,” Waters recounts, “they said, ‘We’d like to introduce a friend of ours.'”
“And this bloke came out and started to play the guitar with his teeth, behind his head and all of that,” he continues. “And I, for some time, I thought – I’d misheard what his name was. I thought he was called ‘Junior Hendrix’. But it wasn’t Junior Hendrix, it was Jimi Hendrix!”
“And that,” Roger concludes, “was the first time he ever played in England.”
As a member of Pink Floyd, Waters would later support Hendrix on tour in 1967.
In his book Inside Out Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason further elaborates on the tour: “[It was Pink Floyd’s] first real taste of rock ‘n’ roll as we had imagined it.”
Through their proximity to Hendrix, Mason, Waters, Rick Wright and Syd Barrett were introduced to a world filled with “popstars in tight trousers with loose morals” and “screaming girls with tight dresses and even looser morals”.
After touring with them, Hendrix was also equally taken with the band.
“They don’t know it,” Hendrix shared with British music paper Melody Maker shortly before his death in 1970, “but people like Pink Floyd are the mad scientists of this day and age.”
Roger Waters will be embarking on an extensive US tour this July.
Roger Waters This Is Not A Drill 2020 tour
Jul 08: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Jul 10: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA
Jul 14: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Jul 17: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Jul 21: Quebec City Videotron Centre, QC
Jul 23: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Jul 25: Albany Times Union Center, NY
Jul 28: Boston TD Garden, MA
Jul 30: Washington Capitol One Arena, DC
Aug 01: Cincinnati Heritage Bank Center, OH
Aug 05: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Aug 11: Raleigh PNC Arena, NC
Aug 13: Orlando Amway Center, FL
Aug 15: Miami AmericanAirlines Arena, FL
Aug 18: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN
Aug 20: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Aug 22: Milwaukee Fiserv Forum, WI
Aug 25: Minneapolis Target Center, MN
Aug 27: Chicago United Center, IL
Aug 29: Kansas City Sprint Center, MO
Sep 02: Denver Pepsi Center, CO
Sep 04: Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena, NV
Sep 10: Los Angeles Staples Center, CA
Sep 14: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Sep 16: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Sep 19: Tacoma Dome, WA
Sep 21: Portland Moda Center, OR
Sep 23: Sacramento Golden 1 Center, CA
Sep 25: San Francisco Chase Center, CA
Sep 30: Salt Lake City Vivint Smart Home Arena, UT
Oct 03: Dallas American Airlines Center, TX
