Sue Topham Interview: April 1967 Hendrix Concert at De Montfort Hall ,Leicester.
Title
Sue Topham Interview: April 1967 Hendrix Concert at De Montfort Hall ,Leicester.
Date
18 April 2018
Description
Oral history interview with Sue Topham, an audience member at the famous Theatre Royal concert by Jimi Hendrix in December 1967.
What's the story?
Jimi Hendrix (1942 – 1970) is regarded as one of the most influential rock performers and guitarists from the 1960s, creating such influential songs such as Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary, Purple Haze and his cover of Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower.
His live performances were equally influential and powerful and with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience, comprising himself plus bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, Hendrix played two legendary shows at the Theatre Royal on 3 December 1967 at 5.30pm and 8pm.
This was a touring show to a number of venues and also featured such iconic rock bands as The Pink Floyd, Amen Corner, The Move and The Nice.
In 1967 Sue Topham was a 16-year-old Jimi Hendrix fan living in Carlton in Nottingham and along with some friends got second row tickets to see the 5.30pm show at the Theatre Royal.
In this interview Sue talks about seeing Jimi Hendrix earlier in the year at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester on 16 April, when Hendrix was much lower down the bill:
Earlier that year I went to another set of concerts that Jimi did and strangely enough he was backing the Walker Brothers. I mean, this line-up of people was just amazing. The Walker Brothers topped the bill, Cat Stevens was playing, Engelbert Humperdinck closed the first half and Jimi actually played behind. He was the next one behind Engelbert Humperdinck. So this was April in 1967. So Jimi then, I think, he’d just about had his first hit then. So when they put this programme together at De Montfort Hall with the Walker Brothers, he wasn’t really as famous as he was when he came to the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. I remember, this was just amazing. And I went to see this three times. I went to De Montfort Hall, I went to Lincoln, Lincoln ABC and I went to a place called the Hanley Odeon and saw this three times, so I was quite keen to see Jimi.
It was very strange seeing Engelbert Humperdinck, because I hadn’t gone to see him. I think a lot of the audience were thinking, well, we’ve come to see this, but we’ve got to listen to this as well. Then I used to come here and just come and see what was going on. I haven’t got the bill for this, unfortunately. I couldn’t find that, but I did have the tickets. These concerts were just amazing. They put together all these people and then sent them all the way round the country and some of these only did five minutes and you’d think “Wow!”.
His live performances were equally influential and powerful and with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience, comprising himself plus bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, Hendrix played two legendary shows at the Theatre Royal on 3 December 1967 at 5.30pm and 8pm.
This was a touring show to a number of venues and also featured such iconic rock bands as The Pink Floyd, Amen Corner, The Move and The Nice.
In 1967 Sue Topham was a 16-year-old Jimi Hendrix fan living in Carlton in Nottingham and along with some friends got second row tickets to see the 5.30pm show at the Theatre Royal.
In this interview Sue talks about seeing Jimi Hendrix earlier in the year at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester on 16 April, when Hendrix was much lower down the bill:
Earlier that year I went to another set of concerts that Jimi did and strangely enough he was backing the Walker Brothers. I mean, this line-up of people was just amazing. The Walker Brothers topped the bill, Cat Stevens was playing, Engelbert Humperdinck closed the first half and Jimi actually played behind. He was the next one behind Engelbert Humperdinck. So this was April in 1967. So Jimi then, I think, he’d just about had his first hit then. So when they put this programme together at De Montfort Hall with the Walker Brothers, he wasn’t really as famous as he was when he came to the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. I remember, this was just amazing. And I went to see this three times. I went to De Montfort Hall, I went to Lincoln, Lincoln ABC and I went to a place called the Hanley Odeon and saw this three times, so I was quite keen to see Jimi.
It was very strange seeing Engelbert Humperdinck, because I hadn’t gone to see him. I think a lot of the audience were thinking, well, we’ve come to see this, but we’ve got to listen to this as well. Then I used to come here and just come and see what was going on. I haven’t got the bill for this, unfortunately. I couldn’t find that, but I did have the tickets. These concerts were just amazing. They put together all these people and then sent them all the way round the country and some of these only did five minutes and you’d think “Wow!”.
Type
Oral interview
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Interviewers: Diane Jones & Jennifer Sherwood
Transcriber: David Chilton
Transcriber: David Chilton
