The Complete Monterey Pop Festival

"Monterey Pop" should be required viewing--far more than "Woodstock", that's for sure--for anyone interested in what the 60s was really all about. It is more than just an incredible rock festival, the first and still the best of its kind. It is a historical document of the hippie era at its euphoric peak. DA Pennebaker truly earned his credentials here as his camera focuses with incredible grace and sensitivity on each face, be it from audience member or performer. There is one shot during Ravi Shankar's performance where his camera walks down a lengthy aisle and the quasi-religious looks and gypsy-like fashions on the dozens of people he meets along the way is simply breathtaking. That singular mood--which captures a long-lost communal paradise of gentle smiles and laughter, incredibly colorful clothing and painted faces, mind-blowing psychedelic light shows, gods-eye weaves, beads, flowers and of course Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Otis Redding, Country Joe & The Fish, Simon And Garfunkel and many more giving performances more akin to spiritual visions than entertainment--will hypnotize and delight the viewer from beginning to end, and even though there are four hours of entertainment here you will be left wanting more (and usually wishing for a time machine).

With the audience almost as dazzling a sight as the performers, and the light show competing with and complementing the music for one's attention, the film feels like one singular artistic statement which came together like magic, fuelled by the acid-soaked climate of the time. Much interesting historical info is given in the booklet and audio commentaries, although the
real highlight of this re-release are the two extra DVDs featuring all the available outtake footage. Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding, of course, gave two of the greatest performances of all time at Monterey; nothing need be said of Hendrix's now-iconic US breakthrough, which upped the ante on The Who's stunning set. Much more of The Who's set makes the outtakes disc as well, along with many artists unfortunately cut out of the original film such as The Byrds, Laura Nyro, The Electric Flag, The Blues Project and Buffalo Springfield. The Blues Project give a particularly fine, unexpected performance featuring an inspired flute solo. Other highlights include Big Brother doing "Combination Of The Two" (which crackles with excitement), Simon And Garfunkel dishing out a mesmerizing "Sound Of Silence", Country Joe & The Fish rocking on "Martha Lorraine" (with more classic audience shots), Jefferson Airplane storming their way through "Somebody To Love" (which should have made the official film over "High Flying Bird"), Laura Nyro's dramatic rendition of "Poverty Train", and Crosby and Stills together on stage for the first time while the Springfield do "For What It's Worth".

Films like this need to be preserved and cherished as time capsules of a bygone era that becomes more and more distorted through hazy recollection and warped media images over the years (for starters, not a *single* person in "Monterey Pop" can be seen wearing a tie-dye shirt!). It is my favorite concert film and one of the most enjoyable and even spiritual films I have ever seen, which at times brings a tear to the eye. If you've already seen the original film, the DVD will be "like Easter and Christmas and New Years and your birthday all in one"; if you haven't, and particularly if you are of today's under-21 generation for who the 60s are a distant grandparents' memory, "Monterey Pop" may change your life.

I bought this mostly for the Jimi Hendrix / Otis Redding disc and for the most part am satisfied. But I am not without criticism. The disc opens with the Experience playing "Can You See Me" as an artist paints Jimi on a brick wall in a getto alley. It's an excellent video in its own right, but I think it would have worked better had it been sequenced in its original position in the performance. I also miss Jimi's talk to the crowd before the song starts where he announces they are about to play Can You See Me in F sharp. Other than the sequencing gripe, I don't have much to complain about. Charles Sharr Murray's commentary is excellent, as is Pete Townsend's interview.

Having the extra Otis Redding songs as well as the out-takes disc is really golden. I only wish that even more were available. There were some spirited performances at this festival. Probably the weakest component of the whole box is the booklet. It's fine, but it's got tough competition, going up against history and all - it's just too incomplete to measure up. The disc binding plastic insrets are lousy too, requiring too much monkeying around to get the discs out without flexing them far too aggressively. The key to minimizing the abuse is this: push down the center button and lift the top of the disc, then rotate it to free up one of the bottom lock tabs, being careful not to scratch the disc in the process. Once the disc is out, get an emery board and soften up the edges of the binding tabs and blow off any dust from the filing. Then it will work much better with less stress on the DVDs.