Jimi Hendrix, with Cactus, Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys, at Sicks' Stadium, Seattle, WA, July 26, 1970

This is a poster for a concert by Jimi Hendrix and special guests Cactus along with Catmother and the All Night Newsboys, performing at Sicks’ Stadium, Seattle, Washington, on July 26, 1970. It would be Hendrix’s last show in Seattle before his death on September 18, 1970. 

Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who gained mainstream prominence in the late 1960s with hits such as “Hey Joe,” “Purple Haze,” “All Along the Watchtower,” and “Fire,” and is now celebrated as one of the most influential electric guitarists of all time. 

During the time he was a superstar, from 1966-1970, Jimi Hendrix only played in his hometown of Seattle four times. His last concert in Seattle was challenging, and with a weather forecast predicting rain, Hendrix instructed that the stage floor be covered with rubber so the musicians wouldn’t be electrocuted. The forecast proved correct and the baseball field at Sicks’ Stadium turned into a vast expanse of soggy grass and mud. When the rain subsided, some of the crowd ventured out from the stands to the front of the stage as Hendrix began his set. However, a freezing downpour soon drove people back to their seats. “You don’t sound happy, you don’t look very happy, but we’ll see if we can paint some faces around here,” Hendrix said from the stage, but the weather, plus equipment problems and poor stadium acoustics, seemed to distract him during the performance. Later that night, Hendrix drove around town for hours, reminiscing about his youth and everything that had changed since he left Seattle for the first time nine years before.