The documentary Music, Money, Madness... Jimi Hendrix In Maui is set to hit theaters next month as the 2020 film finally sees a theatrical release.
The film, directed by John McDermott, and an accompanying album were previously released on Blu-Ray and digital formats back in November 2020 and document Hendrix’s 1970 visit to Maui.
The guitar icon originally appeared on the island in order to shoot an ill-fated film called Rainbow Bridge, which was conceived by his manager Michael Jeffery, in the wake of counterculture hit Easy Rider.
Central to the proposed movie was footage of Hendrix performing on the slopes of the Haleakala volcano. Rainbow Bridge’s director, Chuck Wein, pitched the show as a “color/sound vibratory experiment” and the free events soon drew the attention of locals.
Rainbow Bridge was ultimately canned, but footage of the performance remained and has been incorporated into the documentary, alongside original interviews with Billy Cox, Eddie Kramer, Wein and others.
The show itself is remarkable – not just for the quality of the footage captured during the performance, or Hendrix’s typically astonishing, instinctive showmanship – but because of its uniquely bizarre context.
Hendrix performs full-pelt to an audience numbering in the low hundreds – reportedly organised according to their star signs – as kids and locals stand and stare. Surf bums and hippies nod along, while one attendee mounts a horse and rides around the outskirts. Essentially, it’s everything you’d expect from the guitar icon at the height of his career, playing on the side of a volcano in a vibratory experiment…
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The documentary will premiere on February 1 and receive screenings at various US and European locations throughout the month, including a special Q&A and screening at The Regent Theater in Los Angeles with filmmakers John McDermott and Janie Hendrix on February 16.
Music, Money, Madness… Jimi Hendrix In Maui screenings
- Feb 1 Barstow, CA Barstow Station Cinema is D’Place
- Feb 1 Bonsall, CA River Village Cinema is D’Place
- Feb 1 Mammoth Lakes, CA Minaret Cinema is D’Place
- Feb 1 Buffalo, NY Dipson Amherst Theatre
- Feb 1 Buffalo, NY Dipson Amherst Theatre
- Feb 1 Oklahoma City, OK Rodeo Stockyards
- Feb 1 Tacoma, WA The Grand Cinema
- Feb 2 Newport, RI The JPT Film & Event Center
- Feb 4-10 Vancouver, BC Vancity Theatre
- Feb 4-10 Vancouver, BC Vancity Theatre
- Feb 4-10 Columbus, OH Gateway Film Center
- Feb 7 Cottonwood, AZ Old Town Center For the Arts
- Feb 7 Cottonwood, AZ Old Town Center For the Arts
- Feb 8-10, 15-17 Albuquerque, NM Guild Cinema
- Feb 9 Stamford, CT Avon Theatre Film Center
- Feb 10-11 Arlington, MA Regent Theatre
- Feb 10 Tulsa, OK Circle Cinema
- Feb 10 Portland, OR Cinema 21
- Feb 16 Los Angeles Regent Theater*
- Feb 16 Dennis, MA Cape Cinema
- Feb 16 San Diego, CA Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas
- Feb 16 Denver, CO Landmark’s Esquire Theatre
- Feb 16 Chicago, IL Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema
- Feb 16 Atlanta, GA Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema
- Feb 16 Philadelphia, PA Landmark’s Ritz Five
- Feb 16 Washington, DC Landmark’s E Street Cinema
- Feb 17 San Rafael, CA Smith Rafael Film Center
- Feb 17 Santa Monica, CA Laemmle Monica Film Center
- Feb 17 Pasadena, CA Laemmle’s Playhouse 7
- Feb 17 North Hollywood, CA Laemmle NoHo 7
- Feb 17 Glendale, CA Laemmle Glendale
- Feb 17 Claremont, CA Laemmle Claremont 5
- Feb 17 Newhall, CA Laemmle Newhall
- Feb 17, 20, 26 Olympia, WA Olympia Film Society
- Feb 20 Rosendale, NY Rosendale Theatre
- Feb 21 Orlando, FL Enzian Theater
For more information and to buy tickets for screenings, head to JimiHendrixMaui.com.