Rating: 
Summary: Insight into the Band of Gypsies
Review: I enjoyed the video tremendously because of the insight it provides into that whole episode of Jimi's career. Yes, it could have been better, it also could have been four hours long, I wouln't have complained!!! As it is, though, the video is great and the Hendrix family did a good job. I can't argue with anything they do because that's Jimi dad and sister. However, I wish they would release more studio jams and videos at a quicker pace.
Rating: 
Summary: HENDRIX BLOWS AWAY FANS AT THE FILLMORE
Review: This CD, culled from the four shows over two day on the New Year 69-70, is tremendous in it's intensity and power. The group, comprised of Billy Cox and Buddy Miles, is extemely tight and ground breaking. Jimi rips through everything from "Stone Free" to "Burning Desire" a new tune the group was developing at the time. In fact, the entire CD is incredible. If you like the first Band of Gypisies, you will love this album. I personally think they should have released all four shows in their entirety, but that's just me. Overall, thr Cd is killer and the video documentary is incredible as well, I highly recommend both!
Rating:
Summary: Good but could have been better
Review: Twenty nine or so years later we finally get to see Hendrix playing at the Filmore East with the Band of Gypsies. The documentary is OK BUT why oh why do they show interviews with other people as Hendrix is playing away in the background?What is the point of having the footage when you do not show it? For instance during the solos of Machine Gun just as Hendrix starts playing there is random footage of bombs dropping on Vietnam or an interview with somebody as Hendrix plays some of his greatest solos....we want to see Jimi play. It makes me wonder if the Hendrix Estate really understands what Jimi's music was all about. Groan....
Rating:
Summary: The Best Hendrix Music Ever
Review: On this DVD you'll find two things: 1) a documentary, 2) an hour of uninterrupted Band of Gypsies concert footage. The documentary could've been better. They focus more on Jimi and less on the Band of Gypsies. The footage is spread out, poorly presented, and no one song is presented in full. The concert footage, on the other hand, is amazing. Eight songs are presented, all are complete and uninterrupted. Buy the DVD, but skip the documentary and go straight for the concert footage.
Rating: 
Summary: Not enough Jimi, concert footage has no color
Review: When I bought this DVD I was led to believe that black and white AND color footage existed of the Fillmore East shows. Also, I assumed from the packaging that the DVD contained a section of just the music, ie the parts of the show not filmed. Both assumptions are false: no color footage, no music. There weren't many color stills of the show either although there is a stills section. I quickly got the feeling that this DVD was not a labor of love but rather done quickly for the money. The documentary isn't awful but offers no new information about the Band of Gypsys and pays far too much attention to Jimi's being black and what that may or may not have ment to him. No interviews with Jimi on this subject. Well he was also part Cherokee indian and I didn't see any Native Americans being interviewed but I did see the moderately talented Lenny Kravitz and Slash babbling about rock and race etc. How come Lenny didn't mention his jewish brothers and sisters? He's such a lightweight I have to question his inclusion in the film. Why not interview Prince? Or George Clinton? Or some other of Jimi's contemporaries. Or here's an idea: Jimi himself! The interviews with Vernon Reid made more sense, he's a much more gifted musician and insightful man than Duddy and Slash. But I would much rather have had more in-depth interviews with people that actually knew Hendrix such as Buddy Miles, Billy Cox, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding. Not to mention Jimi's road manager Gerry Stickells. There are some nice bits with Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer. But we never find out much information as to the formation of the Band of Gypsys and very little information as to why it broke up. I want the dirt dammit! And we get an embarrassing segment where Buddy plays and sings along to his performance at the Fillmore. Its just SO pathetic. The documentary takes up the bulk of this DVD and its neither terribly interesting nor very informative. Its OK at best. The only reason to buy this DVD is to see about an hours worth of B&W concert footage videotaped at the first Fillmore show. There are great versions of Power of Love, Machine Gun and Them Changes, among others. You get to see Hendrix really play and in a different and funkier context than with the Experience. You get to see Hendrix do the famous version of Machine Gun from the Band of Gypsies album. Which is fantastic, but the black 'n white is just such a tease, especially when the camera dork focuses on the light show going on in back of the band. "Um, its like, um, in black and white man."
The quality of the videotape is at best primitive. There are ghosts a plenty, out of focus camera work and really only two angles: one from Jimi's side and one from Billy's. Of course the sound quality sucks as well. Why didn't they dub in the proper recorded versions of these songs? Its not like they didn't have the tape. My biggest complaint though is that the video is not in sync with the sound. This is the 21st century folks, I could have syncronized the material on my home freaking computer. Ah well, I'll take what I can get but "Band of Gypsys (Live at the Fillmore East)" just isn't very good. I was disappointed and felt ripped off or at least misled. I'm probably not going to watch the thing again, not the documentary in any case. Buy it used if you must.
Rating:
Summary: good, but not as your first Hendrix dvd
Review: This is a good dvd, but I dont know why they call it "Live at the fillmore East" it's not really a live show.for hardcore jimi fans like myself, anything Hendrix is good. However, you should not get this as your first hendrix dvd. I'd say start off with a live show like "Blue wild angel", or "Jimi plays Berkely", so you can see the legend at work, then go to something like this, so you can get some background info on Jimi. Overall, a very good video.
Rating:
Summary: This won a Grammy and is over 35 years old: reality check!!!
Review: I am hoping that the negative reviews are geared towards the original **VHS** version, because the DVD version is sensational...so much so that it even won a Grammy! The Ghetto Fighters/ The Allen Brothers WERE there---they sang backup vocals on "Freedom", for one of many examples....and they appear in the 1973 movie "Jimi Hendrix." The uninterrupted concert footage IS available on the DVD...and why in the world are people upset about the quality of priceless, one-of-a-kind BOOTLEG footage that was made circa 12/31/69-1/1/70: hey, that was the state of technology then (remember, this wasn't shot during the age of the internet, KBOX, DVDs, and digital technology)! This is close to the Holy Grail for Hendrix fans---I was suprised to see this much footage of those performances existed to begin with!
As for the documentary part, I enjoyed all the insights and, again, the uninterrupted concert footage is available as a bonus: what's the problem??? Let's face it: just to see the entire song "Machine Gun" performed is worth the price of admission alone.
So ignore the nitpickers and those obviously reviewing the VHS version...this DVD is excellent (although I will concede, Grammy or no Grammy, I wouldn't START with this DVD if you were a new or mild-mannered fan...start with the 1973 movie "Jimi Hendrix").
BUY THIS ASAP!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Band of Thieves
Review: I took a chance on this DVD because I'm a Jimi Hendrix fan and always loved "The Band of Gypys" album. Unfortunately, this DVD isn't worth $5 let alone $10. The mere thought of putting this slop out for sale is a crime in itself.
Consider the following before purchasing:
1) No production booklet (it clearly doesn't merit one).
2) Concert footage is fuzzy black & white with ghost trail images. The camera work is worse than home amateur video quality. The pans are jerky, the focus is erratic, the zooms are unprofessional, and there are only two camera angles - bad and worse. All this with the obnoxious artifact of ghost trail images whereas an image moves and a blurry trail follows.
3) The audio volume and quality fluctuates dramatically. At first, it sounds like a bootleg copy of the CD, then it sounds like it was recorded in a high school gymnasium by someone in the bleachers with a hollow, echoey quality together with a major drop in volume.
4) The performance is fair, but is boring to watch after the first viewing. All you think about is how you could have better spent even just $10. It could have gone towards the purchase of a truly quality DVD, for example.
The people who put this out should be ashamed of themselves. This production is so bad that it would have at least benefited by colorizing it or providing that option. They didn't even bother to balance the audio levels. The net experience is that you've been suckered.
Don't be a sucker. Apply your entertainment dollar towards something that merits your expense. Besides, this garbage will ruin any appreciation you may already have of the "Band of Gypsys" album.
Rating:
Summary: Watch the interviews once and ENJOY THE CONCERT!
Review: When I was 15 years old and in mt cousins' basement as we rocked out to "Power of Soul," "Message to Love," "Who Knows," etc in the late 70s-early 80s, I often longed to see film of this concert whose music moved me so much them and now. When I saw the 1973 "Jimi Hendrix" documetnary, my jaw DROPPED to see a snippet of James Marshall Hendrix doing his thing with MACHINE GUN from this concert! I wondered if the whole thing would ever be available on DVD or VCR, especially since I learned my beloved Voices of East Harlem was the opening act.
Well, the VOEH appear only breifly in a snippet during the documentary section, but you have the Band of Gypsys Concert on DVD! Forget the interviews filled with second guesses and Monday morning quarterbacking! Enjoy the show and ROCK ON!
Rating:
Summary: Hendrix is hypnotic.
Review: This dvd rates 4 stars for one reason. Hendrix. He is hypnotic.I sat spellbound watching Hendrix effortlessly, sensuously, and brilliantly play his guitar. Truly, he was amazing. There are two parts to this dvd. One part is concert footage and the other part consists of about 90 minutes of people talking about Hendrix.The folks that actually knew Hendrix had some pretty interesting things to say. I could have done without the pontificating of the likes of Lenny Kravitz and Slash. They didn't know Hendrix and are talentless compared to him. I could have cared less about anything they had to say. I was was also a bit skeptical about the guys who called themselves the Ghetto Fighters. I saw those know-it-alls in another Hendrix documentery which I believe was entitled "Jimi Hendrix" and I wondered then what I wondered as I wathced Fillmore East, in what capacity did those know-it-alls really know Hendrix? The gratutitous inclusion of Buddy Miles(circa 200) playing his drums and sining along with the 1970 version of "Them Changes" was ridiculous, embarassing, and difficult to watch. The scary close-ups of Buddy contorting his face as he got into playing his drums would have been hilarious had it not been so pathetic. The concert footage was good despite the fact that it was filmed in black and white and the pothead who was filming the concert at times arbitrarily decided to focus on walls and lights instead of focusing on the musicians,specifically Hendrix. In spite of its shortcomings,"Live at the Fillmore East" is wonderful because it gives the Hendrix lover an opportunity to see Hendrix play his guitar.
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