FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 17, 2002
CONTACT: Leland Stein

PRESS RELEASE: FILM OF LEGENDARY JIMI HENDRIX PERFORMANCE, Blue Wild Angel
MAKES NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE AT REGENT THEATRE APRIL 5
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Murray Lerner To Hold Q & A


Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight which profiles the rock icon’s legendary 1970 concert before 600,000 people on an island off the English coast, opens for an exclusive one-week Boston theatrical engagement on April 5 at the Regent Theatre in Arlington. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Murray Lerner will introduce the film and conduct a question and answer session with audience members following the 8pm screening. Lerner’s groundbreaking film Festival! (about the Newport Folk Festival of the ‘60s) paved the way for subsequent music documentaries such as Monterey Pop and Woodstock. Blue Wild Angel draws heavily upon Lerner’s vast archive of previously unseen Hendrix concert footage. This event marks the beginning of revived film and performance programming at the Regent, under new ownership since last summer.

Presented during this engagement in concert-like stereo sound, Blue Wild Angel is the definitive look at one of the landmark shows of Hendrix’s storied career—captured a mere three weeks before his untimely death. Blue Wild Angel features some of Hendrix’s most dynamic stage performances including searing, extended takes of “Machine Gun”, and his blues masterwork “Red House”. Other favorites include Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower”, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”, and a unique medley of “God Save The Queen” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. The film documents one of rock history’s more memorable events, while showcasing the musician widely considered the most inventive electric guitarist of his time or since. New interviews with band members Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, and others set the stage for the compelling concert footage that follows. The 102-minute documentary was a hit at the 2001 New York Film Festival where it made its theatrical debut. Janie Hendrix and Boston native John McDermott served as the project’s Co-Producers.

In conjunction with Blue Wild Angel, the Regent will be showcasing other Lerner music films April 8-14: Festival!, the academy award-nominated feature on the Newport Folk Festival of the Sixties—the first of the theatrical documentaries on counter culture music festivals—starring Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Howlin’ Wolf, and many others; Message To Love, a documentary overview of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival featuring unforgettable performances by music legends including Miles Davis, The Doors, Donovan, Ten Years After, The Moody Blues, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Jethro Tull; and Listening To You, which captures The Who’s entire 1970 Isle of Wight concert—one of their best.

The New England premiere and exclusive engagement of Blue Wild Angel at the Regent is sponsored by XM Satellite Radio, America's first national satellite radio service. XM Radio features 100 coast-to-coast digital channels offering rock to jazz, classical to country, blues to reggae, as well as sports, talk, news, and entertainment. XM was named "Product of the Year" by Fortune and "An Invention of the Year" by Time. Further information is available at http://www.xmradio.com/.

Nearly a century old, The Regent Theatre, in the heart of Arlington, was purchased last year by real estate developer and musician Gary Adelson who has begun an extensive renovation and restoration, including the recent installation of a brand-new sound system and more comfortable seats. Many other changes are planned including the complete unveiling and preservation of the gold-leafed proscenium that buttresses the stage. The 500-seat, centrally-located theater—on the “T” with plenty of free parking across the street—will be presenting a lively mix of music concerts, art and classic films, and a variety of performance including children’s theatre. Most recently the Regent completed a two-month engagement with political and social comic Jimmy Tingle who performed regularly to sell-out crowds.