The Jimi Hendrix Experience I went to see him play, I thought that was it, the game was up for all of us, we may as well pack it in." The group came to prominence in the US after the June 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, one of the first major rock music festivals. The band's performance ended with Hendrix famously setting his psychedelically painted Fender Stratocaster on fire. After the festival they toured with the Monkees, but left the tour two weeks later, reportedly due to lack of audience response. With the Experience, Hendrix recorded several hit singles, such as "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze",
Jimi Hendrix which was produced by Hendrix. The album includes the track "Machine Gun", which musicologist Andy Aledort described as the pinnacle of Hendrix's career, and "the premiere example of [his] unparalleled genius as a rock guitarist ... In this performance, Jimi transcended the medium of rock music, and set an entirely new standard for the potential of electric guitar." During the song's extended instrumental breaks, Hendrix created sounds with his guitar that sonically represented warfare, including rockets, bombs, and diving planes. The "Band of Gypsys" album was the only official live Hendrix LP made commercially available during his lifetime; several tracks