A completely unused 1968 Jimi Hendrix admission ticket for his stop that year in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the 2^nd of November.

Never-used rock-concert tickets like this are a popular area of collecting because usually these things were torn in half upon admission.

This Jimi Hendrix unused ticket is in great shape considering its age, in part because it was printed on rigid card stock to begin with.

Still, old collectable rock-concert tickets are often found creased and folded if they weren’t handled carefully, and they often have glue residue, tape marks, pin holes, writing and the like. Not this one.

This vintage Jimi Hendrix Experience complete ticket sold for only $2.91, and the Minnesota state tax of nine cents brought its final cost to $3.00 even.

This was seen as much better than having a ticket priced at the even figure of $3.00, only to have everyone scramble for the nine cents’ tax. Or, having ticket sellers constantly have 91 cents change on hand, dozens (hundreds?) of times over.

As for the timing of this item, some collectors would probably rather have a 1967 Jimi Hendrix Experience concert ticket, the year he first broke through. But I’d rather have this ’68 because that was the year his classic album Electric Ladyland was released.

And then Jimi also toured a lot the following year, so acquiring a 1969 Jimi Hendrix concert ticket shouldn’t be any harder than any other year for him.

And then we lost Jimi, sadly, at the start of the seventies decade. I was fortunate enough to see him in concert 3 months before he passed away. And since I’m a collector, I held on to my 1970 Jimi Hendrix Experience concert ticket stub for decades afterwards.

However, by 1970 the Experience was not the same set of musicians… original bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell had departed by then, replaced by Billy Cox and Buddy Miles.

This unused Jimi Hendrix concert ticket does not list the opening act on it… Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys. That’s probably because the ticket was already so cluttered with other important information.

Jimi produced Cat Mother’s records, and the next year they would have a mild national hit with “Good Old Rock ’N Roll.”

This unused Jimi Hendrix Experience concert ticket was designed and printed by Arcus Ticket Company out of Chicago, IL. It’s much more common to see concert tickets printed by the Globe Ticket Co.; I’ve barely heard of Arcus – but then, I’m not from the Midwest.

Souvenirs like this are a kick because they have such strong ties to one single night in history. Look at the wording on there: “GOOD ONLY Saturday Evening, November 2, 1968.” This ticket was worthless on any other day!

Worthless, that is, for any live event. However, several decades later, it’s a piece of scarce, collectible rock-concert memorabilia that collectors just love to have.

Some collectors really want to have one whole Jimi Hendrix ticket from each of the four years he toured (1967 thru 1970). That’s a common thing with the Beatles, who performed in the U.S. for just three years.

But then there’s an act like the Rolling Stones, who toured for decades! How does someone collect tickets for a band like that? Very discerningly, I guess!

This rare collectible Jimi Hendrix ticket has a hue of light purple, adding to its attractiveness. Notice that it has the exact seat location printed at both ends; that’s a foolproof way to know a ticket was never used.

On some occasions, a member of the press corps would enter an event though the stage entrance and never use their ticket, which accounts for a lot of these things surviving. I once had a 1964 Beatles ticket which was never torn in half for that very reason.

This 1968 Jimi Hendrix Experience concert ticket is dissected on video for your enjoyment by me, collector Pete Howard in California. I can be contacted effortlessly through email by writing to pete@postercentral.com or by phoning 805-540-0020 Pacific time. And please know that as a serious rock ’n’ roll collector, I pay TOP DOLLAR, PERIOD for vintage concert tickets and stubs by Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, the Grateful Dead, the Doors, Cream and many, many others.

In fact, to see a few more great, old rock tickets, including a lovely Hendrix one I’ll be you’ve never seen, just click over to this page right here on my Web site: http://www.postercentral.com/tickets.htm