POP MUSIC REVIEW : Randy Hansen Re-Creates Hendrix Style

“Puzzling” is probably the best word to describe Randy Hansen’s “Tribute to Jimi Hendrix” show Sunday at Night Moves in Huntington Beach.

For starters, it is a little odd that in 1988 Hansen is performing such a “tribute” at all: He began portraying Hendrix--complete with makeup and Afro wig--a decade ago but in recent years supposedly had traded in Hendrix’s music for his own, touring and recording simply as Randy Hansen.

It was probably no great ego-boost that he was far less successful being himself than impersonating someone else. So with that in mind--and given that Sunday marked the 18th anniversary of Hendrix’s death--it’s not all that surprising that Hansen would resurrect the “Tribute” act.

But he definitely put a baffling spin on this scenario when he bounded onto the Night Moves stage and lit into “Fire” sans makeup or wig, looking like Hansen while doing Hendrix. With his rail-thin physique covered by zebra-striped pants and skimpy vest, topped by a clump of unkempt hair, Hansen certainly had no trouble passing for a hard-rock guitar hero.

And toward the end of the set, he slipped in one of his own compositions: an atmospheric, unexpectedly pretty piece called “The Change.” So he seemed to have one foot in the Hansen phase of his career and one foot in the “Third Clone From the Sun” phase.

Somehow, things actually got curiouser and curiouser. When the booking of Hansen’s show was announced, ex-Hendrix drummer Buddy Miles was scheduled to play with Hansen. Last week, Night Moves said Miles wouldn’t be able to participate after all. OK, fine and not wholly startling. Midway into Sunday’s show, Hansen praised the work of the fill-in drummer, particularly since, he said: “I just met him--I’ve never played with him before.”

Then, a few songs later, who should amble on stage and take over the drum kit, but . . . Buddy Miles! He stayed through the rest of the set, drumming and singing.

If puzzling was the word that best typified the evening, riffing ran a close second. Blasting through a large chunk of Hendrix material, Hansen’s hands were often little more than blurs as they raced all over his guitar. Given Hendrix’s charged-up, improvisational style, Hansen--a fairly skillful fret-grinder in his own right--has never had much trouble replicating such numbers as “Stone Free” “Foxy Lady” and “Purple Haze.”

But hey, Joe, for all the close approximations, Randy still ain’t Jimi. So Hansen’s tendency to stretch the songs into very long jams frequently rendered them aimless, pointless exercises in empty riffing. He spruced things up visually by reaching into the Hendrix bag of stage tricks, copping everything from playing the guitar while holding it high above his head to picking out a torrent of notes with his teeth.

And the crowd was treated to a few displays of the ol’ reptilian flicking-tongue technique which, all things considered, seemed little more than silly. But then, aside from acknowledging the anniversary of Hendrix’s death, the whole experience (so to speak) was a little on the silly side. Or just plain puzzling.