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Zotz
I saw The Doors at the San Diego Sports Arena (1968), only remember one song "When the Music's Over", Jim scared the shit out of me with this song, he started singing/talking in the middle part of the song in a southerner preacher's voice about "fire and brimstone", the music, voice and subject matter triggered a panic attack on me. I was only 16 and the year before I had gone with my parents to see Billy Graham so I was pretty familiar with line of thought. "the end is near",it was a very scary concert.

Sounds like a great experience , I always loved that scary tension they could bring to their performances. If I had a time machine, this is the one band I’d love to have seen. For almost a year straight I didn’t listen to anything but the doors.

Hey anybody here ever seen them in Stockholm,Denmark,Amsterdam,Frankfurt,London,Canada? Oh thats right probably not-they were only popular in California right? oh brother.

On Thursday evening, I have been to the local cinema complex to watch the film. One screening at the 168-seater was about 80% full — more than I had predicted and quite a good attendance for a rock flick of this sort. Tells The Doors’ unwaning cult status. As an additional note, I reckoned more than half audience members were wearing face masks, including myself.

The screening started with the L.A. Woman 50 years’ anniversary studio session, which was touted “cinema exclusive”. The 25-minute, mostly b&w footage captures Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore gathering and playing in the Doors’ Workshop that was the group’s private rehearsal room where their last album with Jim Morrison was recorded back in 1970-71. Augmented by Jason Scheff, the son of Jerry Scheff who played the bass on the album, handling the bass and singing, they perform two songs, Riders On The Storm and L.A. Woman, with their comments and recollections interspersed in between. Nice and tight performances, really. And I was once more reminded how aged these guys were now...

Live At The Bowl. I had never seen this famous concert film in its entirety so it was a good chance to catch up in superb, remastered sound and visual. Whew...what a band. This from someone who has not dug them deeply, in a similar sense yours truly is towards the Velvet Underground. My overall impression of The Doors is, they were erratic live, their shows hit-or-miss experiences. However, when the four members clicked with each other, like in this film, on one Summer night of California 1968, they were second to none and delivered a show to remember. And Jim Morrison — his charisma is fully unfolded on the big silver screen. I can’t imagine he was of likable personality by any measure, but his rock-god quality is undeniable. I couldn’t help but wonder how he would be and what he would look like was he around today — he is of the same age as Mick and Keef, born in 1943.

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Zotz
I saw The Doors at the San Diego Sports Arena (1968), only remember one song "When the Music's Over", Jim scared the shit out of me with this song, he started singing/talking in the middle part of the song in a southerner preacher's voice about "fire and brimstone", the music, voice and subject matter triggered a panic attack on me. I was only 16 and the year before I had gone with my parents to see Billy Graham so I was pretty familiar with line of thought. "the end is near",it was a very scary concert.

After watching the film, I can believe your words 100%. I got an impression of Morrison being not so much a singer as an actor.


[Additional info on 2021-11-08: According to Mildequator.com [mildequator.com] and setlist.fm [www.setlist.fm], The Doors played 2 shows, 8pm and 10pm, at the Golden Hall (= Community Concourse) in San Diego, June 29, 1968, not the Sports Arena. They played at the Sports Arena, August 22, 1970, though.]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2021-11-08 07:03 by RisingStone.

@ RisingStone, this is one of the best doors live shows I’ve heard. They were on this night that’s for sure...

[m.youtube.com]

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Paddy
@ RisingStone, this is one of the best doors live shows I’ve heard. They were on this night that’s for sure...

[m.youtube.com]

Thank you, I’ll give it a try later. Long show isn’t it?

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mrjones
Hey anybody here ever seen them in Stockholm,Denmark,Amsterdam,Frankfurt,London,Canada? Oh thats right probably not-they were only popular in California right? oh brother.

I myself did’nt attend the one time Amsterdam Doors concert, The Doors performed without Jim cause he was takin to hospital, I was very much into The Doors music at the time and created as well some paintings.

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mrjones
Hey anybody here ever seen them in Stockholm,Denmark,Amsterdam,Frankfurt,London,Canada? Oh thats right probably not-they were only popular in California right? oh brother.

No, The Doors were most definitely not only popular in California; or the United States as a whole, in fact. Whilst they certainly weren’t huge here, in the U.K., at the time, the following they had amongst younger Britons propelled them above ‘underground’ levels of popularity. They even appeared on Top of The Pops in 1968, miming along to their top-20 hit, Hello, I Love You. If it were not for Morrison’s issues, perhaps they’d have eventually performed more than the three concerts they managed in the U.K. during his lifetime: two at The Roundhouse, London, and 1970’s Isle of Wight Festival.

I remember a time in the early 70s, after Jim was gone, rock magazines in the states intimated they were a joke band, like Alice Cooper. It took Apocalypse Now for people to give them a long, second look. Ray and Krieger's jazz influences were re-evaluated as precursors to the sound of Steely Dan. Like all artists, they have a few clunkers that make you shake your head. I remember at the time questioning something like Morrison's Tell All The People off Soft Parade. (A fantastic album, probably my favorite). Morrison telling people to get their guns and follow him was a bit laughable. (Until Manson happened a year later). But he was a great artist, a fine poet, and a fantastic singer. And..........not suprisingly...................had some real demons.

The Doors we’re probably my favourite group for a short period, aged 16. After absorbing all their music over what seemed like a very short period, I, admittedly, didn’t listen to them for years. I’ve gone back in more recent times, however. I definitely have a love for their work. My favourite album is Strange Days, followed closely by the debut.

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Big Al

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mrjones
Hey anybody here ever seen them in Stockholm,Denmark,Amsterdam,Frankfurt,London,Canada? Oh thats right probably not-they were only popular in California right? oh brother.

No, The Doors were most definitely not only popular in California; or the United States as a whole, in fact. Whilst they certainly weren’t huge here, in the U.K., at the time, the following they had amongst younger Britons propelled them above ‘underground’ levels of popularity. They even appeared on Top of The Pops in 1968, miming along to their top-20 hit, Hello, I Love You. If it were not for Morrison’s issues, perhaps they’d have eventually performed more than the three concerts they managed in the U.K. during his lifetime: two at The Roundhouse, London, and 1970’s Isle of Wight Festival.

One of the reasons that have made The Doors so mythical — especially in the countries outside the USA — is, in my opinion, the scarcity of the shows they played abroad.
They did a proper European tour only once in September 1968, and visited very limited locations at that, i.e. London (two nights), Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Stockholm, playing two shows each day, that’s all. Furthermore, like runaway wrote in his (or her) post, in Amsterdam Jim Morrison did not attend both sets as he was rushed to hospital due to drug over-intake. Following their appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, the group was to commence what would be their second European tour, but it was cancelled at the last minute for Morrison was summoned to appear in court for the infamous Miami trial. That the original Doors never played in Paris, or France for that matter, is particularly surprising considering Morrison’s devotion to French culture in general, the literature that influenced him among them — and that eventually he died in Paris.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-11-06 19:59 by RisingStone.

Check out Robbie Krieger's new book 'Set The Night On Fire' (Ray already used 'Light My Fire' for his book title).

He dispels many of the myths about Jim and the band - many of which were propagated by Ray, as well as Oliver Stone in that movie. The timeline jumps around, but it paints a picture and offers plenty of juicy tidbits of the 60's rock and roll scene and The Doors' place in it, as well as much of the post-Jim endeavors and legal battles.

A great read from an interesting, funny, smart, creative guy.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-11-07 02:44 by mosthigh.

There were no Doors book on the marked when I discovered the band in 1975, and when my interest for this band peaked.

As a side note and for your information —

Not many rock acts of America and Britain visited Japan and played there in the 1960s with very limited, few notable exceptions, e.g. The Animals (‘65 and ‘68), The Beach Boys (‘66), The Beatles (‘66), The Hollies (‘68), The Monkeys (‘68), besides the ever popular Ventures who have toured Japan virtually every year since 1965. However, when Expo ‘70 was decided to be held in Osaka, there seems to have been an informal talk in the committee to invite a couple of rock groups to perform at the site — one was Led Zeppelin from the UK, and the other was The Doors from the USA. Neither materialized.

[en.wikipedia.org]

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noughties
There were no Doors book on the marked when I discovered the band in 1975, and when my interest for this band peaked.

Yknow this might have been the best thing in a way. Pretty much everything that has been written is made up garbage that never happened, myth making, and pontificating. The music they made is so unique it outweighs all the BS that ha been written.

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RisingStone


One of the reasons that have made The Doors so mythical — especially in the countries outside the USA — is, in my opinion, the scarcity of the shows they played abroad.
They did a proper European tour only once in September 1968, and visited very limited locations at that, i.e. London (two nights), Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Stockholm, playing two shows each day, that’s all. Furthermore, like runaway wrote in his (or her) post, in Amsterdam Jim Morrison did not attend both sets as he was rushed to hospital due to drug over-intake. Following their appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, the group was to commence what would be their second European tour, but it was cancelled at the last minute for Morrison was summoned to appear in court for the infamous Miami trial. That the original Doors never played in Paris, or France for that matter, is particularly surprising considering Morrison’s devotion to French culture in general, the literature that influenced him among them — and that eventually he died in Paris.

Interesting. Do you know the tour dates?

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Big Al

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RisingStone
Following their appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, the group was to commence what would be their second European tour, but it was cancelled at the last minute for Morrison was summoned to appear in court for the infamous Miami trial.

Interesting. Do you know the tour dates?

Go to [mildequator.com] and click On The Road>Cancelled Performances. Two dates, Montreux 08/30 and Copenhagen 09/02, are listed. It is almost certain there were other, unlisted dates.

And be sure to click each date — more information will turn up. Same for the other dates. This website is an incredible source of abundance of The Doors-related info.

Of particular interest is the number of cancelled shows after the Miami debacle, March 1, 1969, telling the magnitude of the impact caused by the incident.

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Paddy

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noughties
There were no Doors book on the marked when I discovered the band in 1975, and when my interest for this band peaked.

Yknow this might have been the best thing in a way. Pretty much everything that has been written is made up garbage that never happened, myth making, and pontificating. The music they made is so unique it outweighs all the BS that ha been written.

I thought 'No One Here Gets Out Alive' by Jerry Hopkins was interesting, along with the information provided by Danny Sugerman, one of their former managers, was insightful.

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noughties
The Doors has always been a studio band to me, -wouldn`t have wanted to see them live. -Long versions and no bass player, to say the least. You can guess the rest.

Actually they were a GREAT live band. They finally released many live recording, take a listen an you'll see.

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Elmo Lewis
While I am by no means a Doors expert, I like lots of their stuff. I personally think "Light My Fire" (long version) is one of the best songs of the rock era. The first album is really good (mostly).

They could really put out some crap too. Jim is certainly way overrated as a "poet" - almost every song mentions death (John Lennon songs do too) and some of the rhymes are stretches ("funeral bier" and "squirming like a toad" come to mind.

All in all, a good 15 song playlist by the Doors is awesome.

Oh yeah, he was a good looking dude.

LOL it's funeral pyre!

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spoonful2

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noughties
The Doors has always been a studio band to me, -wouldn`t have wanted to see them live. -Long versions and no bass player, to say the least. You can guess the rest.

Actually they were a GREAT live band. They finally released many live recording, take a listen an you'll see.

I’d say my love of the doors is mostly because they were great live. Not every show, but when they were on they burned the place. The “In Concert” CD is a good place to start. It combines 2 previously released live albums.

As a Doors fan from the early years on I was so excited to see them play at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago Feb of 1970. This was on the heels of seeing the Stones in November for the first time which was for me at 16 the pinnacle of all concerts I had been able to go to. The Doors were touring off the Morrison Hotel album I recall, and the setlist had some great songs off that record. Keep in mind the Auditorium has wonderful acoustics so any quality band that played there was a real special treat for the fans. The Doors live sound was actually better than I had expected. They were that evening a really tight outfit to my ears. Densmore and Krieger in particular really stood out. Not to take anything away from Ray who could lay down keyboards and a bass line that never missed a beat. As the concert progressed Jim worked steadily on draining tallboy Bud cans that began to accumulate on the amps behind the band. Sure made me think about that line "I woke up this morning and got myself a beer" in Roadhouse Blues. The Doors rocked the house and that show stood right behind the Stones as the best live band I had heard up to that point.

There were so many great bands coming through Chicago in those years. Back in Oct of 1969 I saw The Who backed by yes, THE KINKS at the Kinetic Playground. What a night that was with The Who playing Tommy and The Kinks making their first return to the States after being banned for years. The Kinks were fantastic and made everyone remember what a catalogue they had accumulated. Great years for this music fan. That Who/Kinks show was the first of what would be many for me with both bands.

Oh, yes I have listened and listened to both my old "Absolutely Live" 2LP and that "Alive She Cried" from the 80s. Their rendition of "Gloria" really gave me nothing. After a while, this album didn`t get played by me at all, despite interesting versions of "You Make Me Real","Texas Radio and The Big Beat" and "Moonlight Drive", as my general interest in the band went down to a level similar to other acts. I have kept the 2LP `cause it contains some stuff that the studio albums don`t have.

The Doors live in Detroit (https://www.rhino.com/product/live-in-detroit) is the bandat its best performancewise.

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cimaz
The Doors live in Detroit (https://www.rhino.com/product/live-in-detroit) is the bandat its best performancewise.

Yeah this is the best doors caught live I’ve heard. The whole band was firing on this show.

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24FPS

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Paddy

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noughties
There were no Doors book on the marked when I discovered the band in 1975, and when my interest for this band peaked.

Yknow this might have been the best thing in a way. Pretty much everything that has been written is made up garbage that never happened, myth making, and pontificating. The music they made is so unique it outweighs all the BS that ha been written.

I thought 'No One Here Gets Out Alive' by Jerry Hopkins was interesting, along with the information provided by Danny Sugerman, one of their former managers, was insightful.

There’s a lot of mythology & outright lies in “No one here gets out alive” still a worthwhile read, but take with a pinch of salt.

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filstan
As a Doors fan from the early years on I was so excited to see them play at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago Feb of 1970. This was on the heels of seeing the Stones in November for the first time which was for me at 16 the pinnacle of all concerts I had been able to go to. The Doors were touring off the Morrison Hotel album I recall, and the setlist had some great songs off that record. Keep in mind the Auditorium has wonderful acoustics so any quality band that played there was a real special treat for the fans. The Doors live sound was actually better than I had expected. They were that evening a really tight outfit to my ears. Densmore and Krieger in particular really stood out. Not to take anything away from Ray who could lay down keyboards and a bass line that never missed a beat. As the concert progressed Jim worked steadily on draining tallboy Bud cans that began to accumulate on the amps behind the band. Sure made me think about that line "I woke up this morning and got myself a beer" in Roadhouse Blues. The Doors rocked the house and that show stood right behind the Stones as the best live band I had heard up to that point.

There were so many great bands coming through Chicago in those years. Back in Oct of 1969 I saw The Who backed by yes, THE KINKS at the Kinetic Playground. What a night that was with The Who playing Tommy and The Kinks making their first return to the States after being banned for years. The Kinks were fantastic and made everyone remember what a catalogue they had accumulated. Great years for this music fan. That Who/Kinks show was the first of what would be many for me with both bands.

I read in Frank Lisciandros book that they made sure to give Morrison cans with half poured out to keep his intake low. I guess he just drank twice as many half cans to make up for it.

Seen Robbie Krieger a few times.
He still can play.
He's playing next week here in NYC.
Billed as An Evening of The Doors Greatest Hits
Robby Krieger of The Doors
w/ special guest Vanilla Fudge

[www.sonyhall.com]