The Doors of the 21st Century at
MOHEGAN SUN ARENA
Uncasville, Connecticut
Thursday, May 6, 2004
GET TOGETHER…. ONE MORE TIME
For the second time in as many years, the reunited Doors performed in Connecticut, and for the second time they were simply remarkable. The arena lights faded to darkness at 8:30, an hour later than the scheduled start time. The spot light focused on the one person on stage, a man dressed as a clown, who juggled three balls for a few moments before disappearing.
“Is everybody in?” Jim Morrison’s voice blared over the sound system, followed by a video clip of war images, police brutality, Richard Nixon, and George Bush (father and son alike). Once again the spot light shined, this time to the upper right hand section of the stage, where a man dressed to resemble a ring leader shouted “ladies and gentlemen; from Los Angeles, California; the Doors of the 21st Century!”
The stage lights were flashed revealing the band, which blasted into the intro of “Five to One”. This was a surprise because the song is usually played in a medley with “Alabama Song” and “Back Door Man”. After hearing this single song, it was very obvious Ian was more comfortable with his role in the band. Not wasting any time, Ray cut into his keyboard solo for “Break on Through”. This year the “dead cats/dead rats” section was cut out of the middle of the song.
The song was followed by Robby’s famous guitar intro of “Love me Two Times”. Ray and Robby exchanged magnificent solos back and forth in the song’s middle. When the song was over, the band quickly started up with “Not to Touch the Earth”. With Ray’s keyboard, the song sounded highly psychedelic, and Ian gave the song an energetic performance. Ian paid homage to Jim when he capped the song stating “James Douglas Morrison was the Lizard King, he did everything”.
Once again not taking a break, the Doors began “Take it as it Comes”. The song started with the most beautiful intro by Robby. This is the first time I’ve ever heard the song performed live, old Doors or new, and never knew what a fabulous concert piece it was. It was a great song to add to this year’s set list. After the song, the crowd gave Ian a standing ovation, to which he responded “I know you guys wanted Scott Weiland, but you can’t send a boy to do a man’s job”.
Ray finally took the time to introduce the rest of the band, Ty “the monster” Dennis on drums, Angelo Barbera on bass, “the best guitarist” Robby Krieger on lead guitar, then Robby introduced Ray on the organ. The band introduction was followed by “People Are Strange”. This year the song was played electric, as opposed to acoustic, which they did last year in performances.
Next was “Wild Child”, a song which I always thought Ian did an unmitigated job on, since I first heard his rendition on the “Stoned Immaculate” album. At this point Ray was a bit thirsty so the band went to the whiskey bar with “Alabama Song”. As always, “Back Door Man” immediately followed the song. Ian was eating something a bit different than chicken on this evening.
The medley was followed by a very touching moment. An early birthday cake was wheeled out on stage in celebration of Ian’s birthday. Ian wished for no more bullets to be fired ever again, and for all violence to be in the form of boxing, martial arts, and Playstation 2. Ray added to make sure everyone gets out and votes this November. Robby remained on stage as the rest of the band walked off, to play an extended intro to “Spanish Caravan” on his flamenco guitar. After several minutes, the rest of the band re-emerged to finish the rest of the song, which sounded sublime. When not singing, Ian played along with his tambourine.
Right after Ian said we were “a very sexy crowd”, the band played “Hello, I Love You”, the debut performance for the 21st Century Doors. Ian did a superb job on the song, his voice sounding especially like Morrison’s. “Touch Me” was next, which was opened with a drum solo by Ty Dennis. Without the brass section, it sounded much more like a Doors song than it did originally. Robby filled in for what would have been the sax’s solo as the song ended.
Up next was a fan favorite, “When the Music’s Over”. It is my opinion that Ian has almost perfected the song, in both voice and deliverance. Ian asked for us all to join together, as Morrison would have wished. Now that we were “all feeling it” the Doors kicked into “L.A Woman”. Just as with “When the Music’s Over”, Ian has seemed to really improve with the song and does a much tighter performance than the one I saw a year ago, not that it didn’t’ sound great then too. Ray did a very short performance of “Louie, Louie” during his organ solo. As always, Ian dedicated “mr.mojorisin” to Jim. When the song concluded, the band said goodnight and left the stage.
The crowd was thirsty for more and started chanting for the band’s return. The sound of rain and thunder was heard over the sound system, as the Doors returned to the stage to play “Riders on the Storm”. The accompanying video was especially great during the song, with images of rain, clouds, deserts, and horses, which really set the tone and mood of the song. “Thank you for Jim Morrison”, Ray pronounced, “Jim Morrison thanks you, as we all do.”
Now playing was one of my personal favorites, “Roadhouse Blues”. As they did in “Love me Two Times”, Robby and Ray exchanged breathtaking solos for several minutes. Ian had the crowd sing the line “got myself a beer” three times after singing it once himself. Once again the Doors walked off stage, only to be called back by a very energetic audience.
Of course we all knew what song
we were getting, “Light my Fire”. Ian restarted the first verse of the song
after being swamped at the front of the stage. It was in this song that Ray and
Robby gave what I thought were their best performances. Ray played with not
only his elbow, but with what appeared to be his nose. Robby added “My Favorite
Things” and the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” to his usual guitar solo. Ian came
back to finish with a high-octane performance of the last two verses. When the
song ended, the whole band gathered at the front of the stage to take many bows,
and Ian gave one last “thank you!” before the five Doors left the stage, leaving
myself and five-thousand others awestruck. I would like to personally thank Ian
Astbury, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, Ty Dennis, and Angelo Barbera for putting
on an unbeatable show. Jim Morrison would be proud.
review submitted by Matt Crompton
May 13, 2004
(thanks, Matt)
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