The Doors of the 21st Century
May 6th, 2004
Mohegan Sun Casino Arena
Uncasville, CT
By Ed Jennings
Music of Our Heart.Com
The Doors of the 21st Century Concert Review
Set List: Five to One, Break on Through (To the Other Side), Love Me Two Times, Not to Touch the Earth, Take It As It Comes, People Are Strange, Wild Child, Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), Back Door Man, Happy Birthday Ian, Spanish Caravan, Hello I Love You, Touch Me, When The Music’s Over, LA Woman
Encore I: Riders on the Storm, Roadhouse Blues
Encore II: Light My Fire
Is everybody in, let the ceremony begin
The atmosphere was so electrically charged for the Doors of the 21st Century concert at Mohegan Sun Casino Arena. The arena was set up in end stage fashion to accommodate 5,000 fans (Mohegan Sun Casino Arena normally holds 10,000 people). We overheard that 3,200 tickets had been sold for the show. It was the right size audience to witness a ceremony.
The hard-core Doors fans were there in abundance, many with beer bottles in hand, which I was surprised to see from a crowd control security perspective. The crowd was boisterous, enthusiastic, cheering the roadies and any movement on stage witnessed. The concert was scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm, but the Doors decided they wanted to go on at 8:30 p.m. So we sat patiently and waited for everybody to come in, to let the ceremony begin.
Just before 8:30 p.m., the ceremony begins as the crowd’s excitement reaches the first of several crescendos. The lights went out and the spotlights focused on a white faced juggling clown (like the one pictured on the Doors Strange Days cover) as he juggled balls in the air, a circus organ grinder’s music played behind him. Then a loud thumping noise started, he freaks and drops the balls and runs off. Images of the sixties are flashing on the screen before us. The sound of the beating heart continues a very loud thumping sound that you feel right inside the center of your chest. As the smoke clears the main center video screen behind the band, shows a blue human heart beating. It was vibrant and loud, it had to be loud because this is the Doors Live! The band takes the stage. We are all yelling like crazy. A ringmaster appears announcing loudly, “Ladies and Gentlemen, from Los Angeles, California, its the Doors of the 21st Century” We are off, as The Doors bang away at Five to One, its militarist shuffle pushing us all along. We are screaming, some pumping their fists, others raise beer bottles in the air. The air is positively electricity charged as we witness the Doors, with Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and the band pushing the tempo. Ian Astbury is strutting on stage, like a proud peacock, as he sings, “Five to One, One in Five, No One Here Gets Out Alive” the ceremony is underway. My dream becomes realized right before my very eyes, it’s the Doors, Live! After 37 years it has been so worth the wait!
The band is ablaze as monster drummer Ty Dennis bangs the drums and Angelo Barbera makes the bottom happen with his bass guitar. The upper left and right video screens provide us with the clearest video images I have ever seen at a concert. The camera lens offers us precise, tight shots of Ian, Ray and Robby as we all sing along to Five to One. “Your ballroom days are over baby” and the truth of that line become more self-evident each passing day to all in attendance.
The evening just kept getting better as each song unfolded from the set list. We stood most of the show as you really want to celebrate, sing and dance with the Doors. This band is so essential to the fabric of our rock music listening heritage. The next song, Break on Through is played through the sound mix. Ray Manzarek’s organ, to my ears anyway, struggled to be heard at times in the concert hall, as it competed with the sound volume of the rest of the instruments. (The DiscLive recording made through the sound board negated much of what I could not hear standing on the concert show floor. The keyboards glisten clearly on the live collectible CD recording) Ray had a great time playing the keyboards as he smiled a lot. It was so cool studying his hands as the camera vantage point was either fingertip level or over his shoulders looking down as he worked along the keyboard. The video team captured the band brilliantly at just the right camera action angle interpretation each musician. I was very impressed with the crew’s multimedia skills, especially the video and digital images they paraded before us. It was psychedelic at times, historical at others, especially the vintage Doors beach scene clips. They used some real fascinating imagery; it was surreal at points with image over image application techniques. They would super impose a side angle view of Ian, Ray or Robbie, a 2/3rd body side shot, shaded in metallic green or blue, over clouds or other images. It was one of the best light, sound and image sequenced experiences I have ever witnessed. Computer choreographed multimedia has truly hit its stride in how it both accents and meshes with the live performance experience.
Ian Astbury was very on his game. His movements were tribal at times as he invoked the spirit of Jim Morrison when he danced, twirled and sang. His physical appearance is close to Jim’s and his vocals at times capture Jim Morrison’s vocal essence. I tried as much as I could not to compare Ian to the late Jim Morrison, as much as you want Jim there in your heart. I was able to clearly separate my thoughts about the “possibility” of Jim Morrison singing to us and allowed myself to be entertained very effectively by Ian Astbury’s vocal interpretations. I was pleasantly taken with Ian Astbury’s enthusiasm and deep respect in how he honored the spirit of Jim Morrison and the Doors. Ray Manzarek gave Ian deserved praise him several times, “This is Ian Astbury, ladies and gentlemen” He did such a great job with all the songs. One could readily see it was a constant thrill for Ian to be the Doors of the 21st Century lead vocalist.
Love Me Two Times followed Break on Through and this song was done very true to form. Throughout the main set there wasn’t much improvisation or jamming going on that I consciously heard. Jams and improvs were more evident during the encores as the DiscLive CD substantiates. During the main set you got to hear the Doors songs you know and love rendered faithfully. It is a testimony to the Doors professional musicianship to recreate their unique sound fully live in a concert arena. Not all live performance artists capture that essence, some musical groups are very self-serving, preferring to play what they came to play, not what the audience has come to hear. I gained a deeper appreciation how loyal the Doors of the 21st Century are to their rightful place in rock and roll history and to us their legions of faithful fans.
Not to Touch the Earth, “Run with Me, Lets Run” was performed next. Take it As it Comes was probably the most obscure song to my recollection they played that night. I had not heard this song in many years. I like the challenge of placing a song from a group’s discography, Take it As it Comes is from their first album, The Doors.
The next song was People Are Strange which always has a nice eerie, yet comfortable feel to it. The video crew interspersed footage of horror films with ghastly faces and masks which enhanced this song’s interpretation for me as a melodrama movie fan.
My first major highlight of the night was the song, Wild Child. This selection took on a special significance in its being performed on the Mohegan Sun reservation. Jim Morrison and Ian Astbury have a unique personal connection with the Shaman mysteries of Native American Indian rituals. The video sequences showed an Indian warrior spirit dancing in ceremony which added a deeper meaning to this song from The Soft Parade. I really got into thinking about the spiritual nature of Wild Child more than ever had before, enabled by the video footage and Ian’s enthusiastic spirit. Ian jumped up on the drum riser at the end of the song, after dancing tribally and yelled the ending verse, “Remember when we were in Africa”. The tribal circle of world cultures became complete, with call and response emanating from the African continent to the North America tribes. Ian danced with a reverence for the spirits he invoked and honored. The music ritual was spiritual to witness on the sacred Native American ground where we stood, honoring ancestors of long ago.
Ray then stated, “I got myself a little thirst, I need to go get something to drink, right now. Let’s go down to the whisky bar”. He started the circus like organ march of Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) and I grinned from ear to ear, because I knew my favorite song by the Doors would be next! Ray led us along in sing along fashion, as we all sang with whisky on our mind. Multimedia images were displayed of silent film era speak easies, with rebellious dancing and drinking moments. The visuals added to the ambience of this classic 20’s German show song co-authored by composer Kurt Weil and poet Bertolt Brecht.
Then Ian Astbury started the proverbial yell, “Uhhhhhhhhh Yeah”, it was Back Door Man, one of the best blues songs of all time. This blues staple by Chester Burnette, a.k.a. Howlin Wolf made my night as a Doors fan complete. Many of us have our favorite song by our favorite groups and we always hope the band will play that song live. Not only was I hearing my favorite Doors song, but here live were the Doors, pinch me again, its truly happening. The use of sepia tone vintage video clips of the late greats Muddy Waters, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Howlin Wolf himself enhanced this blues classic. Other clips of black blues artists played along as the Doors paid them homage. Back Door Man holds up amazingly well as do all the Doors songs. For as we all know the Doors are eternal. Blues and rock intersected at a pivotal merge point in rock history with this song. It will be forever told wryly to future generations.
My eyes were constantly watching Robby Krieger play guitar. We sat right in his direct path and I have to tell you he is one of rock’s best guitarists, bar none. His signature licks like Ray Manzarek’s definitive organ style have shaped and defined the bedrock of rock and roll music, ever since it began in the Summer of Love in 1967. Robby is a very serious, articulate, doesn’t waste a note guitarist. I loved watching him warm up to the crowd. Robby wore a Jim Morrison t-shirt that carried a great personal symbolic message to the Doors faithful that night. He plays a real mean chop-style guitar; his phrasings are immaculate and sharp. He is always very precise in his technique. I walked away that evening with a much deeper respect for Robby’s guitar playing ability. He is truly a master craftsman and a joy to watch live.
After Back Door Man, the band and crew surprised Ian Astbury with a birthday cake. Ray Manzarek played and led us through Happy Birthday to Ian. Ian was a little embarrassed, thanked the crew and his band mates for the cake and the surprise. Ian joked with Ray that he was only 29, and then he got right back to his craft of entertaining us.
Robby Krieger further dazzled us with his flamenco guitarist licks by performing Spanish Caravan. It was brilliantly orchestrated, Robby’s fingering so deftly stated across the frets. Spanish Caravan is a lilting, pastoral epic to listen to especially live. Ian’s vocals did justice to this chestnut from Waiting for the Sun.
Then like the right splash of color added to a painting, they played their hit, Hello I Love You. I pictured in my mind the Elektra 45 rpm record spinning on DJ turntables on Top 40 AM radio stations that summer. It still possesses live that great organ snakelike sound and the husky vocals. “When she moves my brain screams out this song” with that cool sound loop that follows couldn’t be recreated live. Some sounds live best only in the recording studio editions of the Doors classic hits.
Touch Me without horns was the next selection, followed by the perpetual When the Music’s Over. The lyrics of revolutionary youth, “We want the world and we want it NOW!” the word NOW was repeatedly displayed in large letters across the screen at the end of the song. The band is more pumped than the house at this juncture.
We next hear the sound of a car racing through the canyons of the Hollywood Hill as the tingling, skeletal keyboard strains of (City of Lights) LA Woman unfurls ceremonially for us. The band from Los Angeles plays another great driving song, perfectly suited for the automobile. The video reveals tissue over the lens, blurry night time street view of LA, our city of lights and angels. We are transported to Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, where the Doors began and recorded LA Woman. The video images perfectly match the seediness Hollywood is known for replete with its topless bars, the lyric “Never saw a woman so alone” epitomizes the landscape’s visual night poetry. It’s the perfect song to end the main set of the night with as we bond with the Doors of the 21st Century and their Los Angeles roots.
We were then treated to two fantastic encores; the first encore began with the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning, followed by dark storm clouds and then pouring rain. Riders on the Storm, transports us as it always does on a rainy mysterious highway journey. We have all taken this ride in the car of our minds many times. Riders on the Storm is truly eternal in its magnitude and feel. The Doors of the 21st Century make this ride even more pleasurable as we see the first real jamming and extended improvisation from Ray Manzarek during this selection
Roadhouse Blues follows Riders on the Storm and it’s a great one-two punch. This Morrison Hotel CD rock and roll bar song classic showcased Ray and Robby jamming as the two original Doors, never looking and sounding better. One just had to smile as they locked on to each other. The interplay was great to see as our two original Doors heroes drove each other along. Robby really cranked on this song and this was in my mind his finest extended guitar solo of the night
For the last encore, Ray Manzarek asked us, “Well what song do you want to hear?” We all shouted repeatedly as he validated our request, Light My Fire. Ray says with a knowing grin, “Then Light My Fire it is.” The Doors most widely recognized hit song erupts and we are taken along the final leg of the ceremony. We are treated to a nice long set of keyboard and guitar solos. We witness again the dynamic duo of the original Doors, Ray and Robby playing off each other and it feels so right to watch them jamming like this for us and their pleasure. They are joyously wrapped inside the song that brought their unique talent the first taste of fame and success.
Then the ceremony ends, we yell our thanks and wave to Ray, Robby, Ian and the group. The Doors of the 21st Century have given us a wonderful visual and audio memory to cherish this night. As we file out of the arena, we take stock in this well constructed multimedia and musical performance by rock’s most seminal band, the Doors. It’s such poetic justice when The Doors stated in the song we heard earlier that night, When the Music’s Over, “Music is your only friend, until the end” What a friend the Doors of the 21st Century always are and will eternally be.
(thanks, Ed)
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