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RIDERS ON THE STORM

RENO HILTON, RENO, NEVADA    December 16, 2005

The sounds of the psychedelic 60s hit the stage at the Reno Hilton on December 16, 2005.  I have to admit I was a bit skeptic about seeing The Doors without Jim Morrison. It is very difficult to replace a band member. It is even more difficult to replace the singer.  

The place was wall to wall packed. I have been to many concerts at The Hilton and never seen it so packed. The band took the stage with their new singer, Ian Astbury from The Cult. He had the look and feel of Morrison. They opened with "Break on through" and the place was jumpin! They performed many of their classic hits including love me two times, LA woman, and Whiskey Bar and  many other favorites.

Suddenly, a vibe came over the whole place. The presence of Jim was among us. They started playing Light my fire and people went mad. The crowd began rushing the stage.  The security guards starting hitting and punching people. Ian came out and said "let
these people be free, these are America's children". From that moment on as many people that could fit on the stage came to dance!

As the crowd on the stage started loosing their minds Ray Manzarek tried to gain control telling the crowd, "watch Robby, watch Robby. Get down like Robby". All of a sudden the crowd started crouching down and still kept dancing.  it really makes you
think of the things these men have seen over the decades. (Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger)

In between songs Ian said tidbits about commercialism and people rushing to buy items for Christmas. He talked about peace in the world and love. I finally felt like I was home. Here is a band that has had such a huge impact in our culture and Ray Manzarek
(keyboards) told people that The Doors were very political. "If you think the Doors are not political you are in the wrong auditorium people" stated Manzarek.

Riders on the Storm consists of founding members RAY MANZAREK and ROBBY KRIEGER plus singer IAN ASTBURY, from the Cult,  Phil Chen on bass and Ty Dennis on drums.

Finding such a wonderful fit for the doors was a marvelous wonder. Manzarek describes bringing Ian on board, "We knew that Ian of the English band, The Cult, had always expressed a desire to perform with The Doors, saying that if we ever decided to go back out on the road, he wanted to be a part of it. What I like about Ian, is that he's coming from the same place as Jim, but he has a touch of the shaman about him. Ian is his own man. He's got that sense of danger about him that is so Morrison-esque, without being an imitation of Jim Morrison. We just couldn't resist him."  (www.thedoors.com)

At the end of show they came back for an encore and played Riders on the storm. When the song was over Ian quickly left the stage. The remaining four took bows and said they didn't know what happened to Ian. The lights came on and someone came out to
tell the crowd someone had stole Ian's tortoise shell tambourine. This had been with Ian a very long time and was very important to him. If anyone reading this has any information please contact the Doors or Ray Manzarek (www.raymanzarek.com)

No one could ever take the place of Jim Morrison but I want to say BRAVO to Ian Astbury for an excellent performance. Jim would have been 63 years old this year.
                                                               
(thanks, Mary-Beth)

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