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Riders On The Storm

9:30 Club Washington, D.C.

August 9, 2005

Fan review submitted by Dan M.:

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing D21C, now called, "Riders On The Storm" perform at a small but great concert club called "The 9:30 Club" in Washington D.C.

We had gotten there fairly early to get a good spot to watch and to see the opening act, Robert Mirabel, but, surprisingly, he didn't show... Apparently there was a scheduling change we weren't made aware of. I was a little disappointed because I was looking forward to checking him out. I had heard he is a Native American musician and is very good.

But at 9:30, the Doors walked on the stage and the show was underway!

The announcer definitely introduced them as "Riders On The Storm" although the audience was pretty loud and likely didn't understand the announcer as he was nearly drowned out.

The band opened with a spirited version of "Roadhouse Blues" for which, as you might imagine, audience participation sparked up immediately and the crowd was singing along. An energetic version of "Break On Through" was next with an extended intro between Ray and Robbie.

"When the Music's Over" followed... and with Ray's now-classic opening keyboard playing for this song, it suddenly felt like the audience was being transported back in time to the 60's and Jim would step out and start singing in just a moment ... but Ian was doing the singing and he honestly did a great job all through the evening representing the vocal ingredient to the classic Doors tunes we were all treated to.

Although the 9:30 is a moderate sized club, and the show was was well-attended, the place was not too obnoxiously crowded. Everyone I encountered was excited and happy ... people seemed to be there to enjoy the evening together, and that includes the band. Tthere was a great atmosphere for the nights festivities, but the legal aggravations and stress the band has been subjected to did become apparent occasionally in some of the stage banter.

At one point, after several great jams, Ian Astbury asked the crowd, "Can you believe that some people try to destroy THIS?!... and not let these guys play their music??!!! BAD! EVIL! Evil Ray! Evil Robby!!! BAD! Do NOT play your music for the people who have loved you for 30.. 50.. F'ing thousand billion years!"

Robby started to suggest for outraged fans to send an email to the Doors official site and object (to the litigation from John and co.), but Ray initially said to Robby, "No one sends email...", "there's not a single person here who would email..."

Overall, though, it was good vibes all night long. All of the band shined throughout the evening, although the set list was primarily a Doors "hits" list. But the crowd certainly didn't seem to mind as there were plenty of happy and satisfied faces when the lights ultimately came up.

No new music was performed last night, although I have heard that the band is in the process of preparing a CD of new material, and have even tried out some of the new tunes at previous shows.

For the final song of the evening, Ray invited the audience to shout up some song suggestions. There were quite a few calls for "The End", to which Ray replied... "We don't do "The End" ... That is for Jim Morrison ... John Densmore will play "The End" for you..."

Afterwards, the band stood arm in arm and bowed to the crowd amidst some pretty loud cheering.

All in all, good times! They band played for slightly less than 2 hours, I think, with satisfying performances from all of the band members. Well worth the cost of my ticket ($55)!

Of course, I can never get enough of hearing Ray and Robbie play music together. It's too bad Jim Morrison is gone, but these guys can still play great together. If you can accept musicians as people, and NOT as a product, I think you would definitely have enjoyed it too!

Finally, here's the set list: