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St.
Petersburg Times, 23 May 2003
Doors still powerful without Morrison
Gina Vivinetto
TAMPA – If it looks like The Doors, sounds like The Doors and calls
itself The Doors, then it must be The Doors, right?
That's what the band that played Thursday to a
crowd of 1,632 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center wanted fans to
believe. Only problem is, that band, which now must legally call
itself The Doors 21st Century, lost its dynamic lead singer Jim
Morrison when he died in 1971 at age 27.
Three decades later, two of the Doors' original
members and principal songwriters, guitarist Robby Krieger, 57,
and keyboardist Ray Manzarek, 64, want to dust off old gems such
as Light My Fire, Break On Through and L.A. Woman
to perform live.
Enter singer Ian Astbury, 41, late of the British
alt-rock band The Cult. A Morrison acolyte, and in command of a
similar haunting baritone and sultry stage presence, Astbury engages
the unenviable task of filling in for the late singer. (Original
drummer John Densmore declined to tour and legally demands the band
alter its moniker.)
The buzz, both in the press and before Thursday's
show, has been filled with mixed feelings: How can The Doors play
without Morrison? The singer was so striking both in his delivery
and in his untethered antics – remember that famous arrest in Miami
for allegedly exposing his genitalia? – that he was The Doors' primary
draw. Or was he? Thursday proved that the musical mastermind behind
the Doors' bristling, brooding anthems is Krieger. If anything's
changed over the years, it's that Krieger is an even more astounding
guitarist. A lengthy flamenco guitar solo intro to Spanish Caravan
was nothing short of breathtaking. Dressed in combat fatigue pants,
Krieger bounced on his heels as he whipped out the swirling leads
of L.A. Woman, one of the night's mightiest songs.
Not that any portion of the show was weak. Indeed,
the band, rounded out by drummer Ty Dennis and, for the first time
ever, a bassist, Angelo Barbera, plays tighter now than it did back
in its drug- and drink-fueled heyday. Astbury? He was amazing. The
singer struck an admirable balance of mimicking Morrison and paying
homage to him. Astbury knew all the Morrison moves, the "shamanistic"
posturing, prancing, and kicks. He even tossed out famous Morrison
"ad libs" ("Do you remember when we were in Africa?").
Yet, "spontaneity" is a weird thing to re-enact.
This hardly mattered to the crowd. Midway through
the night's impeccably performed first number, Roadhouse Blues,
this century's Doors had won over any skeptics in the crowd. The
Doors' songs belong as much to Krieger and Manzarek as to Morrison,
and they've been itching to play them an awfully long time. Mr.
Mojo Risin' may be dead, but The Doors are very much alive.
Set
list: 1. Roadhouse Blues / 2. Break
On Through / 3. When The Music's Over / 4. Love Me Two Times / 5.
Moonlight Drive / Louie Louie / Horse Latitudes / 6. Wild Child
/ 7. Cops Talk / 8. Alabama Song / Back Door Man / Five To One /
9. The Crystal Ship / 10. People Are Strange / 11. Spanish Caravan
/ 12. Maggie M'Gill / 13. L.A. Woman / 14. Light My Fire / Encore:
15. Peace
Frog / 16. Soul Kitchen.
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