The Doors 21^st Century

at Last Call With Carson Daly show taping on 2/12/03

by Glyn Emmerson

With the city on red alert we had to go through at least four checkpoints at NBC Studios at Rockefeller Plaza to ensure that we weren’t card-carrying members of the al-Qaida.   Up we went to the old Saturday Night Live studios where autographed 8x10’s of the show’s former hosts hang and align the walls in memorial to the show’s once glorious past.

At six, Carson Daly greeted the crowd with a dull monologue, announced the night's guest, Mia Sorvino, and poked fun at the rowdy, whistling Doors fans in the front row.

Mia Sorvino, who won an Oscar playing a big hearted prostitute in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite, plugged her upcoming film Gods and Generals.  She was hot, cute and sassy as she discussed the merits of Oscar winning and her former life as a Trekkie.

Carson then presented her with a Star Trek phaser gun and introduced his mom, who also appeared in a few episodes of the original Star Trek as well as Starsky &  Hutch in the seventies.  If you look closely you can catch a glimpse of my mug as the camera pans Carson’s mom, since I was sitting right behind her.

After Mia’s interview, staff took the first two rows of chairs out and the roadies placed the band's equipment onstage. Stagehand/band manager extraordinaire Marco gently placed Robby’s foot pedals of fuzz, wah wah and distortion stage left as Ray's Alesis keyboard was placed towards the back right next to the drum riser, just like the old days.

As the band took to the stage a chorus of Happy Birthday greeted Ray that must have lasted at least five minutes.  Ray, sporting an orange scarf and sports jacket on his birthday, and Robby, dressed in a cool leopard skin shirt and camouflage pants, beamed at the crowd as they took their spots onstage.

Ray announced that Ty Dennis would be on drums and that Stewart Copeland was still recuperating from his arm injury.  Ian Astbury sauntered up to the mic in wraparound shades, black suede jacket and jeans, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Val Kilmer’s Morrison and Joe Russo from Doors tribute band Soft Parade.

The band then bolted into “Roadhouse Blues” that had the crowd singing along as if they were sucking down Buds at the local dive down the block. For the harmonica solo that John Sebastian did on Morrison Hotel, Robby and Ray did it as if they were duking it out for rock and roll turf.  Drummer Ty Dennis and bassist Angelo Barbera pounded out the saucy rhythms that reeked of stale beer and stinky cigs.

After the tune ended Robby, Ray and Ian assembled onstage and staged goodbyes for the camera.  The band then returned for a raucous “Five to One” to be used for a future show.  Ty cracked out the beat in 4/4 time as the band sank its teeth into a driving, sanctified and funked up trance.

Ian belted out a –“fuck it in the ass”- before the final “get together one more time” as Ty pounded out the jungle beats.  He then climbed on top of the bass drum for the grand finale and let out a blood-curdling yelp to the band's firepower as if they were battling the establishment and its call to arms, just like the sixties.

Robby and Ian talked to fans from the stage afterwards and I asked Ian if the band will be returning to the NYC area soon -- he said in April.