'21st Century' fact: Doors miss Morrison

By Rick Reger
Special to the Tribune

June 25 2003, 7:00 PM CDT

Granted, there's lots of precedent for classic rock bands reuniting and performing without key members. Badfinger toured for years minus its singer and chief songwriter, Pete Ham, and even Captain Beefheart's Magic Band has set sail once again without its beloved skipper.

But the Doors without Jim Morrison? As preposterous as that sounds, it actually came to pass Tuesday night at the Chicago Theater when Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek trotted out a "21st Century" edition of the band, abetted by Cult vocalist Ian Astbury, drummer Ty Dennis and bassist Angelo Barbera.

Superficially, this crew of castaways gave the near-capacity crowd an often-effective impersonation of the Doors. Given the obviously large shoes Astbury had to fill, he did a remarkable job of mimicking Morrison's appearance and a more than credible job of evoking him at the microphone.

And the group as a whole ably resuscitated a number of Doors classics over a lengthy, three-encore performance. Among the highlights were Krieger's mean, distortion-barbed solo on "Roadhouse Blues," the rhythm section's thudding groove on "Five to One" and the group's driving, harshly dissonant rendition of "Not to Touch the Earth."

But there were also numerous lame-brained lapses in taste, such as Manzarek inserting a scat version of "Louie Louie" in the middle of an otherwise striking performance of "Moonlight Drive." Then there was the interminable "Light My Fire," complete with an inappropriately funky, self-indulgent bass solo.

Even beyond those missteps, there was something unmistakably missing from the Doors set, something that all the incessant crowd-pumping and clichéd video images couldn't cover up. And that something was the darkness and danger that suffused the Doors' albums, from first to last.

For all of Jim Morrison's boozy, brooding-poet shtick, the fact is that, whenever he walked onstage, no one knew exactly what he was going to do or what might happen. But at Tuesday night's concert, virtually everyone knew exactly what was going to happen.

At no point in the proceedings was there any danger that Astbury might pass out (good news), begin spouting portentous poetic gibberish (better news) or expose himself (best news). But that absence of impending disaster also was noticeable in the music.

While Manzarek, Krieger and Astbury nailed all the notes in "Riders on the Storm," "Maggie M'Gill" and "Wild Child," the music never imparted that sense of mystery and doom that forms the heart and soul of the Doors' sound. Without that sense of danger, you haven't got the Doors. You've got karaoke.

The 21st Century Doors can't possibly add to the original group's storied legacy. They can only tarnish it.

(thanks, Lorie)

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