The Doors of the 21st Century

Chronicle Pavilion, Concord, California

July 18, 2003

Could it have been any hotter?   Man-oh-man!!   Beverly and I agreed that we might as well have been in Las Vegas or Phoenix, and were pretty certain that Ian would not be taking the stage in a black leather jacket tonight!!   The thermometer a mile from the venue registered 104 degrees in the afternoon, and it still showed triple digits when we drove by at 6:45 p.m.   The long steep hike from the parking lot was followed by a steep walk from the entrance to the merchandise and food concessions, and theater entry aisles.

At 8:35 Carmina Burana played and the Joel Brodsky young lion photo of Jim 1943-1971 was projected on the screen behind Ty's drums.   There were also large screens on both sides of the stage for closed circuit projection.

(There will be no discussion here about the videos which accented each song.   If interested in that detail, please refer to the Houston review.)

As the band took the stage, we saw Ian in blue jeans and a black, short-sleeved t-shirt with a black leather wristband and wraparound sunglasses.   Robby was wearing a black shirt-sleeved shirt with red "Giants" lettering across the front, and khaki pants.   Ray wore a white jacket over a white knit shirt and dark pants.   Angelo wore blue jeans and a grey long-sleeved shirt.   Ty wore a black long-sleeved shirt.

As they have at all previous shows, they tore right into Roadhouse Blues.   The audience was on their feet from the moment the band took the stage, and remained so throughout the entire evening.   When the song ended, Ray removed his jacket before they went into Break On Through.   There were a few lines inserted about George Bush getting high, and Tony Blair getting high.

When that song ended and before they began When The Music's Over, Robby moved to the side of the stage and removed his guitar and his Giants shirt.   He was wearing a maroon tee-shirt underneath which he quickly removed, and then put the Giants shirt back on.

Ian's glasses were off now.   Ray introduced the rest of the band, and Robby introduced Ray ... and then they went into  Love Me Two Times.  

Moonlight Drive with the Louie Louie verses (sung by Ray), was followed by Wild Child, and then Cops Talk, Alabama Song and Back Door Man.

Ray announced that San Francisco's Brotherhood of Light was doing the images that were being projected.  Ray said the next song was their anti-Bush song, and they went into Five To One.  

It was now 9:45, and the stools were brought out as Ty and Angelo left their drums and bass and the stage.   Ian sat on the left stool in front of Ray's Alesis keyboards, and Robby was on the right stool as they began to play my favorite song,  Crystal Ship, followed by People Are Strange.  

Ian left the stage, the stools were removed, and Ray introduced Robby, saying he was the ONLY rock 'n' roll flamenco player.   As Ray also left the stage, Robby took center stage and began to play his beautiful and intricate flamenco solo that eventually leads into Spanish Caravan.   As Robby played the familiar chords that signaled the start of the song, Ray, Ty, Angelo, and Ian returned to their places on stage.   Ian accented the song with tambourine, flamenco hand claps and yelps.

Just before the band started Maggie M'Gill, Ian pointed to both Robby and Ray, and said "these are your American Idols."

We were  thrilled to hear Changeling next ... the first time this song has been played by The Doors of the 21st Century in concert.    The band went right into L. A. Woman next -- as always, accentuated by the video for that song with images of Jim and the rest of the band interspersed throughout.

It was 10:20, and the band left their instruments to wild applause from the audience.    After a few minutes of relentless audience cheering, The Doors of the 21st Century Manager Tom Vitorino came onstage and said "You sound like a crowd that doesn't wanna go home."     The audience reaction re-enforced that!

The band then immediately returned to the stage, with Ian wearing his sunglasses again.   The sounds of thunder with  thunderclouds on the video screen behind the drums signaled Riders On The Storm.    Ray introduced the next song as their "radio song" and they were into Light My Fire.   Robby injected some Eleanor Rigby into his solo.   Ian returned to the stage after the solos with some Bob Marley "Get Up Stand Up"  .. and took a mighty leap off the drum riser before the "fuck fuck fuck fuck" part.

The band left the stage again ... house lights came up and many audience members began leaving.  Ray came onstage and asked everyone where they were going!    People scrambled back into their seats; many pushed to the front and were probably expecting to get onstage to dance to Soul Kitchen.    I suspect the outright thefts of equipment that occurred onstage last month at the end of the Clarkston (Detroit) show, signaled the end to the "love riots" that the band had been allowing onstage with them at the end of most shows during Soul Kitchen.

East Bay Express by Gina Arnold:  "This Way Out"  --  July 16-22, 2003: 

Contra Costa Times by Paul Freeman: "New Doors Still Shedding Light" -- July 18, 2003 (thanks, Dave D.)

San Francisco Weekly by Sam Prestianni:  "Can The Cult's Ian Astbury Fill Jim Morrison's Shoes?  Probably Not, But You'll Be Too Drunk To Notice" -- July 16, 2003

RecordNet.com by Brian McCoy:  "Strange Days .. Ray Manzarek Sticks To His 60s Sensibility"  -- July 13, 2003

Contra Costa Times by Tony Hicks: "Yeah, The Doors Still Sound Good, But ... "  -- July 21, 2003

KTVU.com by Dave Pehling:  "Psychedelic Rockers Return From The Grave" -- July 23, 2003  (thanks, Dave D.)

* NEW *   Metroactive Music by Sarah Quelland:  "Not Over Yet" -- July 24, 2003  (thanks, Beverly)

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by Ida   7/20/03