~ ~ ~  #1  ASBURY PARK CONVENTION HALL  ~ ~ ~

 Saturday, August 31, 1968       late show

The circumstance of my first Doors concert was truly a fluke.  On a Saturday morning, a friend called and offered a pair of tickets to my roommate and I for the concert that night.  Bonnie and her boyfriend had argued and broken up the night before and would NOT be using the tickets, and didn't want them to go to waste!

I took my 2-year old son to my Mom's for the night, and Pat and I set off for Asbury Park.  It was probably a 90-minute drive from Flemington on those New Jersey roads that led down the shore, heading to my very first rock concert, ever.

Our goldenrod colored tickets showed a price of $5.50 and were for the late show at 9:45 P.M.  The opener was a real trippy band called Earth Opera.  I had never heard of them before that night, but they had a psychedelic album and lengthy title song called Great American Eagle Tragedy.  I still have that vinyl album which I bought after seeing their performance.

Our seats were not real close, but this was not a large venue.  I do know that we had NEVER seen anything like that slinky, sexy vision in black leather onstage.  And, I remember the music being made by the musicians onstage was absolutely mesmerizing and hypnotic.  

During Bruce Springsteen's recent 2002 tour rehearsals and Today Show appearance from Asbury Park Convention Hall, I really studied the interior shots trying to refresh my memories.  The exterior of the building looks just the same now as it did back then.  I 've been back to Asbury Park several times in recent years to see Robby perform at the Stone Pony, and went down the boardwalk to the Convention Hall to take pictures and reminisce.  The building was vacant & idle for many years, so I'm happy that it has been revived and there were some concerts there in summer of 2002.

(Incomplete) set list:    Break On Through  <>  Love Me Two Times  <>  When The Music's Over  <>  Soul Kitchen  <>  Spanish Caravan  <>  Light My Fire  <>  The End (encore)     I'm pretty certain that Take It As It Comes was also played, because I remember that Pat and I kept singing it all the way back to Flemington that night, over and over!

note:   Many thanks to Greg Shaw's "The Doors On The Road" book, used as the source for the set list

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