Molson Park, Barrie, Ontario

Opening Bands: David Usher, Bif Naked

Jim Morrison left The Doors ajar when he shuffled off this mortal coil -- or off somewhere -- three decades ago.

But while the surviving bandmembers continued to play on over the ensuing years, the touring version of the band that rolled into Molson Park as part of Harley-Davidson's Open Road roadshow last night has sparked enough fuss you'd almost think old Jimbo was still at it.

What "The Doors" didn't spark was much in the way of a crowd on the chilly evening, with attendance for their closing set at roughly 3,000. (That's our estimate -- the folks at Harley weren't releasing ticket counts until after press time.)

Perhaps the debate among both fans and detractors as to the veracity of "The Doors" -- co-founding keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger with big-name support from The Cult's lead singer, Ian Astbury, and ex-Police drummer Stewart Copeland -- is a moot point here.

Either way, this workable incarnation of the group offered a faithful rendering of their oeuvre, with Astbury and, in particular, Copeland chipping in enough of their own respective touches to keep it from being a totally shameful Morrison mock-up.

The supply of tunes was a no-brainer: Roadhouse Blues, Break On Through, When The Music's Over, Love Me Two Times, Whiskey Bar, Back Door Man, the spoken-word Ghost Song -- complete with native dancers -- Spanish Caravan, L.A. Woman, Light My Fire, Riders On The Storm, etc.

Manzarek and Krieger, their sound rounded out by a bassist (they didn't have one in the early days), noodled in familiar style, the funhouse organ intermingling with blues-edged guitar to generate a modicum of enthusiasm.

It was weird then, that the show's strongest feature, apart from the hits, was the substitutes themselves. Copeland -- sitting in for original Door John Densmore, who's out of action with hearing problems -- was totally at ease, almost running away with the show with his feather-touch/powerhouse balance. Something of a busman's holiday, maybe.

Poetry attack aside, the well-suited Astbury's Morrisonisms were no more blatant than usual, with the tunes coming across in his Cult-era yowl.

Then again, while Astbury may have had more to gain commercially from the gig, it was just a relief seeing him up there instead of Creed's Scott Stapp, who's sat in with "The Doors" in recent years.

It's too bad "Two Original Doors With Two Surprisingly Good Replacements" wouldn't fit on the bill.

The Harley-Davidson Open Road Tour is scheduled to run into next summer to mark the company's 100th anniversary.

This past weekend's festival also featured performances by Journey, April Wine and Kim Mitchell Saturday, and David Usher and Bif Naked yesterday. Attractions include an excellent indoor exhibition of vintage motorcycles -- which would have fit nicely in a more permanent venue or at an auto show.

Proceeds from the event when to the Muscular Dystrophy Association Of Canada.

Kieran Grant

`Retooled' Doors seek breath of second life

Two original members present as band rolls into Barrie

More than 30 years after the death of Jim Morrison, The Doors have reunited in concert to offer people, they say, a soundtrack to cope with the current state of political affairs.

That's their motive behind a reunion tour — part of the Harley-Davidson open road trip to celebrate the motorcycle maker's centennial — that brings two of the remaining members to Barrie, Ont., this weekend on the band's only Canadian stop and second since reuniting. They're planning more dates next spring.

"A time gets the music that's necessary to it," keyboardist Ray Manzarek said over the phone from New York. "With the way things are going, certainly in America, in the world situation and this idea of America going to war, everything is about to change in America."

But given the trend that's prompting dozens of aging rockers to hit the stage and cash in on nostalgia — think Supertramp, The Who, Yes and The Rolling Stones — one might wonder if the psychedelic rockers are merely seeking to capitalize on the iconic status of Morrison.

Definitely not so, insists Manzarek, who will be joined by original guitarist Robby Krieger, ex-Police drummer Stewart Copeland and singer Ian Astbury, formerly of The Cult. (Original Doors drummer John Densmore can't perform because of a hearing disorder.)

"This is no tribute band, no imitation," the 63-year-old said, obviously agitated by the question.

"We entered the 21st century and it seemed to be the right time (to come back). We have The Doors retooled for the 21st century."

Retooled it most certainly is, given the face of The Doors and arguably the only recognizable member, died of heart failure in his bathtub in 1971. He was 27.

The remaining trio made two more albums after Morrison's death with Manzarek on vocals, but the group disbanded in 1973. They reunited twice — at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and a VH1 special in 2001.

While the seminal '60s band lives on via record sales, with an average million albums a year, fan reaction will be key if the "retooled" Doors want a second life.

Reaction on the band's Web site is mixed.

"It bothers me that the band members are still trying to play the music that Jim made famous. When Jim died the music was over. They can try to replace him but it won't work. This 2003 tour is a joke. You can't replace Jim. I don't think your loyal fans will like it much," one fan wrote on the message board.

"The Doors is gone. Jim is dead. John is not playing. It's about money now," wrote another.

Another supported the tour saying: "The Doors aren't the same, no, and no one can replace Jim, but I think that it is good that they are pressing on."

But Manzarek says people won't need convincing that the new Doors isn't a tribute band once the quartet take the stage, like they did Sept. 6 to a crowd of 5,000 in Los Angeles. The set included L.A. Woman, Break On Through, Strange Days, Riders On The Storm, Light My Fire and Love Me Two Times.

"When Robby started playing Roadhouse Blues, oh man, they were right with us singing along. It didn't take one minute for the people to know this is not a tribute band."

Manzarek says they've replicated Morrison's passion in Astbury (incidentally, he's got the same lush, black curls as Morrison).

"He's not a Jim Morrison clone but he has the energy and the power of Jim Morrison," he said. "He comes from that same psychic space that Jim comes from. He has the same native American shaman powers."

The new Doors will try to prove themselves worthy of the name by putting together a new album next year — the first since 1972.

Some fans will wonder if that's possible given Morrison penned all The Doors' songs — the epitaph on his Paris tomb reads: "Jim Morrison — Poet."

"We plan on keeping the poetic tradition alive," Manzarek says. "(By using) poets and lyricists who are spiritual and terrific poets."

Astbury and writer Jim Carroll, of Basketball Diaries fame, will be used to pen lyrics to music written by Manzarek and Krieger.

Those lyrics, he says, will fill a void in the current music scene.

"The Doors are about freedom ... exploring alternate states of consciousness, going beyond the norm. Going into some place where all humanity is equal. The Doors music comes from that place and that's where we try to tap in to."

And with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the U.S.'s fight with Iraq which could put the country at war like it did in the '60s with Vietnam, people need "a dose of truth."

"This may be Armageddon. This could be it so everyone's going to have to put on their thinking hat. Do we want life or do we want death? It's going to be time for people to say `Make love not war' one more time like we said in 1968."

Angela Pacienza (CANADIAN PRESS)
UNBELEIVABLE! This isn't a biased opinion. I heard alot of people leaving the park vocally in absolute amazement. For it being just the second show together, these guys sound tight.

Ian's voice was wicked, and Stewart Copeland, well I just don't know what to say about this guy. The Police just didn't tap his skills, he can pound the skins. Ray and Robbie, these guys are timeless gems. How these guys can perform for ten minutes song after song, is beyond me. Ok, back to the show:

It started at 7:00pm sharp at a cool, damp Molson Park in Barrie. The venue is perfect for this kind of an event, with different kiosks and tents set up for various Harley exhibits and beer gardens. It has an ampitheatre type setup with a grassy hill that leads down to the "festival size" stage. So lotsa room (too much?) to spread out and enjoy the show if ya don't like the crowded stage area. Too hard to estimate the crowd size from the spread out nature of everyone, but my guess was between 5,000 - 10,000.

They came on with little fanfare after the radio announcer did the staple "Is everbody in?......", and walked out to their respective positions and broke into Roadhouse Blues with a racious ovation and obvious singalong at Ian's request. No real opening song jitters (from what I could see) and carried right on into Break On Through which seemed a little "fast", but "dead cats, dead rats" added was cool and made up for it.

When The Music's Over was the first time for Ian to showcase his vocal range and he really belted it out. Alabama Song was a little different than the Storytellers version as was Back Door Man but both very good. Five To One sounded gritty and balsy (as it should), and again Ian givin it his all. Strange Days was up next, but before the song Ray said a few things about the NEW album coming out in 2003, some retooled/remixed old Doors staples including this version of Strange Days. It WAS awesome, more guitar and drums than the original. The lineup was announced at some point (I forget just when) and was a little disappointed that Ray had introduced "Stewart Copeland of The Police, maybe the best rock drummer ever!" and just "Ian Astbury" with no Cult mention at all. Maybe i'm just reading into this, but disappointing in my mind.

Ian then was called upon to recite poetry (Ghost Song?) with the full headdress Natives coming out for a tribal dance on each side of Ian (sorta cool). Love Street and Moonlight Drive were next and they blew through these with the crowd starting to mellow out. Wild Child was next, Ian sensing the crowd was falling asleep, tried his best to get them back with a stern "cmon muthafuckers, get up". Flashes of past Cult shows were ressurected instantly. As jacked up as the crowd got for Wild Child, it calmed down for the lesser known Summer's Almost Gone. Fitting for the kind of nite it was though. L.A. Woman was next, and in my opinion, the best song of the show. The crowd was jumping up and down, Ian gave us another "cmon muthafuckers" and it was gettin crazy in the "pit". LOL There was even a guy without a shirt and bald head get up and do a little crowd surfin!! No joke. Who would have thought that a Doors show would have crowd surfing?

Ray introduced Light My Fire as "some little song you may have heard on the radio" and Ian again nailing it. The solo was crazy with Ray and Robbie really "clicking" and looking like they were havin fun. Stewart went nuts, as he did all show. The encore was Riders On The Storm and it was eerie with Ian's voice being altered with a slight echo. If there was a song all night that Ian sounded like Jim, it was this one.

And just like that, it was over. One encore, thats it. The four of them came together with Ian motioning for Angelo to come with them (nice gesture) and they did a coupla bows to the crowd. They then left and Ian took his access badge? and threw it into the crowd. He was the last to leave and stopped to wave to the crowd as they were all clapping. One word, CLASS.

So that was my take on it, from a Cult/Ian fan's point of view. I'm sure a biased view on this board is ok. LOL They really sounded good, i'm glad I made the trip to see a once in a lifetime? event. If someone would have told me 10-15 years ago that i'd be seeing Ian Astbury play with The Doors, I woulda said you was nuts! But I saw it and I wasn't disappointed.

Too bad I never got to see anyone from the board there (CULT*KITTEN, musta had the wrong cell #, just kept ringing). It wasn't hard to pick me/us out of the crowd. We were the only ones wearing Cult shirts!! LOL Lotsa people making favorable comments to us about Ian/The Cult, which was nice. That was my take, pretty tired, birthday celebrations at the "ballet" afterwards made it into a late night.

Ed Coules

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SHOW

I am still beside myself, knowing that I was only feet away from the musicians who stood next to Jim Morrison years ago. I was front row center. I had such a great time...

~~**RAVENMAD(luv ya!), DUNDAS22, and BILLY, you guys totally rock, it was a pleasure to spend a day with real Cult fans!! **~~Until the next show!!!(EDCULT!!! where were u!?!@? )

Ian Astbury was amazing. Stewart Copeland--what a powerful drummer. Robby--what can I say. Ray....wow.

My throat really hurts form yelling out Ian's name. (I made damn sure he felt welcome! He actually acknowledeged me with a smile) Ian sounded incredible. He had his eyes closed most of the time. Like he was going into a trance, or channeling some mystic energy.

I walked away feeling exhilerated and inspired. I have a renewed love of The Doors, and ofcourse Ian!

I've developed my pix, some great shots. I will post when I get them scanned and share them with u all.

I just wish YOU ALL could have been there!! Hard to put into words, really.

Another magical moment was when Ian read Jim;s poetry, and Native American dancers danced around him.

one funny moment: Before the show began, VH1 was filming us, and asked a girl next to me why she was here...Her answer: "TO SEE JIM MORRISON!!!!" Everyone burst into laughter. She was dead serious too. Maybe she sees dead people?....

Here are some highlights form a review in today's paper::

"While the surviving members continued to play on over the ensuing years, the touring version of the band that rolled into Molson Park as part of the Harley Davidson;s Open Road roadshow lst night has sparked enough fuss you'd almost think old Jimbo was still at it.

..With big-name supprt form The Cult's lead singer, Ian Astbury...this workable incarnation of the group offered a faithful rendering of thier oeuvre, with Astbury, chipping in his own touches to keep it form being a totally shameful Morrison mock-up.

The show's strongest feature, apart from the hits, was the substitues themselves. Poetry attack aside, the well-suited Astbury's Morrisonisms were no more blatant than usual, with the tunes coming across in his Cult-era yowl. (huh?)

Then agian, while Astbury may have had more to gian commercially form the gig, it was just a relief seeing him up there instead of Creed's Scott Stapp. (HELL YES!NO KIDDING! AMEN!!)

Cult*Kitten
OK. Here's my account of the day spent at the Open Road Tour show in Barrie yesterday. My wife and I arrived at the park at about 1:30 and although we're not interested in motorcycling, we took some time to look at the the bikes and gear. At around 2:30, we settled around the front of the absolutely huge stage eager for the music to start (and met Sweet Soul Sister - hey there!). The first artist was Bif Naked who as usual, was nothing short of a goddess. After the show, a friend of mine who is training to run the soundboard for Bif came out and offered to bring me, my wife and SSS back to meet Bif and the band. We were equipped with backstage passes and were walked to a rather large area reminiscent of a motel, with both Bif Naked's and David Usher's bands filling up the rooms. After a short meeting with Bif, we noticed the large cottage - like building across the yard, which we were told was the Doors camp. Within 10 or 15 minutes, we could clearly see Ian about 50 feet way poking in and out of the doorway. By this time, David Ushers band was walking out to the stage and we didn't want to overstay our welcome so we decided to go back out to the front of the stage. After David Usher's decent set, the anticipation started become almost tangeble in the crowd. Thousands of Doors fans (I would estimate the place was about a quarter full - approx 10,000 people) made their way towards the stage, althogh I have to say thankfully at no point did I ever feel squeezed or crushed during the entire show. I noticed very few Cult shirts in the crowd. From listening to the conversations of the Doors fans, I got the feeling that they were delighted by this comeback and that most of them had at least accepted Ian as Jim's replacement, if not downright laid claim to him! The show started up and Ian appeared wearing brown cowboy boots, black jeans, a black collared shirt and dark sunglasses. Now, I don't want everyone freaking out on me but my review is not totally postive. I have been a huge fan of the Cult for 15 years and have been an admirer of the Doors music for nearly as long. In my opinion, contrary to popular belief, this is not a match made in heaven. Although he sang well and was easily the most energetic person on stage, I got the feeling that Ian had to use A LOT of restraint. If there was even 25% of the energy present at this show as there has been at any of the other 15 times I've seen Ian perform, than I failed to pick up on it. As you know, there are alot of musical interludes between vocal parts in some Doors songs and this just seemed to keep Ian from building up any momentum. He sang well, moved around a little bit, tried to get the crowd into it a couple of times, but there was no release (When the Music's Over was the closest it came). The whole show was like a steady simmer that never came to a boil. In my opinion, Ian spent a lot of time in the backgroud making sure he was giving the proper "floortime" to Ray and Robbie rather than taking the show into his own hands like he would in a Cult show. I find this very strange because with the old Doors, the whole focus was on the front man while the band was very much in the background. With this new version, Robbie and Ray share equal time (at least) in the spotlight which has to make it very hard for Ian to work the crowd and focus the energy in the venue. I'd give the show a 7/10. Not bad, but can't think of any Cult show I've seen that would get less than an 8. After the show, we were happy to find that our passes were still valid and returned to the backstage area hoping to briefly meet Ian and the other members of the Doors. It was not going to happen. I don't know if the Doors were processing plutonium in their cottage or what, but the security keeping regular people away from them was intense! The Drummer from Bif Naked was hoping to get a drumstick signed by Stuart Copeland (who as it turns out really is amazing) but every time he got within 50 feet of the Doors cottage, he was threatened and informed that he had to stay on his side of the yard. The actual quote was "this is your world, that is the Doors world. STAY IN YOUR WORLD". Now, I have had several Cult meetings, in fact I even spent - hours- with Ian on two seperate occasions during the Holy Barbarians tour and never have I felt so cut off from the band. All this led me to realize that I would never be fully satisfied if The Cult ceased to be and Ian was the full time singer for The Doors.

Cultguy

Setlist

Roadhouse Blues
Break On Through
When The Music's Over
Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)
Back Door Man
Five To One
Strange Days
Awake / Ghost Song / The Hill Dwellers
Love Street
Moonlight Drive/Horse Latitudes
Wild Child
Summer's Almost Gone
LA Woman
Light My Fire

Encore:

Riders On The Storm