Sunday 31st January 2010 @ Academy 2, Bristol

“Motel, Money, Murder, Madness!”

The clock strikes nine and the dust settles, everything stands still except the last few remaining people at the bar dashing to the floor. Something special is about to happen… Wowwwww! The Shaman Jim Morrison (Willie) has cascaded onto the stage and the audience screams as the music enraptures the room with perfect ease. The scene is so brilliant and the band so good that everything flies by until part way through the second song, When The Music’s Over, and the psychedelic intro culminates in a cacophonous but spectacular bawl. The organ (Cristian), guitar (Baz) and drums (Buzz) truly sync up stunningly with the rich vocal baritone as Love Me Two Times demonstrates absolutely.

All the classics are being played with incredible accuracy complimented by the swagger and ‘geddup’ of Jim/Willie. Epic renditions of Roadhouse Blues, Five To One and Soul Kitchen hypnotize every man, woman and child within a mile radius. Then come the subdued tones of L.A. Woman and Riders On The Storm. The latter a personal favourite of mine, taking me right back to when I first heard The Doors on the way to school with my Dad at the age of about 11, cheers Dad!

An encore happens, of course, soon after a brief pause and chant. This is not just a finale though, this is how they used to do it in the old days! Light My Fire literally fires everybody up one last time but then Jim/Willie slinks back and whispers “This is our last song and this really is the end”. So then The End plays out for over ten minutes and everybody is once again reminded why the world is beautiful. In the words of William Blake and Mr Mojo Risin “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it truly is, infinite.”

www.thedoorsalive.co.uk

Richard Entwistle