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Review by Warro.

Ex Doors men plus a Cult hero make decent stab at recreating the past

I wasn't meant to be here. I'm not that much of a Doors fan, but when a very nice tour manager (now there's a rarity!) says, "Do you want to be on the guest list with an after show pass?", well, it'd be rude not to have an unintentional first gig of the year wouldn't it?!? After all, there was absolutely no way I was going to be paying either £37 or £50 for a ticket - and especially the £157 for best seats and a meet and greet with the band - I find that quite offensive - thieving robdogs! However, absolutely gratis is perfectly acceptable to my mind.

Any road up, onto the gig. Now, personally, I like the Civic Hall - been there numerous times and seen some great gigs - always find a great sound, good atmosphere, and you can take your drinks in. And there was certainly a good percentage of the three quarters full crowd indulging in post new year revelry. This was helped by the fact there was no support and the Doors (sorry - Rider on the Storm) didn't come on stage until 9:15.

Walking on stage to considerable applause, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, Ian Astbury and two kens kicked in with 'Roadhouse Blues' before ploughing straight into 'Break on Through' and 'Love Me Two Times' - Bloody hell this was going to be good! There was not much banter from Astbury but, although suffering from a cold, was clearly enjoying acting out his schoolboy fantasy of being Jim Morrisson. (My schoolboy fantasy was to shag Sally James from Tiswas - but at least Astbury has managed to fulfil his!)

Things however, took a bit of a downward turn with some meandering noodling around with 'Alabama Song (Whisky bar)'. Manzarek and Krieger are excellent musicians and the rest of the band is very tight, but these overlong jam sessions are best left for another time - 1970 I reckon. The entertainment graph shot back up with a superb version of 'Five to One' before another trough with a flamenco guitar solo from Robby Krieger - at least it gave an excuse for a number of people to use the facilities. Other highlights of the set were 'People are Strange' and 'Changeling', which had a sizeable percentage of the (not as old as you'd expect) crowd dancing like it was 1968.

The songs are great. The arsing around dull. A pleasant enough gig - and very good value! - from what, in reality, is a superb tribute band. The audience enjoyed it, as did I - though not enough to make me a proper Doors convert - they still didn't quite Light My Fire. I'll get me coat.

SETLIST

Roadhouse blues
Break on through
Love me two times
When the music's over
Alabamha song
Back door man
Five to one
Spanish caravan
The changeling
People are strange
Not to touch the earth
Wild child
Touch me
LA woman
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Riders on the storm
Light my fire

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