The Doors - Live In New York

It never felt this good for ’em again

Were The Doors washed up in 1970? Released in July of that year, Absolutey Live’s sleeve was adorned with prime ’68-era Morrison: the Lizard King in full leathers; hot, sexy, very much alive.

The reality? Morrison Hotel had been released in February, the LA Woman “comeback” was almost a year away: Jim was paunched, baggy-clothed and in and out of Jesus beard territory, barely concerned with fighting his alcoholism. With Morrison Hotel, The Doors had retreated back to blues basics and were recording their ’69-70 live shows; “Jimbo” might not have been around much longer. Not only that, following Morrison’s charge for lewd and lascivious behaviour in Miami the previous year, they needed as much live material as they could hoard: the promoters were running away in droves, or adding obscenity clauses into contracts.

Amazing, then, that the four-show, two-day residency staged 17-18 January at NYC’s Felt Forum, a 4,000-seater venue which brought the band closer to the audience than they had been in a while, sees the four Doors as on top of their game as they could have been. Of all the Bright Midnight releases from this period, Live In New York offers flow and progresson (from almost tentative dinner club-like performance – technically perfect, but slightly too clean – to raucous, crowd-incensing whipping frenzies), evidence of a band settling into a groove, realising why they need to be on stage. Come the end, it’s a riot; in between, this is the no bullshittingest The Doors had been in a while, then-unreleased Morrison Hotel (including a blistering opening Roadhouse Blues every night) material riding as confident as your well-worn Alabama Songs. For the first time since reinventing himself in 1965, Morrison concentrates on his job with absolute clarity: the epics are teased out with less of the stage theatrics, the myths get busted. They were just a fucking band, and this release shows why they need to be respected as one.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

Bright Midnight Archives/Rhino | 8122798380 (6-CD)

Reviewed by Jason Draper
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