By: David Schultz

A predominant majority of The Doors devotees never saw the seminal Sixties band perform live, their last concert coming well over 35 years ago. Jim Morrison having died in 1971, the bulk of The Doors' present day fans have no meaningful recollection of the band, receiving their most vivid memories from Danny Sugerman books and Oliver Stone movies. Even though permanent injunctions have rendered any touring entity calling themselves The Doors a thing of the past, much bar room debate could still be had over whether keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger fronting a band playing Doors classics while drummer John Densmore sits at home and Jim Morrison rests at Pere Lachaise actually constitutes the legendary band. In cases like this, authenticity is in the eye of the beholder, or more properly the listener. In peddling a glimpse of their legacy as Riders On The Storm, Manzarek and Krieger are lending just enough legitimacy to the venture to avoid being the greatest Doors tribute band ever.

This past Friday night, Manzarek and Krieger rode the Riders into Times Square's Nokia Theater. The specter of Jim Morrison loomed large but the Riders' show is far from two hours of homage to The Lizard King. Instead, Manzarek and Krieger look back on their legacy as one of the bands that helped define the Sixties, neither embellishing nor diminishing the contributions of their mythic friend and lead singer. The instrumental passages retained enough of their authenticity: the skeleton-like Krieger recreated many of his celebrated guitar licks and Manzarek has played the organ solo from "Light My Fire" so many times he can do it with his feet.

Former Fuel singer Brett Scallions had the unenviable and pretty much impossible task of replacing Jim Morrison. Given that American Idol reject Chris Daughtry was considered a suitable replacement for Scallions, replacing Morrison was a task well beyond his skill. The Tennessee born singer's voice and style are better fit for easy-going, mainstream fare, not the weighty, ponderous catalog of The Doors. Even though he hit the right key for "When The Music's Over" and "Spanish Caravan," Scallions sang most of songs in higher register than Morrison, repeatedly failing to hit the deep, rich tones so identifiable with The Doors' music. As everyone in the crowd knew the words to all the songs, Manzarek and Krieger might have been better served just letting the audience sing along instead of subjecting everyone to the preening Scallions.

While Scallions addition to the Riders is a practical necessity, he isn't the only unfamiliar face. Bassist Phil Chen adds an instrument traditionally omitted from The Doors' live shows and Ty Dennis unobtrusively mans the skins instead of John Densmore, who has had artistic and legal issues with Manzarek and Krieger's Doors revival project since its conception as The Doors Of The 21st Century with Cult singer Ian Astbury. The fact that his former band mate's never once mentioned his name from the stage didn't mean that Densmore's influence wasn't felt. Along with Morrison's estate, Densmore's legal efforts have prevented this and pretty much any other group of musicians from calling themselves The Doors, resulting in this current incarnation playing as Riders On The Storm.

In Sam Mendes' Jarhead, a plane flies through the Iraqi desert blasting "Break On Through" into the balmy night. As it flies overhead, Jake Gyllenhaal remarks with disgust, "That's Vietnam music! Can't we get our own music?" Much like the pilots, Manzarek and Krieger are making little effort to offer anything current or interpret anew their well traveled catalog. Manzarek raised the ghosts of The Doors' political past in analogizing the Vietnam era to our current Iraqi conflict before launching into a scorching version of the virulently anti-war "Five To One." The Riders one attempt to offer something of current relevance proved to be one of Scallions better efforts. The Riders one other attempt to bring their music into the present century, a twangy interpretation of "Moonlight Drive," similarly succeeded.

As the show near its end, careening into a closing romp through "L.A. Woman," and an encore of "Riders On The Storm" and, of course "Light My Fire," all of Scallions' shortcomings seemed insignificant. Regardless of the name emblazoned on the marquee, every single person inside the Nokia Theater came to see The Doors. If accomplishing that task entailed a willing suspension of disbelief, it seemed a price most were willing to pay.

Labels: Live Reviews