LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL

This video was so good it made me write my first review. The intro to "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" claims it to be the only full concert recording of The Doors. If this is true then this video is essential for anyone interested in The Doors. I was already a big Doors fan before watching this, and already thoroughly enjoyed many of the songs appearing on this dvd, but had never seen them live before. Seeing the songs live puts a whole new perspective on them. It's a much more intense trip.

Jim Morrison puts on a fantastic performance that is as poetic as it is musical. It really shows you why he was so notorious.That's the main difference between Doors songs in the studio and live. In the studio it's much more about the sound, and I believe that's what most people notice, but, live, Jim lives his lyrics so passionately in the performance that you can't help but notice how the poetry of the words meshes with the music. It's like seeing the way he interacts with the music shows you how the music is meant to be heard, always improving the effect. A good example of this is Jim dancing around the microphone like an Indian around a campfire during the intense climax of The End. This brings me to my second point: The rest of the band performs fantastically as well. They really capture the mood of the words and create some incredible suspense and explosions of energetic mind melting music using great contrasts of key and timing between instruments. The moods caught are nuts, ranging from the hellish "Horse Latitudes" to the carnival-like joy of "Light my Fire" to the spaced out majesty of "The End".

I will definitely be watching this again.

P.S. Psychedelic accompaniment encouraged. Enjoy the music the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

Review Nº 690

"Live At The Hollywood Bowl" is a DVD of The Doors and that was released in 1987. It was recorded on 5 July 1968 but was only released for the first time in 1987. From what I know, five versions of this live show were released. There are two CD versions and two DVD versions. In 1987 it was released a CD version with only seven tracks and it became The Doors shortest official release, with only about twenty-two minutes long. The 1987/2000 DVD version has thirteen tracks and has about sixty-five minutes long. This version of the video of the concert is still available, now in the DVD format on "The Doors ? 30 Years Commemorative Edition" and on the Blue-ray disc format, which was released in 1999. That commemorative edition was released with two new live DVD's from the group, "Dance On Fire" that was originally released in 1985 and "The Soft Parade A Retrospective" that was originally released in 1991. In 2012 the full version of this live concert was released in CD, LP and DVD formats and it has the length of about seventy-one minutes long.

The version I'm going to review is the DVD version released in 1987. So and as I wrote before, this DVD version of "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" has thirteen tracks. The first track "When The Music's Over" was released on "Strange Days". The second track "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" was released on "The Doors". Originally this wasn't a song composed by The Doors but a Bertolt Brech and Kurt Weill song. The third track "Back Door Man" was released on "The Doors". Originally this wasn't also a song composed by The Doors but a Willie Dixon's song. The fourth track "Five To One" was released on "Waiting For The Sun". The fifth track "Moonlight Drive" was released on "Strange Days". The sixth track "Horse Latitudes" was released on "Strange Days". The seventh track "A Little Game" and the eighth track "The Hill Dwellers" are two small extracts taken from their piece "The Celebration Of The Lizard". "The Celebration Of The Lizard" is an epic piece written by Jim Morrison and composed as a series of poems, which includes several sections, spoken verses and passages of allegorical storytelling. The entire piece was intended to be released as one full side of one of the band's studio albums. Despite the group attempt to record the full piece for several times, they abandoned the idea because they were always dissatisfied with the final result. A complete performance of "The Celebration Of The Lizard" can be heard on their live album "Absolutely Alive". The first entirely recorded studio version was released on their compilation "Legacy: The Absolute Best". The ninth track "Spanish Caravan" was released on "Waiting For The Sun". The tenth track "Wake Up" is a small extract taken from "The Celebration Of The Lizard". The eleventh track "Light My Fire" was released on "The Doors". This is an edited extended version. The twelfth track "The Unknown Soldier" was released on "Waiting For The Sun". The thirteenth track "The End" was released on "The Doors".

The band is in a great musical shape despite Jim remains very staid, rarely moving and dancing around in his famous Indians' dance. Even today the music still remains powerful and intense. If you fancy a look at when bands were real bands then this DVD is certainly for you. This DVD delivers a pleasant concert experience. The audio is well handled and clean. Basically this is a fine live recording with no nasty clicks or hisses. The sound is really perfect. The music sounds as full of life as, presumably, it did back then. The entire concert was recorded using several cameras and is one of only two professionally recorded live performances of the band in colour. The picture on this DVD is a bit dark, due to the conditions it was filmed and it's a bit blurry and grainy. This is due that this is a 32 year old live recording and obviously you have all the technical problems of actually filming in such a dark place and the restrictions on what you can film. However, it's fairly free from dust and scratches but it shows its age especially in the grain department.

Conclusion: "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" is a great DVD. Despite this live version being an incomplete version of the entire concert, it documents a great live performance from The Doors. I expect very soon put my hands on the full concert brought to us on the DVD "Live At The Bowl' 68". Returning to this DVD, it has some incredible great musical moments. To me, the highlights of this DVD are "When The Music's Over", "Light My Fire" and of course "The End". It's strange to hear "When The Music's Over" as the opener and not the grand finale of the show. However, when they have "The End" to perform live, it seems to be normal and logical to finish the live show with "The End". Finally, the live performance of "Light My Fire" became absolutely unforgettable. The entire band is great and Ray Manzarek shows why he always was the successes' key of The Doors' sound. Despite some low quality image, it deserves to be bought.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)