My friend, actor Bill Mumy and I attended The Doors’ first show at The Aquarius Theater in Hollywood. We were both 15 at the time. The tickets cost two bucks each, and my folks dropped us off at about 2pm that day. I was beyond excited because The Doors had been my favorite band for 2 or 3 years by then (and still are!) and it was a small intimate venue. So we were psyched!
We brought a camera even! (Took 20 shots of the band, several of which we've sold many times over the years to many Doors books). When the theater opened, we ran to get the best seats we could. There were about 20 people in line in front of us. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Our minds were immediately blown because as we ran to grab our FRONT row seats, a little left of center stage, The Doors were already playing! And Morrison had a beard! It was all so loose and casual. We were not prepared to see a bearded Jim. The only real-time we got Doors news in that day was probably through Rolling Stone magazine every now and then... No Twitter or Facebook daily. It was a different world. Calmer perhaps...
So the band is playing, we sat down, and my friend Bill ran right up to Jim and took a bunch of pix! He looked right into our lens. To this day, I don't think I've ever seen a photo of Jim onstage staring into a camera lens. But we got one shot of that. It's the main picture that we've sold over the years...
I remember some of the songs slightly, but of course, the show was eventually released on The Doors' “Bright Midnight” label decades later. I just remember the atmosphere of the show being so surreal. It was dark and mystical. Being maybe 15 feet from the band and Jim is something that's been burned into my mind since that night. I love that memory. Jim and the Doors were gods to me and influenced my whole life and way of thinking. I got to know Ray semi-well over the years and was happy I could express that to him. I was in the music business myself, and The Doors influenced every part of the music and lyrics I wrote in my career. That's the biggest compliment I can give anybody. I feel privileged to carry the memory of those few hours in my brain for my entire life.
~ Robert Haimer, Los Angeles, CA.
Setlist:
Back Door Man
Break On Through
Soul Kitchen
You Make Me Real
I Will Never be Untrue
When The Music’s Over
Universal Mind
Mystery Train
Build Me A Woman
Who Do You Love
Light My Fire
The Celebration of the Lizard
Photos
Photos of The Doors at the Aquarius Theater courtesy of Robert Haimer and Bill Mumy
Your Doors Fix for the 2020s and Beyond
For decades, the rock group The Doors and their charismatic front-man Jim Morrison have continued to attract fans young and old. Since 1967, hundreds of books, multiple feature films, thousands of magazine articles, and hundreds of television shows have been made featuring The Doors. Yet, what do we have for today's tech-savvy Doors fan looking to Doors content on their mobile device? The answer is... not much. That's why we're here.
The Doors.ai was created for today's digital generation to get their Doors content on the go, where they want it, and when they want it. Curated by The Doors' official archivist, you get exclusive Doors content you won't find anywhere else.
Features include: Today in Doors History, Classic Quotes, Doors Stories, Doors Location Guide, Song Lyrics, Concert Reviews, and more!
All app content is constantly updated, making the average monthly subscription cost of less than $1 well worth it.
Today in Doors History
From the earliest days of the band, through the solo careers of Ray, Robby and John, it's all here in "Today in Doors History."
Each day you open up the app it will display what occurred that day in Doors history.
- Doors Concert Dates
- Ray, Robby and John solo concert dates (Ray solo, Butts Band, Nite City, Red Shift, etc)
- Album and movie release dates
- Many more significant events in Doors history, many of which are exclusive to The Doors.ai.
You can scroll through the days of the year, or you can jump right to a day that means something to you. Many days have five or six events occurring.
We will continue to research Doors-related events and add more as we find them.
You will always learn something new in "Today in Doors History."
Classic Quotes
Although many books have been written about The Doors, what better way to learn about the psyche of Jim Morrison and the events surrounding the band than from the people who were actually there?
Not only will you will hear from band members Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, and John Densmore, but also others instrumental in development of the band such as long-time engineer Bruce Botnick, and Elektra President Jac Holzman.
Many of these quotes are exclusive to The Doors.ai.
Doors Stories
Most content in The Doors.ai is made for today's world, for people on the go. Small consumable chunks that you can browse and enjoy when you have a few spare minutes. Sometimes you want to spend a little more time reading about the band. That's where the "Doors Stories" section comes in.
Doors stories are a bit longer, similar to old-school magazine articles. Written or edited exclusively for The Doors.ai, you won't find these anywhere else.
Find out about things like
- The Doors' early days at The London Fog on Sunset Strip
- Doors' keyboardist Ray Manzarek's early experiences with LSD.
- One fan's experience crashing a Doors' recording session
- The story of a family's interactions with Jim and the band as they were recording LA Woman.
- And many more!
New stories added monthly.
Doors' Location Guide
Have you ever wanted to go hang out at the same places that Jim Morrison and The Doors' hung out? We have you covered with the Doors' Location Guide.
- In Los Angeles, you can go find The Whisky a Go Go, Jim Morrison's room at the Alta Cienega Motel, The Doors' beach rehearsal house in Venice Beach, and over 20 more locations
- In San Francisco, you can find the famous venues where The Doors performed, such as the Avalon Ballroom, The Matrix, The Fillmore Auditorium.
- In New York, go hang out where the Strange Days album cover was shot, or find Ondine or the historic Fillmore East where The Doors played.
- In Paris, you can find the apartment where Jim Morrison stayed during his time in Paris as well as his gravesite at Pere Lachaise.
- And More!
Over forty different locations across Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Paris. New locations added monthly.
Song Lyrics
What Doors application would be complete without a complete lyrics guide? We've got it here too, but unlike you've ever seen it before.
One of the most frustrating things about Doors lyrics on the internet is that they are either incomplete or just plain wrong. The lyrics in The Doors.ai were all transcribed using the isolated vocal tracks from the Doors multi-track recordings. These are the true lyrics, and in some cases a little different than you've ever seen before.
Included in our lyrics section are The Doors six original albums, plus the two post-Morrison albums Other Voices and Full Circle.
We also have the lyrics to album outtakes, and b-sides that never made the albums.
This really is your one-stop shop for Doors lyrics.
Concert Reviews
One of the goals of The Doors.ai is to make sure that the stories and memories from the people who saw The Doors perform live are saved for future generations of fans to enjoy. This part of the app was built specifically for that purpose.
Our concert reviews include:
- Over fifty reviews spanning the earliest Doors shows in 1966 through their final gig as a trio in 1972.
- Reviews of Robby and John's first band after The Doors broke up, the Butts Band.
- Reviews of Ray Manzarek solo shows in 1974-75 supporting his first two solo albums.
- Reviews of Ray Manzarek's late-seventies band Nite City.
We hope as more fans download and use The Doors.ai, we will be able to add even more reviews and save even more history!
The Doors.ai
Download today from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store