The Doors, Live At The Hollywood Bowl

While this film, which was a big video hit in the VHS days of the 1980s and 1990s, has never taken on the legendary qualities of Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains The Same, it is a quality concert, and gives an 'in' to one of the top rock bands of that era.



Jim Morrison, the lead singer, was, without a doubt, the best lyricist of the last 50 years. Having said that, he was not a good poet. His lyrics, in fact, were better than most of his 'straight' poetry, for they left emotional voids and questions that only the music could fill in. Like a screenplay to a film, lyrics form the skeleton of a good song, with the music as the flesh.

John Densmore, on drums, and Robbie Krieger, on guitar, were solid musicians, but the core of the group was always Morrison and Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist. While Morrison provided the lyrics, most of the songs the group was most well known for were riffs that Manzarek came up with, along with the improvs of Morrison.

While this posting has the main concert, the VHS copies, especially bootlegs, had raunchier songs and Morrison cursing and doing some raunchy things.

Watch the film and see what you think.