The Doors: Live at the Bowl '68 [Blu-ray]

At this stage they were still performing the songs more or less as recorded. Later after many doses of drugs and alcohol their performances were all over the map. You never knew who was going to show up.

I found watching this concert absolutely incredible. Over the decades media and the movie about the Doors would have have us believe Jim Morrison was a totally dysfunctional out of control front man who mostly ruined concerts for the Doors, and their entire time as a band was a roller coaster of wondering if 'Jimbo' (the nickname for drunken, stoned, erratic Jim Morrison) was out tonight. The truth was probably that 'Jimbo' did come out on occasion, but for most shows he was on top of his game - and good guy Jim Morrison performed. This is definitely one where the real Jim Morrison can be observed in one of the best Doors concerts ever filmed and recorded - and is absolutely beautiful. The place, the set, the audience, the tightness of the band, the relaxed pace they approached the running order of the songs they performed. They were truly enjoying this show, you can easily see as Jim Morrison sometimes smiled and had not an ounce of the angst he seems to be more known for. One of his bandmates in a 2012 interview, which is in the DVD extras, said he took some LSD before going on stage, and also had about 3 drinks at dinner before they got there. Ray Manzarek, however, says he cannot say one way or the other if he took the drug; the viewer will have to come to their own conclusion if he shows any sign of that, but its clear to me, he is in control of his mind the whole time. He makes every que, nicely delivers his poetry readings in some of the songs or as segues to the next number. His voice is superb start to finish on each song. Another aspect that is so great about this, is Bruce Botnick, who produced some of the Doors records in the 1960s and did the audio recording for this very concert in 1968 - and in 2012 used the latest technology to restore this to an absolute masterpiece of clarity and quality. The DVD has several choices of audio to listen from: Surround Sound, 1.5 K mix, and New Stereo. The extras are a must see: interviews by the three remaining members in 2012, two performances from television variety shows, and the Gloria video. A tremendous concert, a superb restoration of this piece of history, now well preserved forever.

This is the best sounding audio of any concert I have viewed from the 1960s. As soon as Jim Morrison walked on stage I thought "wow, he is stoned". He just has that glassy-eyed look about him and kind of slinks around slowly on stage. Sure enough, it turns out he dropped acid just before the concert, verified by the liner notes and interviews in the bonus features. Somehow he turns in a professional performance. He is one of those performers that somehow commands your attention. The performances from the band are outstanding and you really get to see and hear how great of musicians they are. The Doors did not have a bass player, so Ray Manzarek plays bass on the keyboard with his left hand, and plays all the other keyboard parts with his right hand. How he does this is a mystery - very talented. Thankfully, this was recorded on film before directors discovered all the fast editing of today's filmed concerts. You have nice lingering shots of Jim Morrison and the entire band, the way it should be. Some interesting shots of the audience as well. For some reason the audience was shooting off fireworks throughout the concert which was a little distracting. My only minor gripe was that the concert was fairly short (1 hr. 15 min.) and some of your favorites might not have made the set list (notably "Soul Kitchen", one of my faves).

This blu-ray dvd is the best quality audio/video that you will find of the Doors. Some say the concert was their best. I doubt that. It is a very good purchase for anyone that wants to sample a great band who was ahead of their time.

Excellent quality picture and sound quality. The extras are filled with additional interviews and information. Nothing like the Doors.

As a long-time Doors devotee and previous owner of the first laser disc version of this concert I postponed purchasing this again to hold off a potential contrived burn.(own all their Lps) What a surprise: Jim and the band are re-born young and on top of the rock world here once more. When I read that they re-stored the microphones carefully, restoring at least 2 songs I had to get it. "Hello, I love you," and "Unknown Soldier" both come alive with greater power than other live versions. No one could touch the band, and nobody could top Jim Morrison's theatricality in full, improvisational force. Every reason for taking a literature class, especially poetry gets full credence. You are transfixed as Jim prowls his improvisational licks without missing a beat, seamlessly moving into another killer song like "Unknown Soldier," which surpasses the excitement of the black-and-white European tour version. The Bonus Features make it more than collectible featuring: a wonderful final interview with the surviving members recollecting that time and their place in it, just a wonderful thanks to their fans. Live cuts from The Smothers Brothers Show, the Jonathan Winters Show, make this concert a wonderful Thank You package. The Doors deserve a wonderful ovation for this captured moment at The Bowl.

Works fine.