the rix mix

The Doors at Asbury Park Convention Hall.
I saw The Doors at Convention Hall, but it wasn't this date (8/68). The summer 1967 performance I went to, The Doors had been hastily booked in place of a Lou Rawls show, on the basis of the monster hit "Light My Fire." The Hall wasn't sold out. I brought my beautiful 16 year old girlfriend, who took ballet classes 4 days a week, was always up for a night on a boardwalk, & lit my fire frequently. She loved it. The experience totally changed my idea of what a rock band could be, & I immediately bullied my garage band into adding almost the entire first Doors LP to our repertoire (not "The End"). I recall members of Rawls' ace group, who'd had their second show canceled so The Doors could perform, standing at the rear of Convention Hall looking utterly baffled as Jim Morrison - still a gift from the Almighty & not yet a dick-waving drool drunk - squirmed around the stage & rubbed himself against organist Ray Manzarek. Magical.