The Doors instantly blew me away by opening with (nearly) my four favorite tunes: "Roadhouse Blues," "Break On Through" ("George Bush has to get high!"), "When The Music's Over" and "Love Me Two Times." White-jacketed coastly Ray and camouflaged ghostly Robby dueled furiously, fabulously, richly, deeply.

What about Astbury? Well, toward the very end of the night I thought he sounded less like Morrison, but let's get real. I didn't for a moment think, "Gee, I sure miss Jim." I was thinking, "Thank you, Jesus H. Christ, for letting me see R n R play these great songs." For 95% of the show the sunglassed blackclad badassed Astbury sounded and looked like Jim, from the two-footed hops off the drum stand to the "uncoordinated" flailing about of his arms. Astbury is remarkable and he should win a Grammy -- for acting.

Drummer Ty Dennis and bassist Angelo Barbera gave a big kick in the pants to most songs, particularly ones I never cared much for like "Moonlight Drive." It was significantly better than the original. It's a testament to how great the band was because, of the 18 songs they played, I never liked 6 of them .

Ray sang lead on "Cops Talk," a good but not great new song co-written with poet Jim Carroll. The clouds of reefer smoke were coming in from off Lake Erie during "Back Door Man" as the projection screen showed Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and other blues giants. During "Five to One" the screen flashed scenes of 1960's freedom riders, civil rights protests, beatings, bombings, Vietnam and then ran it in reverse -- undoing all of those beatings and bombings to the cheers of the crowd.

Robby's country blues on "Alabama Song" was memorable and his flamenco sound was so big on "Spanish Caravan" that it seemed like he was playing Paul Bunyan's "axe." Ray was perfect all night long, with his poignant powerful playing on "The Crystal Ship" perhaps standing tallest. Hey, Ray, it would have been great to throw in "Love Street."

Robby warmed up for "Light My Fire" by playing a bit of "Eleanor Rigby." Makes perfect sense. And "Get Up Stand Up" stood up in the middle of "Light My Fire." While Robby was soloing a woman jumped onstage, got behind him and touched him as he calmly brilliantly played. Another woman leapt onstage during the second encore. I don't think the band would have minded much if the entire crowd got onstage. This was not your son or your daughter's super secure regimented rock concert with remote millionaire rock gods. This was loose, this was old style. It bore no resemblance to recent shows by contemporaries The Who, McCartney (great as he was) or the Rolling Cheapasses.

The critics who don't like what Ray and Robby are doing -- namely, playing their own damn music -- are faced with a dilemma: they either need to be murdered in their f**king beds without a second thought -- or they need to SHUT THE F*** UP.

And now a word about Robby. Robby's sound is as distinctive as Santana's or Clapton's and he's written more good songs than both of them put together and yet... he has never gotten the recognition that he merits. We know quite a bit about the rebellious son of a naval officer, but what the hell do we know about Robby Krieger?

Watching Ray, 68, and Robby, 57, crystallized some things I've been thinking for awhile. The Doors came of age at a great time, one of cooperation, possibility and tremendous personal courage. The four Doors got the best out of each other. A young band starting today can't be as great as the Doors because the times make the music and we live in shit times. Not hard times, mind you, which can produce great songs. No. We live in times where it's archly understood that there is no hope and nothing is going to change, chiefly because of the crushing financial advantage of the capitalist class. We have the right to dream and the right to blow off steam, but not the ability to change anything -- and we celebrate this deluded shit and call it America. Today all of music and art is irrelevant because none of it is about the only thing that matters -- overthrowing an outmoded capitalist system and replacing it with socialist industrial unions. In every aspect of life, in every nook and cranny,the times are groaning under the weight of a system that needs to die . The next great world was knocking at the Doors and others in the 1960's just as it was during the Great Depression. Although neither the Doors nor society would "break on through," it sure sounds good to hear Ray and Robby put their swirling fury and longing out into the universe.

Setlist:
1. Roadhouse Blues
2. Break On Through
3. When The Music's Over
4. Love Me Two Times
5. Moonlight Drive / Louie Louie / Horse Latitudes
6. Wild Child
7. Cops Talk
8. Alabama Song
9. Back Door Man
10. Five To One
11. The Crystal Ship
12. People Are Strange 13. Spanish Caravan
14. Maggie M'Gill
15. LA Woman

1st encore:
16. Riders On The Storm
17. Light My Fire / Get Up Stand Up