The Doors
London Roundhouse
September 6 & 7, 1968
There are two scenes from this show that I can still replay in my head any time I want. One: Unknown Soldier. Jim Morrison, in floppy white shirt and indecently low-cut leather trousers, ‘ties’ himself to the microphone stand as Robby Krieger takes aim with his guitar and fires – accompanied by a piercing rim shot from John Densmore. Morrison flies backwards, arms and legs flailing, and tumbles to the floor, invisible to all but the front row. The silence that follows is deafening. It is eventually broken by a high, quivering keyboard note and a low, indistinct mumble from the still invisible Morrison. As the song picks up, Morrison springs up to finish it.
Two: The End. “Turn the light off,” Morrison says as the opening guitar pattern settles in. The single spotlight shrinks until Morrison is visible just from the waist up. He remains motionless. “Turn the fucking light off”. The spotlight shrinks again until it is just framing his face. There’s a clunk as the microphone hits the floor, and Morrison is gone. The spotlight turns off. Morrison returns, and begins: ‘This is the end…’ At the first crescendo the spotlight returns.
Morrison drops the microphone again and walks off. The spotlight turns off. The Oedipal saga is performed in darkness apart from a couple of glowing red amplifier lights and daylight peaking through the Roundhouse roof.