8. The Doors - Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood 1968
By July, 1968, The Doors were riding high. Three years into a career that had already spawned a trio of top ten albums, and a host of hit singles. They were always the darkest of the 60's rock explosion, and while everyone else was singing about peace and love, The Doors were talking about death, war, sex and the darkness of the human spirit. They were the metaphorical, bad LSD trip that no one could ignore. Led by the first real Rock star the world had ever seen, the self styled, Lizard King, Jim Morrison. Of course, there quite a few infamous live shows in their history, but this was when they did everything just right and delivered a career best. They knew how pivotal this show was going to be and even rehearsed in the days leading up to it (which didn't happen very often) and drummer, John Densmore, even insisted the band have an actual set-list (again, not a common occurrence). Keyboard player, the late and great, Ray Manzarek made the startling submission some years later that all four members were on acid during the whole set. That could have meant an absolute train wreck, but the band are so locked in and in tune with each other that the results were jaw dropping. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9TmQQQGddQ The 18,000 strong crowd were treated to tracks selected from all three of their then released full length LP's. Their latest single, 'Hello, I Love You', was climbing the charts when this show was staged and is given a stupendous rendition here. Show opener, 'When The Music's Over' is also a high point. Perhaps rather predictably, it is traditional show closer, 'The End', that is the most memorable and the anticipation of the crowd before the climax in the Oedipal section of the song, has to be one of the most tense moments ever having taken place at a concert. To have been there would have been indescribable. Manzarek has also stated that every member of the Rolling Stones was in the audience that balmy July evening, which added to the band wanting to be even better than ever. It worked and this has become one the most fabled events in music history. There is a DVD of this show that is very well recorded with good audio. It is a must see, but I warn you, it really makes you wish even more, that you could have been there, as the magic happened.