Customer Reviews

Live in Pittsburgh 1970

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another Doors show recorded for the Absolutely Live album makes its appearance from Bright Midnight Records, once again uncut and complete. (Actually, Doors engineer Bruce Botnick notes in the liner notes that a couple of snippets are forever gone, so a portion of Light My Fire has been inserted from the Philadelphia '70 show, as well as another short piece).

Shorter than the previously released shows, this is nonetheless excellent. Unlike the recently released Boston 1970 3-CD set, Morrison is completely with it here, and the band is spot on. The singer becomes more talkative as the show goes on, and the set list is fantastic, a true gem for any Doors fan. This is the first and by far the best recording of the ultra-rare Someday Soon. (The other version, recorded in Seattle weeks later, pales in comparison with a drunk and distant Morrison). This version has appeared before on the bootleg boxset Stages, though it was incorrectly labeled Baltimore, 1970.

Highly recommended for fans new and old. The liner notes and packaging are very nice, in keeping with the fresh job done for the Boston shows. Looks like the bulk of the material recorded for Absolutely Live has been released, with Detroit, Philly, Boston, two Aquarius double-disc sets, and some (but not all) of the Felt Forum material having already appeared over the last decade. A complete set of those four Felt Forum shows are ripe for proper release.

Apparently, no overdubs on this one, either. Just the original tapes, remastered by Botnick, who continues to be involved with every Doors release. Skip the 50th greatest hits package they've put out, and get this instead. Much credit to the band for releasing these shows. Though they still release far too many redundant packages of the studio albums, they finally got to the vaults for the material fans have been asking about for decades. Easily one of their best live albums.

Live In Pittsburgh 1970, the newest release from Bright Midnight Archives is yet another masterful recording. Although somewhat shorter than the Doors' other 1970 concert releases, this show does not cease to entertain. With a 22+ minute version of "When the Music's Over", including snippets from "The Soft Parade" and a completely unreleased track "Push Push" that was ONLY ever recorded live here and never made it onto that album. This release is well worth the money. If you are even a casual Doors fan, for the price you definatly need to check this out.

I've heard a couple of officially-released live Doors performances that are pretty good: the two unedited performances The Doors live in Detroit and The Doors live in Philadelphia. The new set recorded in Pittsburgh is not on par with the others. The sound quality is fine but (and I think you'll notice this in even the first song), Jim seems to be on autopilot. He is doing everything right, but just not expending any more energy than he has to. The band seems to mirror his lack of energy. I'll be honest and say I didn't finish listening to the show. After the first few numbers I was worn out.

For those of you looking for better live Doors shows:

1. The Detroit show was, I believe, the longest show they ever played. They seem to be enjoying themselves and the energy is good throughout.

2. The show in Philadelphia has a couple of unusual selections, pretty good energy, and the way "Wake Up" leads into "Light My Fire" makes it one of my favorite Doors moments ever.

When Bright Midnite announced they were releasing concerts of the last major Doors tour I was intrested because I went to this show. Looking back what struck me as intresting is back then the Doors were on tour but they were not supporting their latest album (Morrison Hotel); they played 1 song from it: Roadhouse Blues. Looking at bands today and over the past 30 years that really has never been the case they because they feature songs from the newest album when on tour. The Doors were always about perfomance art and this is a good example of it with the ad libbed jams on songs like When the Musics Over and the opening Backdoor Man. This is what also makes the Doors and the time when this album was recorded special. Jim Morrison is a legend and his talent and poetic spirit shines on this CD. I love it because I was there and it is a part of what defines my musical tastes in music today.

Like some of the released live works of the Doors in the past decade, this show more than others pushes the argument again for the survival of Jim Morrison. When the studio releases in 1971,or so, "Absolutely Live" and claims Jim was drunk most the time etc., they had to splice shows...etc as the official story and 30 years later there are a dozen shows to come that are not incoherent or uneven, one wonders. This was a hot show, my beautiful friend, with 3 unreleased songs and the fullest display of Morrison's range from blues, rock to Sinatra vocal touches. Manzarek's and Krieger's support throughout was inventive, jazzy and extraordinary. What made this special is the surprising counter taunts by Morrison when the audience tires of the artsy "When the music's over" interlude and Jim breaks the trance with two or three bird calls straight out of Martin Denny's "Quiet Village," that no reviewer had yet identified. The seamless segueing into and out of formal song structure was amazing. New levels of improvisation, here. No 4 chord wonders, absolutely surprising 40 years on.

After slurring the blues on the three-disc "Live in Boston," Jim Morrison comes alive for this remarkable Doors concert. Recorded on May 2, 1970, "Live in Pittsburgh" may be the group's finest live album to date - even better than the Detroit and Philadelphia releases. For 79 minutes, the Doors deliver the goods with excellent versions of "Back Door Man," "Roadhouse Blues," "Mystery Train" and "Light My Fire." The 22-minute "When the Music's Over" is simply astonishing. Throw in a rare performance of "Someday Soon" and you have a definite keeper.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first got this cd. But I certainly wasn't dissappointed. The sound quality is very good. The concert was very good, and the overall feel is excellent. If your a Doors fan I highly recommend it. If your a casual fan, I still recommend it, if you want to hear something different from a legendary band.

Does anyone have any photos from this concert in Pittsburgh? I was there as a youngster and everyone rushed the stage as they broke into Light my Fire. I ended up on the edge of the stage and Morrison danced over and shook my hand. I was wondering if that was captured on film.
Thanks,
Pete

The sound quality is top notch - if you turn it up loud and close your eyes, you'd think you were front row listening to the Doors. The only thing is that Jim's not too into this one - which loses a star for me. He finally says something to the crowd right before the end of the show (except for his "bird calls" earlier in the set - which tends to drag out)

I'm not saying it isn't good - it is! And I'm glad that the surviving Doors have brought these un-cut performances to life. It's just I have a little issue with the track listings on the back of the CD. "Break On Through" clocks in at 54 seconds and "Push Push" clocks in at 24 seconds - both of these are basically Jim singing a few verses of each near the end of "When The Music's Over". It's typical that the Doors label these tracks and do not state the time. A must for die-hards though... the casual fan may want to check out the edited "In Concert" or "Absolutely Live".

I went to this show and remember it as boring and was surprised to see it was released on cd. As I recall Morrison stood at the microphone with little interest in performing. I think he was performing his version of drunken jazz. The ambience of the venue was strickly big box. We went home disappointed. Morrison seemed out of it.

So i bought this cd only because i was there.

It's excellent - but not your normal Doors show. I noticed there is some editing from another show, but overall, if someone wants to listen to a doors record i put this one on.

very highly recommended.

bd