For the surviving members of The Doors, this was a tour 30 years in the making. In 1971, the band was eager to play in support of the recently released LA Woman album, however Jim Morrison was still in France. When he found out that LA Woman was both a critical and commercial success in the states, he wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. Sadly, he never made it. On July 3rd, 1971 Jim Morrison died from Heart Failure in his Paris apartment. As a result, The Doors never performed the songs from LA Woman live in concert, until now.

The possibility for a Doors reunion first materialized when surviving band members, Krieger, Manzarek and John Densmore, performed on VH-1: Storytellers. They performed their classic songs with a variety of up-to-date vocalists, including Scott Stapp (Creed) , Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilot), and Ian Astbury (The Cult). The project gave the band a chance to perform again and a year later, they decided to go out on an actual tour. This concert, recorded in Houston, Texas, during their 2003 world tour, succeeds as both a reunion and re-imagination of one of rock's greatest bands. Ian Astbury's Herculean task of replacing the Lizard King himself, is a risk that pays off, with Ian's look and sound similar to Jim's, but also uniquely his own.

As evidenced by The Doors of the 21st Century: L.A. Woman Live, the band retains the same chemistry and power that the original line-up possessed in their day. From the unforgettable opening of Roadhouse Blues to jamming solos during Riders on the Storm, the band makes a conscious effort, not just to gain closure for themselves, but also to prove their legacy is timeless. Playing for nearly two hours at every tour stop, giving back to their own generation, as well as reaching new generations of fans that had only ever seen Oliver Stone's The Doors.

The focus of The Doors of the 21st Century: L.A. Woman Live is the performance of LA Woman in it's entirety, along with other a few other hits. For their finale, rather than play the obvious choice, The End, they opt for Soul Kitchen from their very first album. By ending things on such an upbeat note, it seems to have really affected the crowd who, even in the smaller venue, still manage to cause a commotion by joining the band up on stage for their final moments. For those in attendance, this was probably a true highlight (I remember doing something similar at a Faith No More concert circa 1992) and ended things the way they might have had The Doors been able to tour in 1971.

The songs included on this disc are:

Roadhouse Blues
Break On Through (To The Other Side)
When The Music's Over
Love Me Two Times
The Changeling
L'America
Love Her Madly
Down So Long
Hyacinth House
Cars Hiss By My Window
The WASP (Texas Radio and The Big Beat)
Riders On The Storm
LA Woman
Light My Fire
Soul Kitchen

The band is in excellent form, Manzarek and Krieger are playing very well and seem like they're truly enjoying themselves. Astbury was very focused throughout the night and took Jim's words, projecting them through his own voice and mannerisms. Although Astbury never truly cuts loose the way Jim was known to, he still manages an amazing performance. If anything, it's this lack of spontaneity that is the Disc's biggest flaw, that's not to say that the musicians don't have some improvisational fun, because they do, sometimes with mixed results. With that said, this is a thoroughly enjoyable DVD for fans of The Doors, and if you were at any of the dates on this tour, I hope that it is already in your collection.

The DVD:

Picture: The concert is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. The picture quality is above average for smaller budget that they were working with.

Audio: This DVD features three different audio choices: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. I don't have a DTS decoder, so I can only say that the Dolby Digital tracks sound great.

Conclusion: Most bands reunite for the nostalgia, or the money, but The Doors of the 21st Century seem to be doing it for another reason… the ceremony? There's no argument that The Doors were one of the more innovative rock bands when it came to their melding of words and music, and their live performance was unmatched. So it's a real shame that a larger budget wasn't available to capture this performance the way it should have been. Still, seeing the songs performed live in a new way is enough to recommend The Doors of the 21st Century: L.A. Woman Live to fans of the band. For everyone else it's at least worth a rental.