Ian Ashbury fronts the DOORS

[Stapes]

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Performing the music of Jim Morrison (news) with two-thirds of the surviving members of the Doors is a daunting proposition, and it's not one that singer Ian Astbury takes lightly

"I'm not naive," Astbury told Billboard.com. "I knew it was going to be difficult because Morrison is such a sacred icon. My take on it is more we're performing a classic body of work in the same way that a classical body of dead composer would be performed by musicians of the day."

The former frontman of the Cult will soon be performing those works again as frontman of the Doors Of The 21st Century. The group features original keyboardist Ray Manzarek (news) and guitarist Robbie Krieger and is completed by drummer Ty Dennis. A brief slate of U.S. dates gets underway April 23 in Minneapolis, with a July trip to Europe to follow. Dates in June and August are still coming together

Full Story

[Irie Guy]

They played Molson Park last year with this lineup. The Cult was a great band in their day and hey Ian had a brief stint in Highschool in Hamilton.

[TimmyB]

I attended the gig at Molson Park when they were stilled called the Doors, not the Doors of the 21st Century. This was because John Densmore the original drummer for the Doors had yet to file a lawsuit against the band for using the name The Doors without Densmore in the line up. Densmore was not touring because of severe hearing lose.

The drummer that replaced Densmore for the Molson Park show and other dates at that time was Stewart Copeland of the Police and more recently Oysterhead.

Speaking of lawsuits Copeland was injured soon after the Molson Park show and had to take a break from touring to recover. Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger with Ian Ashbury tried to continue to tour with out Copeland, who in turn filed a another lawsuit against the Doors of the 21st Century for continuing with out him. The Doors of the 21st Century I believe settled out of court with Copeland.

About the gig at Molson Park it was very good. For a minute or two a few times during the gig I closed my eyes and it sounded to me like it was 1969 and I was seeing the Doors. It was very surreal. Even with Ian singing he recreated the vocals in a way that it sounded a lot like Jim Morrison. It was a lot of fun and if you have ever loved the Doors (I'm talking to you Cyberhippie) and the Doors of the 21st Century come back around this way I have one thing to say, GO!