Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jun 28, 2023 11:11:08 GMT
Forest Hills Music Festival, Queens NY 12th August 1967.
This was part of the 1967 Music Festival at the impressive Forest Hills Stadium.
It should have been a showcase for the band.
The band were a late addition to the bill so don't show up in the early publicity.
Simon & Garfunkel were 'local' heroes' having met and graduated here.
The Doors on the other hand were everything S & G were not so whoever thought that this would be a sensible match up was a lunatic.
Things did not start well as the bands equipment did not arrive in time for their set so they had to borrow instruments and were as such late taking the stage.
As the band take the stage to a rousing reception Jim stares at the crowd and growls 'this is the end'.
On The Road mentions that the crowd became hostile after the initial welcome.
Variety New York talked of a 'subtle animosity' from the crowd in response to Jim's 'paroxysms of caterwauling' questioning whether The Doors were real or just there for the money.
Paul Simon is upset with the audience reaction to The Doors he berates them on stage for their animosity to the opening act.
Cashbox on the other hand presents a more generous interpretation of the band set.
See review below.
Whatever the 'truth' The Doors play 4 songs finishing with 'The End'.
By the time Simon walks on stage the band has left the venue.
"I don't think I ever felt worse on a stage then I did at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, I didn't know whether I was playing Forest Hills or Forest Lawn Cemetery.
We were in hell. That was one of the all-time lows."
Ray Manzarek
4-8-1967
Times Herald-Record, Middletown, New York NY
Nobody is there to see The Doors and the show is an absolute bust. This isn't their kind of crowd. Nearly all the 13,000 in attendance are here to see the homegrown Simon and Garfunkel.
The Doors only play four songs in a short 30 minute set in which they had to borrow equipment just to play because theirs did not show up as scheduled.
Later Ray refers to this evening as their worst show of all-time!
Doors Interactive History
After an awkward delay, the Doors hit the stage to substantial applause, which rapidly declines into a pervasive silence. As the show begins, Morrison stands staring out at the crowd, then hoarsely growls
"This is the end!" and the band launches into their first number.
The band plays exceptionally well, especially considering the circumstances, but the audience response is nominal.
They perform an abbreviated set of four songs, concluding with a striking version of "The End," and abruptly leave the stage after about a half hour.
Paul Simon is so disturbed by the harsh reaction to The Doors that he takes the stage and reprimands the audience for their animosity, describing how difficult the
music business can be for new groups.
In the meantime, The Doors have already left the scene, deeply distressed by how callous the audience has been.
Later, they will refer to this show as one of the all-time lows in their career.
The Doors On The Road.
Greg Shaw
27-7-1967
12-8-1967
Though "Light My Fire" was number one, life was not a bed of roses for The Doors. One of the first thorns of big-time success came on August 12th at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York when the band opened for Simon and Garfunkel.
Jac Holzman had played a tape of the band for Paul Simon maintaining that The Doors were going to be the biggest group in America. Simon agreed and allowed them to open at Forest Hills, but when he stopped by their dressing room to wish them luck Morrison was cool and distant.
Onstage Jim had the same attitude and the thirteen thousand folk lovers in attendance were not the least impressed. "I don't think I ever felt worse on a stage then I did at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium," Ray Manzarek recalls. "I didn't know whether I was playing Forest Hills or Forest Lawn Cemetery. We were in hell. That was one of the all-time lows."
After the band's set, Morrison walked offstage in a slump. He had been rejected before, but that was in cheap bars that were mostly devoid of real music lovers.
This was thirteen thousand people in Forest Hills Stadium. Danny Fields, Elektra's Publicity Director, asked Morrison what was wrong and he said, "They hated it. They laughed at me."
Fields said later that Morrison was so angry he wanted to kill the entire crowd.
Break On Through, James Riordan & Jerry Prochnicky
### like much of The Doors how true Fields comments are we can't ever know.
26-8-1967
Cashbox
This was part of the 1967 Music Festival at the impressive Forest Hills Stadium.
It should have been a showcase for the band.
The band were a late addition to the bill so don't show up in the early publicity.
Simon & Garfunkel were 'local' heroes' having met and graduated here.
The Doors on the other hand were everything S & G were not so whoever thought that this would be a sensible match up was a lunatic.
Things did not start well as the bands equipment did not arrive in time for their set so they had to borrow instruments and were as such late taking the stage.
As the band take the stage to a rousing reception Jim stares at the crowd and growls 'this is the end'.
On The Road mentions that the crowd became hostile after the initial welcome.
Variety New York talked of a 'subtle animosity' from the crowd in response to Jim's 'paroxysms of caterwauling' questioning whether The Doors were real or just there for the money.
Paul Simon is upset with the audience reaction to The Doors he berates them on stage for their animosity to the opening act.
Cashbox on the other hand presents a more generous interpretation of the band set.
See review below.
Whatever the 'truth' The Doors play 4 songs finishing with 'The End'.
By the time Simon walks on stage the band has left the venue.
"I don't think I ever felt worse on a stage then I did at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, I didn't know whether I was playing Forest Hills or Forest Lawn Cemetery.
We were in hell. That was one of the all-time lows."
Ray Manzarek
4-8-1967
Times Herald-Record, Middletown, New York NY
Nobody is there to see The Doors and the show is an absolute bust. This isn't their kind of crowd. Nearly all the 13,000 in attendance are here to see the homegrown Simon and Garfunkel.
The Doors only play four songs in a short 30 minute set in which they had to borrow equipment just to play because theirs did not show up as scheduled.
Later Ray refers to this evening as their worst show of all-time!
Doors Interactive History
After an awkward delay, the Doors hit the stage to substantial applause, which rapidly declines into a pervasive silence. As the show begins, Morrison stands staring out at the crowd, then hoarsely growls
"This is the end!" and the band launches into their first number.
The band plays exceptionally well, especially considering the circumstances, but the audience response is nominal.
They perform an abbreviated set of four songs, concluding with a striking version of "The End," and abruptly leave the stage after about a half hour.
Paul Simon is so disturbed by the harsh reaction to The Doors that he takes the stage and reprimands the audience for their animosity, describing how difficult the
music business can be for new groups.
In the meantime, The Doors have already left the scene, deeply distressed by how callous the audience has been.
Later, they will refer to this show as one of the all-time lows in their career.
The Doors On The Road.
Greg Shaw
27-7-1967
12-8-1967
Though "Light My Fire" was number one, life was not a bed of roses for The Doors. One of the first thorns of big-time success came on August 12th at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York when the band opened for Simon and Garfunkel.
Jac Holzman had played a tape of the band for Paul Simon maintaining that The Doors were going to be the biggest group in America. Simon agreed and allowed them to open at Forest Hills, but when he stopped by their dressing room to wish them luck Morrison was cool and distant.
Onstage Jim had the same attitude and the thirteen thousand folk lovers in attendance were not the least impressed. "I don't think I ever felt worse on a stage then I did at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium," Ray Manzarek recalls. "I didn't know whether I was playing Forest Hills or Forest Lawn Cemetery. We were in hell. That was one of the all-time lows."
After the band's set, Morrison walked offstage in a slump. He had been rejected before, but that was in cheap bars that were mostly devoid of real music lovers.
This was thirteen thousand people in Forest Hills Stadium. Danny Fields, Elektra's Publicity Director, asked Morrison what was wrong and he said, "They hated it. They laughed at me."
Fields said later that Morrison was so angry he wanted to kill the entire crowd.
Break On Through, James Riordan & Jerry Prochnicky
### like much of The Doors how true Fields comments are we can't ever know.
26-8-1967
Cashbox