The Doors Alive lighting the fire in Brighton

THE DOORS ALIVE: Brighton – Concorde 2

The Doors Alive are described as the #1 tribute band to legendary, sixties, Californian rock gurus, The Doors. There is something about the Doors that seems to make people want to travel back in time and experience of one of the legendary live shows. A packed out Concorde 2 was delightfully full of mixed ages who gave these four musicians thanks that they we here, in Brighton, and were able to bring the Doors “back to life” for nearly a full two hour set.

For the purists – there was not a plectrum in sight or bass guitar.

The Band:

Mike Griffioen – Vocals
Norbert Varga – Keyboards
Buzz Allan – Drums
Baz Meyer – Guitar

The Doors Alive started out in 2004, but went through a few members before settling on their current line-up. With a front-man, Mike, whose voice indeed reminds us of the late Jim Morrison, The Doors Alive fully recreate the music of the iconic group, also using genuine sounding equipment. The London-based tribute band are always touring. If they play near you I can thoroughly recommend this experience.

The Set

What we got was nearly two hours performance time. It flew by! Early in the set we got “Break on Through” – this really was a stunning rendition, and the doubters were soon convinced that we were in for a “Doors experience”. Talking to folk in the crowd, some had seen these guys two or three times before in various venues – so they have an established fan base. A poignant rendition of “The Unknown Soldier”. “Spanish Caravan”, “Waiting For The Sun”. “Relight My Fire” pulled in the crowd as the band joined together to deliver an outstanding rendition. Mike “Jim” left the stage – I told you it was authentic – as Norbert and Baz set up a terrific “battle” as keyboards took on the guitar. The two musicians put on a jaw dropping display as the man at the back Buzz – at times sat back and watched and other times providing a powerful backdrop on percussion. Mike, sauntered back on stage, in true Morrison style, clutching a bottle of beer and resumed vocal duties to finish up the song. Brilliant.

Now, whether you love the Doors inside out, or even if you know just one or two of their tunes, I said to Norbert that it was emotional, educational and absorbing, and there is nothing quite like being in the crowd experiencing the same thing and swaying from side to side to the rhythmic Norbert/Manzarek dual keyboards playing and the hypnotic tones from Mike, Buzz and the wonderful guitar playing from Baz – these items all coming together providing a solid core to the original band legend.

Other songs were “Peace Frog”, “Queen of The Highway”, “Roadhouse Blues” and the set ended with “The End”. The crowd were shouting for more “LA Woman” and “Riders of the Storm”, but these two songs were missing – next time guys!

Before the death of singer Morrison the I read somewhere that Doors were not allowed to play in lots of halls and venues and so maybe that some of the catalogue of songs may never have been seen live by the public. This “tribute” band The Doors Alive gave the appreciative audience a window through time to hear and watch something that might just have been.

A Video

Sit back and watch and soak up the atmosphere.

The DOORS ALIVE gave us a great night – a mixer of songs in a clip.

You can tell that a huge amount of love and care  is put into place to make sure everything looks and sounds right. They did a great job on that and even members of the group using instruments from the period rather than any of todays equivalents. Even the lighting was set, no lasers, no high tech stuff tonight, just an authentic look. Perfect.

The Doors Alive are on Facebook

The Doors Alive are on the web

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