Venue Address: 16200 E. Amber Valley Dr. - Whittier, CA 
Promotion: Student Council
Event: Teen Dance
Also Performing:
The Standells
The Coasters
The Glass Family
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Setlist: |
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1st Set Alabama Song (Incomplete) |
2nd Set Light My Fire (Incomplete) |
Recordings / Film:
Unavailable
Photographers:
Mike Bornia (Amateur)
Unidentified (Amateur)
Reviews / Info:
-This show takes place in the Lowell High School gym.
-7:00pm scheduled start time.
-The Doors play two separate sets at this show.
-The Glass Family and The Standells perform before the first set.
-The Coasters perform before the second set.
-A dance takes place following the show.
RALPH BURLESON AT LOWELL HIGH SCHOOL
"It was July 5th, 1967 when I entered the gym at Lowell High School in Whittier California to see the band that had captured my love and attention from the first time I heard Break On Through. I was alone since I had had no luck convincing any of my friends that this was a concert they needed to attend. They were either broke as were most of us back then and finding the $4.50 for the ticket was a challenge or they assumed the show was already sold out. I was not to be deterred. I would go see this group alone or with anyone else no matter what it took having listened to their first album at least a million times and loving every note. Many music critics to this day often refer to their first album as 'perfect' in that there is not one weak moment in the entire thing. I couldn't agree more.
As I entered the gym and onto the basketball court I thought it strange that any artist that got played on the radio with so much frequency and was now an obvious national, if not international hit would be playing in a high school gym the next town over from my home in La Habra. I made my way half way up the bleachers that were extended on both sides of the gym. I was pleased to be able to sit where I wanted. Unbelievably, the show ended up being maybe two thirds full. Where were all the people? Surely everyone was as enamored as I was with this band or at least with one of the other offerings the show presented.
It was the summer between my junior and senior year in high school and my love of music had been established from early childhood. I loved The Beatles and still do but this was different. These guys had produced an album unlike anything I'd heard before. The melodies and hooks were simply captivating but one thing stood out above all the rest. Yes, of course you know it was "that voice." Never had anyone been able to convey angst, anger or passion in one album the way Jim and the boys had.
Having sat through the opening act, The Standells and their hit song, Dirty Water, along with some other surprisingly entertaining songs, I sat with great anticipation awaiting the arrival of the band I was there to see. The double doors leading to the outside and back of the gym were open as I stared out wondering when they would arrive. I recall thinking that I was looking out the doors for The Doors. Then I saw it, an old, black, windowless and somewhat beat up Ford van pulled up and out jumped the four of them. They strolled into the gym and up the stairs to the stage as though they had done so a thousand times. I watched each step they took. I was hooked from the first moment I saw them, let alone heard them.
The lights turned off again with only the lights over the stage beaming down. The road crew had handled the sound check in advance after the Standells' crew had removed their equipment and the Doors' instruments and mikes were set in place. I can't imagine a show today being so simple to set up but everything sounded and looked flawless as far as I could tell.
There was no banter from the boys save for a few unintelligible words from Jim who I assumed was simply announcing the name of the upcoming song. Then those first notes after the snare drum beat that we all know and love so well blasted out the beginning of Light My Fire. I was stunned and frozen, unable to move. Were they really starting the show with this song that changed popular music and radio play like nothing had ever done before? Yes, they were actually playing and singing maybe fifty feet from where I sat transfixed.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing in this almost ridiculous setting. I sat mesmerized as my jaw rubbed against the wooden bleacher seat I was perched on. I'm not sure if it was the next song or the third but I remember them doing the Alabama Song much to my delight. I looked around and saw a number of people with perplexed looks as they tried to figure out what they were listening to. They may have come to see The Standells or the Coasters who closed out the show and this band was playing some weird shit. I loved it so. I was in on what it was all about since I knew all of their songs intimately.
They didn't play long, may a half dozen songs but I never forgot the show. In a way, I could say it changed my life. I saw The Doors two more times after that at large venues in the Los Angeles area but nothing compared to that first time. When their subsequent albums were released, I loved them all but nothing captured the magic that first album did except perhaps the second one, Strange Days. Or maybe it was the third one or... oh, never mind. Only Doors fans would understand."
Ralph Burleson
Canyonville, OR
Copyright © 2022 Ralph Burleson
A Special Thanks to Ralph Burleson for providing his memoir of the concert to MildEquator.com!
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Contributed by: BallroomDays67
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