ASBURY PARK CONVENTION HALL - 08/31/1968

ASBURY PARK, NJ - U.S.A.



Venue Address: 1300 Ocean Ave. - Asbury Park, NJ 
Promotion: Moe Septee Presents
Event: Summer Of Stars

Also Performing:
Earth Opera

Setlist:
 
Early Show
Back Door Man >
Five To One
Break On Through
Love Me Two Times
When The Music's Over
Spanish Caravan
Soul Kitchen
      -Pray The Lord
      -Louie Louie (Instrumental)
      -Summer's Almost Gone
Wake Up!
Light My Fire
(Incomplete)

Late Show
Break On Through
Love Me Two Times
When the Music's Over
Spanish Caravan
Soul Kitchen
Light My Fire
The End
(Incomplete)

Recordings / Film:
16mm Professional Film - 'Feast of Friends'
Amateur/Audience Recording (Early Show)
Lost 8mm Amateur/Audience Film (See Below)

Photographers:
Eric Rudolph
Unidentified (Marquee)

Reviews / Info:
-The Doors give a performance at this venue in 1967.
-A chance photograph of the Asbury Park Convention Hall is taken with The Doors on the marquee and later used on a local area postcard (See Below).
-These performances are sold out.
-7:30pm & 9:45pm scheduled start times.
-Backstage and performance footage is shot for Feast Of Friends (See Below).
-Bruce Springsteen may have been in attendance during one of these shows.
-An audience member captures one of these performances on tape.
-An audience member is filmed using an 8mm camera during a performance (See Below).
-Early show setlist may actually represent the late show.
-Two groupies in attendance known as Arian and Buffy predict Jim Morrison's death in 4 years.
-The Doors stay at an unknown hotel in New York following this show.


"This is a rare and highly collectable Jim Morrison & The Doors 1968 World Tour concert program book. I kept it secure and in mint condition in a chest drawer in my childhood home since 1968.

I bought this program book at their concert at the Asbury Park Convention Hall on August 31st, 1968. I got Jim Morrison to sign his picture in the program book as he exited the venue through the empty lobby about 45 minutes after the crowd had left. My father was in charge of the box office and I was waiting in the lobby for him to cash out. Jim Morrison was very, very stoned and signed "Jim", and not his full signature 'jmorrison'.

After Jim Morrison signed my program book, my father came charging out of the box office and grabbed me by the arm very strongly. He yanked me into the box office yelling "Stay away from him! Stay away from him! He is a druggie! He is a kook!". Mind you, I was 15 years old and this was the contentious hippie summer of 1968!
While cleaning out my parents' home after their recent passing, I found this Jim Morrison & The Doors concert program along with an amazing stash of many other concert program books from the Asbury Park Convention Hall summer concert series of 1966, 1967, and 1968 including - The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Herman's Hermits, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Four Tops, Ray Charles, Trini Lopez, and Eddie Arnold."

Larry Abramsky
New York, NY
Copyright © 2021 Larry Abramsky

A Special Thanks to Larry Abramsky & Ballroomdays67 for providing this signed tourbook & review of the concert to MildEquator.com!






"The circumstance of my first Doors concert was truly a fluke. On a Saturday morning, a friend called and offered a pair of tickets to my roommate and I for the concert that night. My friend Bonnie and her boyfriend had argued and broken up the night before and would NOT be using the tickets, and didn't want them to go to waste!

I took my 2-year old son to my Mom's for the night, and Pat and I set off for Asbury Park. It was probably a 90-minute drive from Flemington on those New Jersey roads that led down the shore, heading to my very first rock concert, ever.

Our goldenrod colored tickets showed a price of $5.50 and were for the late show at 9:45 P.M. The opener was a real trippy band called Earth Opera. I had never heard of them before that night, but they had a psychedelic album and lengthy title song called 'Great American Eagle Tragedy'. I still have that vinyl album which I bought after seeing their performance.

Our seats were not real close, but this was not a large venue. I do know that we had NEVER seen anything like that slinky, sexy vision in black leather onstage. And, I remember the music being made by the musicians onstage was absolutely mesmerizing and hypnotic.

During Bruce Springsteen's recent 2002 tour rehearsals and Today Show appearance from Asbury Park Convention Hall, I really studied the interior shots trying to refresh my memories. The exterior of the building looks just the same now as it did back then. I've been back to Asbury Park several times in recent years to see Robby perform at the Stone Pony, and went down the boardwalk to the Convention Hall to take pictures and reminisce. The building was vacant & idle for many years, so I'm happy that it has been revived and there were some concerts there in summer of 2002."

Ida Miller
Los Angeles, CA
Copyright © 2011 Ida Miller

A Special Thanks to Ida Miller for providing her ticket stub & memories of the concert to MildEquator.com!

TICKET:

Asbury Park Convention Hall - Ticket

FEAST OF FRIENDS:



Asbury Park Convention Hall

Info:

Color footage shot prior to The Doors performance at the Asbury Park Convention Hall on August 31st, 1968. Jim Morrison can be seen wandering through various parts of the venue as Paul Ferrara follows with the camera. Various scenes from this venue appear to have been shot intentionally. Paul Ferrara's video 'Those Were The Days' features alternate footage of Jim Morrison and John Densmore on the boardwalk.


Color performance footage shot at the Asbury Park Convention Hall during at least one of two shows. Features a scene in which a necklace thrown on-stage by an audience member lands around Jim Morrison's neck. Offically released performance clips from this venue are brief.


LOST FILM



Unknown Location

Info:

During footage shot by Paul Ferrara at the Asbury Park Convention Hall on August 31st, 1968 for Feast Of Friends, a young woman can be seen in the audience with an unidentified 8mm camera. The clarity of Paul's footage shows that this woman was operating the camera at the exact moment she was captured on film.




ARCHIVE/MEMORABILIA:



POSTCARD:

Asbury Park Convention Hall - Postcard
Contributed By: MildEquator.com

REVIEW #1:

Newspaper: Asbury Park Press
Author: Joan Pikula
Publish Date: September 3rd - 1968
Copyright © Asbury Park Press
Asbury Park 1968 - Review
Contributed By: MildEquator.com


REVIEW #2:

Newspaper: Asbury Park Press
Author: Mary McCloskey
Publish Date: October 22nd - 1968
Copyright © Asbury Park Press
Asbury Park 1968 - Review
Contributed By: MildEquator.com


ARTICLE #1:

Newspaper: The Herald News
Author: Unknown
Publish Date: June 29th - 1968
Copyright © The Herald News
Asbury Park 1968 - Article
Contributed By: jim4371


ARTICLE #2:

Newspaper: The Daily Register
Author: Unknown
Publish Date: August 26th - 1968
Copyright © The Daily Register
Asbury Park 1968 - Article
Contributed By: MildEquator.com


PICTURE AD #1:

Asbury Park 1968 - Picture Ad
Contributed By: RFritts


PICTURE AD #2:

Asbury Park 1968 - Picture Ad
Contributed By: jim4371


TICKET #1:

The Doors - Houston 1968 - Ticket
Contributed By: Rockaway Records - http://www.rockawayrecords.com

TICKET #2:

Asbury Park Convention Hall - Ticket
Contributed By: Rick Darke

PRINT AD #1:

Asbury Park 1968 - Print Ad
Contributed By: jim4371


PRINT AD #2:

Asbury Park 1968 - Print Ad
Contributed By: jim4371


PRINT AD #3:

Asbury Park 1968 - Print Ad
Contributed By: jim4371


PRINT AD #4:

Asbury Park 1968 - Print Ad
Contributed By: jim4371


POSTER AD:

Asbury Park 1968 - Print Ad
Contributed By: jim4371




Back