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SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER - 09/01/1968

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - U.S.A.

Venue Address: 108 Avenue of the Pines - Saratoga Springs, NY
Promotion: Saratoga Performings Arts Center Inc.
Event: In Concert

Also Performing:
Earth Opera

Backstage:
Arthritis Blues (Robby Krieger)
Dahomey Dance (Ray Manzarek)
Jim Morrison's Grin (Jim Morrison)
Love Street (Ray Manzarek)
Ode To Friedrich Nietzsche (Jim Morrison)
Poetry Reading (Jim Morrison)
Sweet Substitute (Robby Krieger)

Setlist:
Back Door Man
Alabama Song >
Five To One
When The Music's Over
Love Me Two Times
Texas Radio & The Big Beat
Hello, I Love You
Light My Fire
The Unknown Soldier
The End
House Announcer (Unknown)
"Peace, Friends, Peace"
(Incomplete)

Recordings / Film:
16mm Professional Film - 'Feast of Friends'

Photographers:
Frank Lisciandro
Klaus A. Schnitzer

Reviews / Info:
-Rowan & Martin perform their 'Laugh-In' comedy at this venue at 3:30pm.
-Jim Morrison improvises on a piano backstage with a skit known as 'Ode To Friedrich Nietzsche'.
-8:30pm scheduled start time.
-Approx. 12,500 in attendance.
-The final backstage and performance footage is shot for Feast Of Friends (See Below).
-Audience members stand on their seats and beg for another encore following the show.
-A house announcer pleas with the audience to leave the venue.
-The Doors board a plane in New York and leave for London on September 2nd.
-Jim Morrison performs on-stage with an unknown band at the Aerodrome in Schenectady following this show.

"Talk about turning points in one's life. At age 13 in the Summer of 1968 I got to see The Doors in concert. Not an easy task to pull off with my fairly strict parents, but my older sister & I did just that. A five hour family picnic to work on our father's emotions after a Summer where our behavior was almost flawless & we were in. We brought a family friend who knew the concert facility Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) and the ins & outs of a rock concert there. September 1, 1968 is a date that will stick in my brain till the fay I die. The excitement of my very first "real" rock concert is beyond words. No local cover bands that played at our Junior High School dances. This was going to be The Doors! Knowing I was going to see Jim Morrison live on stage excited me enough to cause butterflies in my stomach on our 20 minute car ride.

So here we are at SPAC in a sea of "hippies". That's what my father kept calling them. Soon after we arrived the house lights went down and the warmup act "Earth Opera", another Elektra Records band hit the stage with 40 minutes of psychedelic noises and screaming. I was as unimpressed as was the rest of the crowd, but with Jim in the house how do you not get impatient?

A few boos occasionally for Earth Opera, Doors chant and a sarcastic applause when they left the stage. Then all of a sudden the smell of a weird smoke started filling the air. Strange looking pipes & cigarettes were everywhere. I wasn't naive enough not to know what it was but it was also another first. Seeing marijuana & hash live in person. My father looked interestingly at the pipes in particular. The group sitting next to us noticed this and passed their pot pipe for him to inspect! I was waiting to see if he was going to take a puff off it. He nonchalantly looked and held it and told them "nice pipe". I don't think he knew what he was holding until the next day.

Finally what we came to see, The Doors. The band took the stage after one of our local DJ's announced them. They tuned up for a couple minutes with just 3 of them on stage. At the time of the show I didn't own any Doors albums but had every 45 single up to date. I was familiar with some of the album cuts that I had heard on WRPI a college radio station for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. They were "THE" radio station to hear the hippest coolest music around in the UpState NY area. So I did recognize some of the non 45 single songs. Especially the opener. Jim walked out slowly onto the stage from behind the giant curtain like he was lost and confused. The band started playing "Back Door Man" and Jim suddenly jumps in the air, grabs the microphone and gives out the loudest screaming howl that echoed the canyons of Saratoga State Park. Wow! "I'm Your backdoor man". Great sound and acoustics. Things I wasn't really familiar with at the time but the sound was crystal clear. The crowd was going nuts. I savored the moment getting ready for more. Like I mentioned I wasn't familiar with many album tracks. Writing down what I was hearing or even saving my ticket stub never entered my mind. Like so many online setlists that are incomplete the one in my mind is also somewhat short. I do remember other songs & events at the show that other concert goers don't including the local newspaper.

Lucky for us Jim was quite sober that evening . We could see him take a drink of beer on the side of the stage during the instrumentals but not over indulge. No slurring of words, no crazy antics, just Jim being at his best. As time went on in life I started to realize how lucky we were not to just see Jim Morrison but a fairly sober one at that.

Jim did do some poetry type readings that night that I assume were excerpts from "Celebration Of The Lizard". Especially the one he did right before "Not To Touch The Earth." "Back Door Man" segued into a mini medley like other Doors setlists. I'm about 100% sure they did "Five To One". I know "When The Music's Over" ( a WRPI staple) was next. "Love Me Two Times" followed after a lengthy tune up and the crowd was on their feet. The Doors nailed it perfectly and Jim's screaming voice at the end was a thing if beauty. I believe most online setlists are missing "Love Me Two Times". "Moonlight Drive" may have been the next song. It was a song with that Robby Krieger slide guitar. I had the "Love Me Two Times" single so I was very familiar with it. Next up a reading of W.A.S.P. spoken word style. I remember this because of hearing the words "Texas radio and the big beat". Like the Hollywood Bowl show they went right into "Hello I Love You". "Texas Radio" also missing from online setlists. Next "Light My Fire." As expected the crowd was on their feet going crazy again. This was The Doors song my father knew the best and he was excited. After "When The Music's Over" he mentioned to me he thought the organ player was very good. After 12 minutes of LMF he said the same exact words. It was amazing. I was familiar with the extended version from FM radio but this was live and wicked intense! The initial set didn't end there like some online sites mention. "Unknown Soldier" (also missing from setlists) ended the original set. Very dramatic and well done. The Doors got the standing standing ovation they deserved. They came out for one more song, "The End" to end the night. This meant more than 12-15 minutes of Doors music left.

After The Doors left the stage Jim didn't. We watched him hanging with the crowd at the stage's edge for 20-30 minutes. Shaking hands, signing autographs for those smart enough to bring a pen and purchase the tour program. As soon as we arrived I begged my father to buy me a program but the $1 price was almost half of our ticket price. The most begging I did that night was ask my father if I could go up front with the sea of fans hanging with Jim. That was a definite no! We could watch from our seats and that was it. Most of the crowd was still there chanting for another song. Especially since Jim was still on the stage. You could almost sense the fans were going to riot but they did not. Suddenly Jim jumps off the stage into the sea of people. Some articles I've read said he fell off stage. He did not. He intentionally jumped. Up until then the only insane thing he did. Security was quick to get him from the fans. Jim wasn't real happy about that but was laughing anyway. The local DJ got on the house P.A. and told everyone to leave. It was officially over. Still the greatest concert of my life and I've seen hundreds if not over a thousand since then. I really have my father to thank for taking us there and to this day I still do. My only regret, not being able to rush the stage. My father was just being a good father. I was 13 and 5'4". The fans at the stage were older teens and young adults that towered over me. I always think, what if I did rush the stage? It didn't matter, I had enough stories of the concert to share the next week in Junior High School when Summer vacation ended."

Duane Van Patten
Scotia, NY
Copyright © 2017 Duane Van Patten

A Special Thanks to Duane Van Patten for providing his review of the concert to MildEquator.com!

FEAST OF FRIENDS:

Info:

Color footage with original audio shot backstage at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on September 1st, 1968 features Jim Morrison on a piano reciting poetry later known as 'Ode To Friedrich Nietzsche'. Robby Krieger performs 'Arthritis Blues' and Ray Manzarek performs 'Dahomey Dance'. John Densmore, Dorothy Fujikawa, and Lynn Krieger are present. Unreleased portions of this backstage filmwork can be seen in 'When You're Strange', and Paul Ferrara's video 'Those Were The Days' that includes a previously unknown backstage poetry reading by Jim Morrison with original audio. This is the final date of filming for what would become 'Feast Of Friends'.

POETRY READING:

A burnt tree
Like a giant primeval bird
In an empty lot in Fresno

A naked girl seen from behind
On a natural road

ODE TO FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE:

He put his arms around the horse's neck
And
Kissed him everywhere
"I love my horse"

A crowd gathered
His landlord appeared
And took Friedrich back up to his room
On the second floor
Where he began to play piano madly
And sing madly
Like (screams)

I am crucified
And inspected
And resurrected
And (screams)

And if you don't believe that
I'll give you my latest philanthropic sonata

And the landlords family was amazed
So they sent for his friend Overbeck
And he got there in three days by coach
And they took Friedrich to the asylum
And his mother joined him

And for the next fifteen years
They cried and cried
And laughed and looked at the sun
And everyone

(All Poetry © James Douglas Morrison)

The final performance footage for 'Feast Of Friends' was shot at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on September 1st, 1968. In the days following this performance, Paul Ferrara returns to California and The Doors move on to London for their first European tour. Live filming of the band continues with Granada Television at the London Roundhouse for their broadcast special 'The Doors Are Open'.

ARCHIVE/MEMORABILIA:

REVIEW #1:

Newspaper: The Post Star
Author: Marilyn Nason
Publish Date: September 3rd - 1968
Copyright © The Post Star
The Doors - Saratoga 1968 - Review

Contributed By: jim4371

REVIEW #2:

Newspaper: Knickerbocker News
Author: Fred LeBrun
Publish Date: September 3rd - 1968
Copyright © Knickerbocker News
The Doors - Saratoga 1968 - Review

Contributed By: jim4371

ARTICLE:

Newspaper: Knickerbocker News
Author: Unknown
Publish Date: August 30th - 1968
Copyright © Knickerbocker News
The Doors - Saratoga 1968 - Article