Doors of the 21st Century-L.A. Woman Live (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	102:18
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (64:36)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Kevin Layne Brian Forti
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Robby Krieger Ray Manzarek Ian Astbury Ty Dennis Angelo Barbera
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.95	Music	The Doors

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Years have passed and Morrison is nowadays elevated to a very revered status alongside many other mediocre talents. Wishing to correct the oversight of never having completed a tour for the album, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger assembled a band late in 2001 that initially featured former Police drummer Stuart Copeland. Before they could get a show under their collective belts, the Jim Morrison estate and original drummer John Densmore voiced their objection to the band touring under the moniker "The Doors", which led to the name change that we see here, The Doors of the 21st Century. Later, another blow was struck when Copeland was forced to abstain from touring due to a broken arm.

    One thing they did have on their side was the inclusion of Ian Astbury on vocals. Ian is better known as the singer for British hard rockers The Cult and is an outstanding replica of Morrison in most respects. While watching his performance I couldn't help thinking of other singers who may fit the role, such as Jeff Martin of The Tea Party, or Glenn Danzig. Speculation aside, Astbury does contribute an admirable, even faithful performance under what must be rather stressful conditions.

    As far as this DVD is concerned, the concert performance was filmed in 2003 and is interrupted six times by mundane interview segments that should have been relegated to the disc's extras. The quality of the musicianship is great, particularly from bassist Angelo Barbera and replacement drummer Ty Dennis, however backing vocals from Krieger and Manzarek are often shaky.

    For me personally, the dominant negative of this concert is the music itself. I freely admit that I've never been a particularly huge Doors fan, and don't even own any of their albums. After half an hour of this kind of bluesy rock my brain goes into neutral, sadly because each song sounds virtually identical to the next. Even though I found the style repetitive, there were a great number of tunes that I recognised, so everyone from casual listeners to die-hard fans should appreciate this live show.

Video

    This transfer is presented in a ratio of 1.75:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The concert appears to have been captured digitally, so film artefacts are nowhere to be found. The image is relatively sharp and displays an acceptable degree of clarity. Blacks are visibly deep throughout.

    The psychedelic stage colouring and bright lighting effects appear vivid and realistic, with no bleeding to be seen.

    Some slight MPEG grain is evident on occasion, but never becomes annoying. Aliasing is also present to a small degree on the stringed instruments, but is not at all obtrusive.

    There are no subtitles on this disc.

    The disc is DVD9 formatted, with the layer transition placed during the feature at 64:36. The pause only briefly interrupts some audience applause.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are three audio options on this DVD; Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 and dts.

    Ian Astbury's vocal performance is prominent in the mix and aside from the rare enunciation issue is problem free. Audio sync is spot on.

    The Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts soundtracks are very similar in most respects, aside from a lower overall level in the dts mix. Rear channels are utilised mainly for audience applause and crowd noise, while the slight echo effect of a concert venue can also be heard. The band itself is spread evenly across the front left and right channels, while the centre channel emits only a whisper of echo effects, similar to the rear channels. I did note some slightly deeper, more resonant bass tones within the dts soundtrack, however this was only marginal.

    The stereo mix is good and bright, with a great body to it and plenty of volume as well. Guitars seem more prominent and keyboards sound less bright, however it is a great alternative to the surround mixes.

    Subwoofer activity is felt when bass guitar and kick drum tones are reproduced, and these have great depth.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Gallery (1:39)

    A short scrolling montage of stills taken while on tour. There is no accompanying audio, which is strange considering the band had so much to say during the feature.

    Aside from NTSC-PAL differences, this disc appears to be identical across all regions.

    The video transfer is good.

    The audio transfer is also good.

    There are very few extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall