Igniting a year-long 60th-anniversary celebration, THE DOORS will unveil their iconic Bright Midnight Archives live recordings on DSPs for the very first time throughout 2025. These coveted concerts previously only existed physically on limited-edition LPs and CDs. Today marks a momentous occasion with the first live release in the series, “Live At The Matrix 1967: The Original Masters”, available now for streaming and download.
This series illustrates THE DOORS‘ evolution and transformative impact on both music and culture. Tracing their global journey from tiny clubs to arenas, it scrapbooks the band’s storied three-year run on the road as they closed out the sixties. Upcoming releases in this series include “Live In Boston, 1970”, on April 4, recorded at the Boston Arena on April 10, 1970, and includes both performances. “Live In Philadelphia ’70”, recorded at The Spectrum on May 1, 1970, and “Live In Pittsburgh, 1970”, recorded at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena on May 2, 1970, on May 2; “Live In Detroit, 1970”, recorded May 8, 1970, at the Cobo Arena, one of the longest DOORS shows ever caught on tape on May 8; “Live In Vancouver, 1970”, recorded at the Pacific Coliseum on June 6, 1970, and features a guest appearance by blues legend Albert King on June 6; Live In Bakersfield, California, August 21, 1970, on August 21. Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 20, 1968, on September 19. The set contains both the early and late shows from THE DOORS‘ appearance at the renowned concert hall in Stockholm, immortalizing the climactic conclusion of their only European tour. The concerts are among the tour’s best, featuring rare live performances of DOORS‘ originals “Love Street” and “You’re Lost Little Girl” and a cover of “Mack The Knife”. Each release has been remastered by THE DOORS‘ longtime engineer/mixer Bruce Botnick.
Commencing this trip, “Live At The Matrix, 1967” bottles the musicians’ primal intensity and psychedelic panache. THE DOORS were a few months away from stardom in March 1967 when they played five sparsely attended shows at a small club in San Francisco called The Matrix. These uninhibited performances would have been fleeting if not for Peter Abram, who co-owned the pizza parlor-turned-nightclub with JEFFERSON AIRPLANE founder Marty Balin. An avid recordist, Abram regularly taped concerts at The Matrix and his recordings of THE DOORS, made between March 7-11, 1967, spawned one of the band’s most storied bootlegs. Complete and original recordings sourced from the first-generation seven-inch reels.
The dynamic interplay between band members fuels everything from the rip-roaring “Break On Through” to a mesmerizing rendition of “The End”. At the same time, a rare instrumental of “Summertime” proves utterly captivating, while their passion for the blues drives fluid, extended covers of “I’m A King Bee” and “Crawling King Snake”.
THE DOORS kicked off their 60th anniversary last year with “The Doors 1967-1971” release, a 6-LP box set part of Rhino‘s acclaimed High Fidelity audiophile vinyl series, featuring all six of the band’s original studio albums. Limited to 3,000 individually numbered copies, the collection quickly sold out. These sought-after audiophile titles will be available individually on January 31 on thedoors.com and rhino.com.
To commemorate THE DOORS anniversary, their first-ever complete anthology book, “Night Divides The Day”, illuminates the band’s archives like never before with rare photography, intimate interviews with Robby Krieger and John Densmore, and meticulously sourced archival text from Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek. With unlimited access granted by the band, “Night Divides The Day” includes a unique collection of historical ephemera — including childhood photos, song lyrics, poster artwork, movie stills, and much more — which adds context to the wealth of rare photography that documents the band’s musical odyssey.
Joining Krieger and Densmore are a host of contributors, with a foreword by NIRVANA bassist Krist Novoselic and an afterword by maestro Gustavo Dudamel. The anthology is presented in a limited edition of only 2,000 numbered sets, each hand-signed by Densmore and Krieger. Each set includes the 344-page signed edition, a seven-inch vinyl record with rare demos of “Hello, I Love You” and “Moonlight Drive”, and other assorted historical memorabilia. Available for pre-order now and shipping early this year.
Bright Midnight Archives track listing:
Live at the Matrix, 1967
March 7, 1967 – First Set
1. Bag’s Groove [Instrumental]
2. Back Door Man
3. My Eyes Have Seen You
4. Soul Kitchen
5. All Blues [Instrumental]
6. Get Out Of My Life Woman
7. When The Music’s Over
March 7, 1967 – Second Set
1. Close To You
2. Crawling King Snake
3. I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind
4. People Are Strange
5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
6. The Crystal Ship
7. Twentieth Century Fox
March 7, 1967 – Third Set
1. Moonlight Drive
2. Summer’s Almost Gone
3. Unhappy Girl
4. Woman Is A Devil / Rock Me Baby
5. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
6. Light My Fire
7. The End
March 8 or 9, 1967
1. The End (Partial) / Let’s Feed Ice Cream To The Rats
March 10, 1967 – First Set
1. My Eyes Have Seen You
2. Soul Kitchen
3. I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind
4. People Are Strange
5. When The Music’s Over
March 10, 1967 – Second Set
1. Money
2. Who Do You Love
3. Moonlight Drive
4. Summer’s Almost Gone
5. I’m A King Bee
6. Gloria
7. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
March 10, 1967 – Third Set
1. Summertime [Instrumental]
2. Back Door Man
3. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
Live in Boston, 1970
First Show
1. Start
2. All Right, All Right, All Right
3. Roadhouse Moan
4. Roadhouse Blues
5. Ship Of Fools
6. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
7. Back Door Man
8. Five To One
9. When The Music’s Over
10. Rock Me
11. Mystery Train
12. Away In India
13. Crossroads
14. Prelude To Wake Up!
15. Wake Up!
16. Light My Fire
Second Show
1. Start
2. Break On Through
3. I Believe In Democracy
4. When The Music’s Over
5. Roadhouse Blues
6. The Spy
7. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
8. Back Door Man
9. Five To One
10. Astrology Rap
11. Build Me A Woman
12. You Make Me Real
13. Wait A Minute!
14. Mystery Train
15. Away In India
16. Crossroads
17. Band Intros
18. Adolf Hitler
19. Light My Fire
20. Fever (“Light My Fire” cont’d.)
21. Summertime (“Light My Fire” cont’d.)
22. St. James Infirmary Blues (“Light My Fire” cont’d.)
23. Graveyard Poem (“Light My Fire” cont’d.)
24. Light My Fire (Reprise)
25. More, More, More!
26. Ladies & Gentlemen
27. We Can’t Instigate
28. They Want More
29. Been Down So Long
30. Power Turned Off
Live in Philadelphia May 1, 1970
1. Announcer “Sit Down”
2. Tuning
3. Roadhouse Blues
4. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
5. Back Door Man / Love Hides
6. Ship Of Fools
7. Universal Mind
8. When The Music’s Over
9. Mystery Train
10. Wake Up!
11. Light My Fire
12. The Concert Continues
13. Maggie M’Gill
14. Roadhouse Blues (Reprise)
15. Been Down So Long / Rock Me Baby
16. The Music Capital Of The World, Philadelphia
17. Carol
18. Soul Kitchen
Live in Pittsburgh, May 2, 1970
1. Back Door Man
2. Love Hides
3. Five To One
4. Roadhouse Blues
5. Mystery Train
6. Away In India
7. Crossroads Blues
8. Universal Mind
9. Someday Soon
10. When The Music’s Over
11. Break On Through
12. Push Push
13. The Soft Parade Vamp
14. Tonight You’re In For A Special Treat
15. Close To You
16. Light My Fire
Live in Detroit May 8, 1970
1. Tuning
2. Roadhouse Vamp
3. Hello To The Cities
4. Dead Cats, Dead Rats
5. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
6. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
7. Back Door Man
8. Five To One
9. Roadhouse Blues
10. You Make Me Real
11. Ship Of Fools
12. When The Music’s Over
13. People Get Ready
14. Mystery Train
15. Away In India
16. Crossroads
17. Tuning
18. Carol
19. Light My Fire
20. Been Down So Long
21. Love Hides
22. Mean Mustard Blues
23. Carol (Reprise)
24. Close To You
25. I’m A King Bee
26. Rock Me Baby/Heartbreak Hotel
27. The End
Live in Vancouver, June 1970
1. Start Of Show
2. Roadhouse Blues
3. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
4. Back Door Man
5. Five To One
6. When The Music’s Over
7. Applause – Jim Talks
8. Love Me Two Times
9. Applause – Jim Talks
10. Little Red Rooster – with Albert King
11. Tuning
12. Money – with Albert King
13. Tuning
14. Rock Me – with Albert King
15. Tuning
16. Who Do You Love – with Albert King
17. Tuning
18. Petition The Lord With Prayer
19. Light My Fire
20. Tuning
21. The End
22. Thank You & Good Night
Live at Bakersfield, August 21, 1970
1. Roadhouse Blues
2. Medley: Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) / Back Door Man / Five To One
3. Medley: Universal Mind / Afro Blue
4. When The Music’s Over
5. Love Me Two Times
6. Medley: Mystery Train / Away In India / Crossroads
7. Ship Of Fools
8. The End
Live at Konserthuset Stockholm, September 20, 1968
1. Introduction
2. Five To One
3. Love Street
4. Love Me Two Times
5. When The Music’s Over
6. A Little Game
7. The Hill Dwellers
8. Light My Fire
9. The Unknown Soldier
10. Five To One
11. Mack The Knife
12. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
13. Back Door Man
14. You’re Lost Little Girl
15. Love Me Two Times
16. When The Music’s Over
17. Wild Child
18. Money (That’s What I Want)
19. Wake Up!
20. Light My Fire
21. The End