Fan Review (April 12, 1970)

"...I was at the April 12, 1970 Doors show at University of Denver, and I disagree somewhat with the review by Denver Post's Jim Pagliasotti. I love The Doors, love Jim, but this was not a great show, and the crowd at times, was not pleased.
Jim was drinking, pounding numerous 16-oz beers onstage from the get-go. The show was at times sloppy, some of the crowd was starting to get restless, even hostile - even a few folks booing, though not loudly. Parts of the show were so bad, my roommate Dean was laughing a lot, as unlike me, he wasn't even really a Doors fan in the first place - he just went along with me for something to do.
There was even a section of 2 songs (Maggie M'Gill / Been Down So God Damn Long) where Robby played a bass and Ray played guitar (I am not making this up) that were, in my opinion, particularly awful to the point of being embarrassing. The crowd didn't know much better, but believe me, the musicians in the audience did. Worse yet, Ray, who usually was the solid dependable guy onstage, was acting like even HE was loaded during the 'Ray-guitar' portion, and Ray wouldn't stop playing the guitar even after one of the songs ended. Jim, of all people, had to reach out, mute the strings with his hand, and see that it got handed back to Robby. Again, I know you don't believe it, but I'm not making this up. My roommate at the time likely remembers it also. He was at times laughing so hard, I'm sure he hasn't forgotten it.
McKevitt's Marauders - most likely referring to Denver's District Attorney during that period '67-'71 Mike McKevitt - one of the many notorious republicans that were in power in Denver during the peak Denver 'hippie' years of '66 thru '71. You were either 'hip' or 'straight' ... young or old. It was a culture war, just like the rest of the country at the time. In short, no, I don't remember seeing any cops with cameras/tape recorders at DU April '70, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Jim Parker
Denver, CO