No one gets out alive when Unlocking The Doors brings the music and the madness of The Doors to life onstage, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Jim Morrison's death with a run of shows next month.
Unlocking The Doors is a tribute band from Wollongong, comprised of four talented musicians and die-hard fans of The Doors. They are led by their very own Jim Morrison, the equally charismatic Richie Mikic. "I'm just an absolute Doors tragic," Richie says."I was first introduced to them by the [1991 Oliver Stone] movie, then I was absolutely bitten by the music and the poetry.
"At first it was the wrong image given by the movie as Jim being this bad-boy, hopeless drunk, but it led me into doing the research into Jim and found there was this incredibly talented shy and funny guy, who bloomed overnight into this absolute Adonis and massive image to the public. The guy was a god, so to speak."
Richie/ Jim is joined in Unlocking The Doors by the closest thing you can get to Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore this side of the doors of perception.
"Sandy plays keys and bass, the real Ray Manzarek deal so we don't have a separate bass player; she's a classically trained pianist," Richie explains.
"Mick was also classically trained in Flamenco style on guitar, so he does the authentic fingerpicking on the Gibson SG like Robbie [Krieger] did.
"Lee is a really accomplished session musician on the drums and he absolutely loved taking on the John Densmore role because it's challenged him to another jazz-rock style.
"As accomplished as he is, he really got pushed along to better himself."
Unlocking The Doors are on the road in July for a tour commemorating the 50th anniversary of Jim Morrison's death, Mr Mojo Risin' himself being a member of the infamous 27 Club.
It's a show that Richie says someone like Jim, who compared The Doors' live shows to a religious experience, would truly appreciate.
"There's all the hits, of course, that have to be played," Richie says, "but also what we do is there are sections from the live recordings where there are medleys and pieces of poetry thrown in, especially from 'American Prayer'.
"People get the music, the poetry and the madness. It's not just the music – it's a lot of the live medleys, the poetry. There's a lot of the shamanistic dancing, like the medicine man having his visions to heal the tribe. There's a lot of that, that Jim used to do live in concert."
Fans of The Doors in Brisbane are in for a special treat, with the Bribie Island Hotel show on 3 July coinciding with the anniversary of Jim Morrison's death.
Fifty years on from his passing, it's anyone's guess what might have become of Jim Morrison if he were still alive today at the age of seventy seven.
"My honest opinion had Jim lived longer," Richie posits, "I seriously think he would have got heavily into film; he would have been a pioneer in the film industry.
"He would have invented or developed movies that would have really stuck out, would have been the classics. Would have been up there with your Casablanacas and Marlon Brando flicks. I have no doubt of that whatsoever."
Unlocking The Doors 2021 Tour Dates
Fri 2 Jul - Miami Marketta (Gold Coast)Sat 3 Jul - Bribie Island Hotel (Brisbane)
Sun 4 Jul - The Lounge (Brisbane)
Fri 16 Jul - The Sooki Lounge (Melbourne)
Sat 24 Jul - Beaches Hotel (Wollongong)
Sat 31 Jul - The Gov (Adelaide)
