Biography
The Australian Doors Show were in operation for 7 years between 1989 and 1996. In this time they played over 1200 shows in 13 different countries. They were generally regarded as the most authentic live tribute to The Doors in the world, and in many minds their achievements have not been surpassed.
Starting as something of a hobby for obsessive young organ player ‘Happiness’ Stan Holroyd, his friend Brandon Saul decided to advertise for other players and become the manager of the fledgling band. A drummer in the shape of Cabbage answered the ad, as did a 17 year surfie guitarist called HB. Once the 21 year old british backpacker Biggles passed his informal audition the band was ready for their first gig. The band enlisted the incredible sound engineering talents of Felix Kulakowski and they were on their way.
The line up remained the same for the whole 7 years.
The band took great pride in presenting the sound of the doors, rather than being a look-alike band. The musicians played exactly the same instruments as used by The Doors in their live shows, and they scoured rare bootleg live recordings to learn accurate versions of the songs. Authentic liquid oil projectors and vintage psychedelic lighting made the show a true multi media experience, particularly for those in altered states of consciousness.
By the end of their second year they were regularly selling out venues such as Selinas,The Palace in Melbourne, Waves in Wollongong, The Tivoli in Adelaide, and countless other venues around the country.
In 1992 they took up an offer for an extensive European tour and played their debut UK gig to a sell out crowd of 2000 at the famous Town & Country Club in London. Sell outs also happened at Amsterdam’s Melkweg, Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and venues in Germany, France and Belgium.
In their subsequent 5 European tours they consistently sold out venues such as Shepherd’s Bush Empire, The Forum and the Brixton Academy in London, the SEC and Barrowlands in Glasgow, The Melkweg in Amsterdam and the Lucerna Opera in Prague – a command performance in the historic 3,000 capacity venue for the then president Vaclav Havel – a huge Doors fan.
The band also received the stamp of approval from many contemporaries of The Doors. Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding enjoyed the band a number of occasions, Robert Plant highly complimentary after witnessing a memorable Brixton Academy Show and even Doors mad new wavers The Stranglers called in to pay their respects at The Bath Pavillion.
The Australian Doors also enjoyed a great deal of media attention over the years – notable appearances include Andrew Denton’s shows ‘The Money Or The Gun’ and ‘Live & Sweaty’, Tonight Live with Steve Vizard – appearing at the request of UK comic Ben Elton, Radio One’s 30th birthday broadcast alongside Chrissie Hynde and Ray Davies, and live TV performances in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Dublin, Edinburgh, Brussels, Prague, Brno, London, Melbourne and Helsinki.
They even enjoyed a UK top 3 hit (of sorts) appearing as the b-side of Rolf Harris’s career rejuvenating version of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ – recorded for ABC’s Money Or the Gun.
The band are coming out of hiding for a short series of shows. Catch them while you can – it could be another 11 years before they surface again.
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