Thirty years ago, Robby Krieger dared to buck rock convention and cliches as the guitarist of The Doors.
While the rest of rock music was focused around the all-holy electric guitar and the many aggressive, in-your-face ways the instrument’s sound could be manipulated and distorted through amplification, Krieger’s approach emphasized subtlety, melodic inventiveness and clean lead lines.
Pioneering the use of the bottleneck as a guitar accessory and using flamenco technique to express his extraordinary improvisational prowess, often Krieger’s genius within one of rock’s most innovative and artistic quartets was as much about his sense of when not to play as much as when he should.
It would be great to report that there has been a significant post-Doors musical life for Krieger, but alas, judging from Saturday night’s performance of The Robby Krieger Band at Navy Pier’s Skyline Stage, such is not the case. Krieger and company opened with a keyboardless rendition of Kurt Weill’s “Alabama Song.” Krieger was singing with such a nasal twang and so out of tune that it was barely recognizable as a vintage Doors tune.
That problem was somewhat solved by having bassist Berry Oakley Jr.–son of Allman Brothers member Berry Oakley Sr.–share verses with Krieger for Doors classics such as “Five to One,” “Break on Through (To the Other Side),” “Love Me Two Times,” “Spanish Caravan,” “Riders on the Storm,” “L.A. Woman,” “Light My Fire” and “The End.” But the overall effect was that of a garage band dragging the Doors song canon through the mud.
The Doors were an improvisational quartet who rose to unusual heights in live performance because of the unique synergy among its members, but here, Krieger wallowed aimlessly in Van Halen-like guitar riffs supported by the lifeless rhythm guitar of son Waylon Krieger, the dragging drums of Ray Mehlbahm and the pathetic keyboard lines of Dale Alexander.
The fact that Krieger is the composer of so much Doors material gives him license to trample upon it if he so chooses, but it was painful to sit through. Even the very elements that highlighted Krieger’s original contributions to the band were sadly nowhere in evidence.
The mere fact that the show was in effect a tribute to The Doors was in and of itself quite surprising, since the assumption would be that someone of Krieger’s obvious songwriting and performing talent would have evolved beyond that.
Yet even in performing cover tunes by Herbie Hancock and the Allman Brothers, the Robby Krieger Band was a great disappointment.
