The Doors performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 1968.
Their concert took place on July 5, 1968, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the band’s hometown. Steppenwolf and The Chambers Brothers opened the show, which placed The Doors among major American rock acts at one of the country’s most prestigious outdoor venues.
The performance was professionally recorded by the group’s longtime engineer, Bruce Botnick, directly from the soundboard onto an eight-track machine. It was later edited and released in 1987 as Live at the Hollywood Bowl. A more complete version, Live at the Bowl ’68, followed in 2012 on CD, LP and Blu-ray.
The concert is sometimes confused with The Doors’ later Isle of Wight appearance, which occurred in 1970. The Hollywood Bowl recording is also historically unusual because it is one of only two Doors performances professionally filmed in color. Technical problems with Jim Morrison’s microphone caused distortion in parts of the original recording.