Band Moonlight Drive re-creates the Doors experience

"Poetry and pure madness" is how Robert Shannon describes the Doors — and the experience of playing for the tribute band he fronts.

The tribute band's name, Moonlight Drive, is taken from the seminal track off the Doors' second album, "Strange Days." On Saturday, exactly 39 years to the day of the Doors' last performance, Moonlight Drive will play at the Blue Lounge in Old Town.

"So many tribute bands are limited by the artist they're playing tribute to," Shannon says. "The Doors are all about expression through art, though. Art is unlimited."

Fronted by vocalist Jim Morrison, the Doors roused fans and sowed controversy with their cryptic lyrics and volatile stage personas. Though their career lasted fewer than eight years, their impact on music has transcended decades.

Moonlight Drive also includes Dustin Lentz, who resurrects Ray Manzarek's keyboarding style, Tim Utter on bass channeling Robby Krieger, and David Damm on percussion, who uses a mod orange percussion set in the vein of John Densmore.

Each member of the band has a distinct musical vision, Lentz says, which adds to the band's presence on stage.

"We're more of an experience band as opposed to a tribute band," he says.

For fans of the Doors' albums, Shannon is quick to note that Moonlight Drive goes beyond the tracks that get usual play.

"The stuff on the radio is different from the live performances," he says. "The Doors just sounded very different live. It was its own experience. That's what we emulate."

Originally formed in 2002, Moonlight Drive has played all over the Midwest. Although it channels music from a specific time, it has found cross-generational fans.

"Ages vary from 60s to teenagers," Lentz says. "Some older folks who've seen us play have said that they saw the Doors live and tell us that we really brought them back."

Lentz and Shannon credit a large part of their appeal to the stage presence that they work hard to deliver. All four dress the part of the musician they are paying tribute to and also work to mimic the sound as authentically as possible.

Lentz uses the same instrument models that Manzarek played, having acquired a 1971 Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, and a 1968 Vox Continental Organ. The four musicians lend a theatrical flair to their performances.

As evidence of this, Lentz tells the story about a time when Shannon thrilled an audience in Denver by swinging from a rope off a stack of speakers. The move emulated one in 1970 at the Aquarius Theatre when Morrison swung from one side of the stage to the other using a rope tied to a lighting rig.

"We thought they were going to kick us out but I think the crowd loved it so much the owner didn't do anything in fear of the crowd getting upset," Lentz says.

Moonlight Drive hopes to electrify crowds with similar — though perhaps not as extreme — antics at its show this week.

If you go

moonlight drive

What: Doors tribute band

Where: The Blue Lounge, 608 E. Douglas

When: 9:30 p.m. Sat.

How much: Cover $6.

This story was originally published December 11, 2009 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Band Moonlight Drive re-creates the Doors experience."