1967: Robby Krieger Remembers ‘The Doors’ Infamous New Haven Gig

In 1967, The Doors played two historic shows in Connecticut.

Get our free mobile app

One gig was in December of '67 in New Haven where lead singer Jim Morrison was arrested and another took place months earlier at Danbury High School. If you live in the Nutmeg State you've heard at least one of these stories, many times over. Today (2/08/24), I was lucky enough to hear the tale from an actual member of the Doors, Robby Krieger who joined us on the Ethan, Lou & Large Dave Show.

On Thursday, we were lucky enough to speak with Robby Krieger from the Doors along with his bandmate Ed Roth from Robby Krieger and the Soul Savages. We chatted about the new Savages album and reviewed some of the most infamous moments in the history of The Doors.

The most important question we were going to ask Robby was about his memorable Connecticut concerts over the years. For most Connecticut residents, that conversation begins and ends with New Haven in December of 1967 but there was another show at Danbury High School two months earlier.

Large Dave was attempting to ask about the October '67 Danbury show and Krieger thought he was referencing New Haven. We didn't stop to correct Robby because who would? I'm happy we let him carry on because he told an all-time Rock N' Roll legend.

The Question 

Dave: Robby, one of the most famous concerts in our area in 1967, the Doors played at Danbury High School. Do you have any memories or recollections of playing in Connecticut over the years?

Robby: "Of course, I can never forget that night. That was the night that Jim got maced backstage and he didn't really appreciate that. It was this stupid cop that thought, he didn't know that, he thought he had snuck backstage I guess. So, once we got up on stage, we started playing "Back Door Man" and in the middle of the song Jim starts this rap about the cops and the funny little man with the little badge and he was just putting the cops down. Then, more and more cops started coming to the stage and they had taken as much as they were gonna take and a cop comes up to Jim, grabs the mic and goes Mr. Morrison the show is over and you are going to jail which he did"

Lou: That is going to delight our listeners to hear that you not only remember the incident but it sticks out in your mind because it's such a huge thing around here, it's something everyone still talks about, was that night.

Robby: "Yeah you know the cop that arrested him, his son, i met his son. We were back there doing a gig a couple of years ago and his son came over to me and apologized for his dad. That was pretty cool."

You can listen to our full interview with Robby Krieger below. We chatted about his new music, the influence Jamiroquai had on one of the tunes, being 78 years old and what annoys him.

Check out the Ethan, Lou & Large Dave Show on Apple & Spotify 

The Interview 

Interviews with rock stars/celebrities are the most challenging and rewarding part of my job. When it goes perfect, there is no better feeling but all the stars need to align for that to happen.

You must be prepared but you also need to allow for the conversation to develop organically. Things will happen, people step on one another, you forget questions or you might run out of time. Sometimes you simply don't hit it off with the person. After all, this is a conversation with a human being and they are complex creatures.

These interviews are a trip, after doing this for almost 25 years I still get excited. I am a fan just like you and I get to actually speak with some of these folks, it never gets old. I had Jim Morrison's New Haven arrest photo blown up, into a poster and hung it over my bed all through high school. Now, I am casually chatting about the arrest with his buddy and bandmate.

The Doors - Danbury 1967 

Robby Krieger and the Soul Savages

Check out the Doors set list from the Danbury Show in 1967 here.