Mike Belkin
Excerpt from Mike Belkin : Socks, Sports, Rock and Art, page 33.
In spite of the Doors’ controversial nature—or perhaps because of that—the group was also very popular. Their Cleveland-area debut was on September 14, 1967 at Musicarnival, a show that drew only 700 to a tent that could hold 2,500. That show was not produced by the Belkins.
When the Doors returned to play Cleveland’s Public Auditorium on August 3, 1968, the Belkins were involved and the place sold out. According to Doorshistory.com, lead singer Jim Morrison jumped into the audience during “Light My Fire,” driving the fans crazy.
Following a canceled show at Public Auditorium set for March 29, 1969, the band was booked for consecutive nights at the Allen Theatre February 13-14, 1970. Mike Belkin was hoping the first night would go smoothly, as he had plans to camp out with his son, Michael, after the show.
“I was nervous the whole show; police lined the side of the stage and I couldn’t wait until the show was over,” Belkin recalls. “There were people standing up and they wanted people to sit down and finally they ended the show, and I went, ‘Oh, my God, it’s over with no problems,’ because no one knew what was going to happen.”
The band left the stage but Morrison came back out by himself. “People were already starting to leave and they all rushed back into the auditorium,” said Belkin, who badly wanted the show to be over. But it wasn’t.
“They did a couple more songs, then they went off, then the police came out, and lined up (along) the entire front of the stage. It’s not like people were rushing the stage and causing problems; I’m thinking, ‘Oh God, now what? Is this going to cause a problem?’ ”
But it didn’t, and Belkin went backstage to thank the Doors, “telling them, ‘I’m sorry I can’t spend time with you because I have to go to my son’s sleepover.’ ”
