The Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove Miami, Florida was the site of The Doors infamous March 1, 1969 concert where Jim Morrison may or may not have exposed himself. The historic building is still standing and is known as the Coconut Grove Exhibition Center. The address is:
2700 S. Bayshore Dr. Miami, FL 33133
As the story goes, Morrison missed his scheduled flight into Miami and spent the time waiting for the next flight, drinking in the airport lounge. Once he boarded the plane he continued drinking. During a stopover in New Orleans he missed his flight again and consumed even more drinks waiting for the next flight. By the time he reached Miami he was extremely drunk.
Once he took the stage he was almost falling down drunk. He was abusive towards the audience, he would start a song only to stop it after a few lines, he would bum even more drinks from members of the audience.
At some point in the concert he then asked the audience,
“You didn’t come here for music did you? You came for something more, didn’t you? You didn’t come to rock’n’roll, you came for something else didn’t you? You came for something else –WHAT IS IT? You want to see my cock, don’t you? That’s what you came for isn’t it? YEAHHHH!”
Morrison waved his shirt in front of his crotch in bullfighter tradition, he took it away for an instant and taunted.
“See it? Did you see it?”
The next day The Doors started a planned vacation. While out of the country, the press in Miami had a field day with the alleged exposure incident. Pressure was put on local officials to do something about it. On March 5 1969, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Jim Morrison on one felony count of lewd and lascivious behaviour and three misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, open profanity and drunkenness.
Morrison turned himself in to the FBI in Los Angeles on April 4, 1969 and on November 9, 1969 he entered a not guilty plea in Miami.
The trial did not start until August 12, 1970. On September 20, 1970 the jury found Jim Morrison guilty on the misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure and profanity. He was found not guilty on the felony charge and the misdemeanor for drunkenness.
He was released on a $50,000 bond. The convictions were in the process of appeal when Morrison and The Doors finished the “L.A. Woman“ album and then he left for Paris in March of 1970. Jim Morrison died in Paris, France July 3, 1971 before his legal problems could be resolved.
Here’s a photo inside the auditorium now…
Jim is quoted in “No One Here Gets Out Alive” as telling Circus magazine,
“I think I was just fed up with the image that had been created around me, which I sometimes consciously, most of the time unconsciously, cooperated with. It was just too much for me to really stomach and so I just put an end to it in one glorious evening. I guess what it boiled down to was that I told the audience that they were a bunch of fucking idiots to be members of an audience. What were they doing there anyway? The basic message was to realize that you’re not really here to listen to a bunch of songs by some good musicians. You’re here for something else. Why not admit it and do something about it?”
UPDATE: The demolition of the Dinner Key Auditorium (Coconut Grove Exhibition Center ) commenced on Tuesday, November 5, 2013. The building in no longer standing and has been demolished to make way for a new park. (photo from http://thegroveguy.blogspot.com)
Jim Morrison, the best singer ever!!!!
hmmm, this one drunken act, impacted his career, not his fame…canceled shows, no woodstock invite, i would have loved to have seen and heard them perform live. from michael jackson to gerard way, beyonce and gaga, idol worship is sensual if not sexual in a sense. an attraction of success and power. goes with the territory. except it and get over it. sad his addictions got him. what a lyricist, what a sound.
It would be a shame if they pardon him. Artists of today like Justin Beiber or Amy Winehouse need to be taught that it's wrong to use alcohol and then expose yourself to a crowd of 12 year olds. If Morrison is pardoned then it will lead to an orgy of exposed buttocks, breasts, and phali.It will make kids think it's okay to get on an airplane and consume alcoholic beverages, then change planes and consume more alcohol and beverages. It will make people forget that The Doors were nothing more than the worlds worst lounge band and that the "lyrics" made no sense and sound like they were written by a drunken English major just prior to flunking out of community college. Kids today need to be taught morals and values, and not be exposed to rancid dope bubblegum like The Doors and it's sweaty and vulgar and drunken lead singer.
Bibleicious- fyi, they pardoned him in 2000. He's been dead since '71. get over it. Jim morrison is the greatest american poet who ever lived. So what if he acted crazy during a show? so did maynard james keenan from tool, when he had sex with a stuffed teddy bear on stage, but you don't hear anything about that because he wasnt arrested for it. If you're that concerned with what your children may or may not see at a rock conert, don't allow them to go.
Biblelicious, come on now tell me that you dont accept your gifts of communion? Same difference. You hide behind religion. Great writers and poets make sense of the senseless. Jim was a writer and poet and I dont think he picked that up at community college. Lennon smoked weed and drank too but peacefully,… thats OK, no? Elvis??Whitney???