Paramount Theater NYC

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Lore & Background

During the early 1990s, before it was renamed the Paramount Theater by Bob Gutkowski, and subsequently The Theater at Madison Square Garden, this space served as a crucial stop for major acts. For The Doors, the Felt Forum represented a specific chapter in their touring life just over a year before Jim Morrison's death. The recordings from January 17 and 18, 1970, were not merely casual live sets but carefully documented performances that defined the sound of Absolutely Live. Unlike later eras where the venue hosted boxing matches like Sergio Martínez vs. Matthew Macklin in 2012 or plays like Annie in late 2024, the early 1970s Felt Forum was a hub for rock documentation. The low 20-foot ceiling at stage level meant the sound was immediate and unfiltered, preserving the specific dynamics of the band's performance during that winter.

In Their Own Story

On January 17 and 18, 1970, the Felt Forum became the birthplace of a classic live album. The Doors took the stage in a venue honoring Irving Mitchell Felt, utilizing its intimate slanted seating to connect with the audience. Most of the tracks for Absolutely Live were pulled directly from these two nights, capturing the band's improvisational prowess and the electric atmosphere of a New York City rock show. The theater, which would later host the Grateful Dead in December 1971 and Eddie Murphy Raw in 1987, was at this moment a stage for rock history. The proximity of the audience to the 30-by-64-foot stage ensured that every nuance of the performance was recorded, creating a document that would outlast the venue's various name changes from WaMu Theater to Hulu Theater and finally to Infosys Theater.

Reader's Guide

To understand the significance of this location for The Doors, one must look at the specific dates: January 17 and 18, 1970. Fans seeking to trace the lineage of Absolutely Live should focus on these two performances at the Felt Forum. The venue's layout, with its boxes on the side walls and a single slanted level for other seating, offered a unique perspective that influenced the live recordings. While the theater has since hosted diverse events ranging from A Christmas Carol (1994-2003) to WWE NXT episodes, the Doors' contribution remains a foundational moment in its history. Visitors noting the venue's transformation will see how a space once named after Irving Mitchell Felt became a nexus for live music documentation before evolving into the Infosys Theater of 2026.

Did You Know?

• Most of the tracks for The Doors' album Absolutely Live were recorded at the Felt Forum on January 17 and 18, 1970.
• The theater has a relatively low 20-foot ceiling at stage level due to its location beneath the main Madison Square Garden arena.
• No seat in the theater is more than 177 feet from the 30-by-64-foot stage.
• The venue was renamed the Felt Forum in honor of then-company president Irving Mitchell Felt when the Garden opened in 1968.