DOKKEN; House of Blues; Las Vegas, NV; 08/12/04
Reviewed by Richard Fenkel
The Las Vegas House of Blues recently played host to Dokken. Dokken has performed in Vegas many times over the years. The last time was when Don played a solo gig in town. He packed the venue and kicked ass.
Therefore it was no surprise that Dokken stopped in Vegas on this tour supporting their latest release "Hell To Pay." One song from this new album titled "Escape" was very well received by the Sin City metal faithful. Don asked the crowd to give a thumbs up if they liked the new single. Dokken fans responded with a thumbs up and lots of air guitar.
This track sounded like old school Dokken, heavy on guitar similar to the George Lynch days. In fact, Lynch has been out of the group for about seven years but old school Dokken fans still talk about him to this day. Some fans were wearing old Dokken concert shirts.
In addition to the hardcore,
80s-dressed fans, Dokken alumni were screaming and jumping up and down to classic songs.
"In My Dreams," "Just Got Lucky," "Into The Fire," and "Breaking The Chains" were some of the vintage Dokken
tunes performed.
Besides the songs, Don Dokken's vocals were loud and clear. Dokken hit all the high notes on "Paris."
Besides Don Dokken, "Wild" Mick Brown is the only original bandmember since the beginning. "Wild" is the correct word to describe his drum style. Loud and bombastic. This guys kicks ass on the cans.
The band's current bassist, Barry Sparks, kicks ass and is one of the best bass players on tour today. Guitarist John Levin rounds out this rock group.
This group has gone through many changes over the 25 years of Dokken but, needless to say, these guys rocked the Las Vegas House of Blues.
Pick up "Hell To Pay" and catch the band on tour. Dokken is back and better then ever.
Copyright © 2004 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
Revised: 06 Oct 2019 11:48:56 -0400.
