Concert Review :

Dokken Live at the Icon Supperclub
Palo Alto, CA.
Wednesday, February 6, 2002.

Near the end of their 15-song performance, one of the last few dates on their current "Long Way Home" tour, Don Dokken made a casual remark to the crowd: "We wrote this song more than 20 years ago!" And with that Dokken closed the show with a blistering rendition of Paris is Burning, off their 1982 debut "Breaking the Chains," It's hard to believe that the band VH1 dubbed the 10th best "Hair Band" of all time is still out there rocking and rolling in 2002. Don Dokken and Mick Brown are the only remaining members from the "classic" Dokken lineup (Jeff Pilson and George Lynch recently formed a new band together) but as long as Don's voice is front and center we can be more or less assured of a kick-ass show.

The crowd at the Icon was primed and ready for a night of rockin' with Dokken. The band gets things going with a fine version of Erase the Slate, the title track from their last studio album, and then they dive right into Kiss of Death, possibly their best song of all time and certainly one of their heaviest. It's instantly clear that new guitarist John Norum (of Europe fame) can handle the monster licks of both Lynch and Reb Beach, who played on "Erase the Slate", but he lacks the "Guitar God" look and presence of his predecessors, especially Lynch. To his credit Norum seems to understand this and is content with supplying textbook rhythms and leads while leaving the spotlight to the band¬s namesake. After 20-plus years on the road Don Dokken still seems to relish the spotlight, although he's clearly moved well beyond the posing rock star image that so many 80s metal bands, including Dokken, cultivated. To their credit, however, Dokken never quite embraced the glam scene to the same degree as their peers in Poison and Motley Crue, so seeing Don clad in basic black leather pants and a Dokken tour shirt (and with downright small hair) was not as jarring as it could have been.

Even back in the 80s Dokken was always less about image and more about the music, so it's not surprising that the majority of their tunes have stood the test of time. Mick Brown and new bassist Barry Sparks (who¬s played with Yngwie Malmsteen and MSG) make up a competent rhythm section, despite the fact that both men are enjoying a couple of Budweisers during the show, and in Mick's case it appears that he enjoyed a few more before the show! But after more than two decades of skin-bashing he's certainly learned how to keep an earthshaking beat despite the effects of a few adult beverages, and he even mugs for my camera, peering out from behind his massive kit with a manic grin. Brown and Sparks really kick it into gear during Into the Fire, one of the many classic songs from Dokken's mid-80s creative peak. Along the way we are treated to two new songs: Sunless Days and Little Girl, both hard-rocking numbers off their soon-to-be-released "Long Way Home" album. Both go over pretty well but judging by the age of most of the people in the crowd, they're hungry for an 80s metal flashback, and Dokken is happy to oblige them.

Breaking the Chains, Alone Again, and It's Not Love are all executed with renewed potency, reminding everyone just how many superior songs Dokken have written. (Random note: during It's Not Love I couldn¬t stop thinking about the video for the song, which features the band playing while riding around town on the back of a flatbed truck!) I would have liked to hear a few more songs from the excellent "Back for the Attack" album, notably Dream Warriors and Burning Like a Flame, but other than that minor quibble the song selection is a perfect retrospective of their long career. It remains to be seen whether "Long Way Home" will re-kindle interest in Dokken and bring in a new generation of fans, but tonight's show certainly proves that they still have the musical skill and live punch to rock as hard as they did in the good old days. Good time hard rock music is definitely making a comeback and if Dokken can keep riding the wave we might see them break out of the clubs and back onto the big time concert circuit. With their catalog of hits they will always have a solid foundation on which to build a great live show, because, after all, it's all about the music.

Dokken setlist:
Erase the Slate
Kiss of Death
The Hunter
Sunless Days
Into the Fire
Maddest Hatter
Too High to Fly
Breaking the Chains
Little Girl
Alone Again
It¬s Not Love
When Heaven Comes Down
Tooth and Nail
In My Dreams
Paris is Burning

-Peter Cole