Ex-DOKKEN and current LYNCH MOB guitarist George Lynch believes the two bands touring together has come to an end
Speaking with The Metal Voice, George Lynch was asked if packaged tours featuring DOKKEN and LYNCH MOB are now finished. George replied (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It sounds like it’s kind of run its course. Yeah, I think so. So that’s fine. It was a thing I’d been pushing to do for many, many years and I’d been proposing the idea to different agents that I’ve had over the decades.
“And I never found anyone to pick up the ball and run with it until I started working with my present agency, which also represents DOKKEN. And Don [Dokken, DOKKEN leaeder] and I are on relatively good terms — we’re fine — and so it worked. And he agreed to it and we went out.”
He continued: “I always thought that the competitive kind of thing, the story, the backstory, the people, if they’re aware of it, would spur some interest, and it worked. And I think that’s healthy. That’s entertainment.”
When asked how much of the supposed tension and fighting between him and Don reported over the years was real and how much of it was made up by the media, George replied: “Well, I’m not gonna cast any aspersions or point any fingers, but I will say that just generally human beings have a tendency maybe to mimic the narrative, if that makes sense. So, you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes the truth.”
George added: “Listen, I don’t have any problem with people. Generally I’m fine, and I’m also very forgiving if I do have problems with people. It’s water under the bridge. Life is too short and too precious. I love people and I like making things work and I like fixing things and everybody getting along and doing things that matter. And so I think all this kind of infighting is actually ridiculously silly. I don’t buy into it, but not everybody feels the same as I do. So I can’t change that.”
Over the past several years, George Lynch has frequently joined DOKKEN onstage for a rendition of three timeless classics: “Kiss Of Death,” “When Heaven Comes Down,” and “Tooth And Nail.” Typically, George kicks off the shows with his long-standing band, LYNCH MOB. Towards the end of the night, he treats fans to a special encore by joining DOKKEN onstage to bring the evening to a close.
In October 2016, the iconic DOKKEN lineup—comprising Don, George, Jeff Pilson, and Mick Brown on drums—reunited for a performance at the Loud Park festival in Japan. Thankfully, the spectacle was captured on camera, and Frontiers Music Srl released “Return To The East Live 2016” in April 2018. Alongside the Japanese show, the compilation featured footage from the classic lineup’s sole U.S. performance in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The package also included a new track titled “It’s Just Another Day,” marking the first DOKKEN song featuring the classic lineup since 1997’s “Shadowlife,” as well as two acoustic reimaginings of classic tracks.
Post the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with its current lineup, which includes bassist Chris McCarvill, Jon Levin, and drummer BJ Zampa.
DOKKEN unveiled a new studio album, “Heaven Comes Down,” on October 27 through Silver Lining Music, owned by Thomas Jensen, a founder of Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival. This release marked the group’s first album since 2012’s “Broken Bones.”