Guitarist George Lynch recently discussed the chances of DOKKEN’s classic lineup reuniting again
Over the last few years Lynch has been rejoining DOKKEN on stage at their live shows to perform three of the band’s classic songs during the group’s nightly encore performance. In a recent talk with TotalRock‘s Neil Jones, George was asked what the experience has been like for him.
George replied (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “For one thing, I can do it with one arm tied behind my back in my sleep. It’s songs I wrote — what? — 40, 45 years ago, whatever, and I played them thousands of times. So it’s easy, in a sense, but it also feels like going back home. So that’s nice. And the best thing about it is Don and I get along great. The band’s great. Everybody’s happy. Our band is opening up, so I’m playing twice that night. We do a lot of that.
“These are packed houses, and everybody loves it. The whole audience is with us, and this is kind of what they’re waiting for, and it’s just a beautiful moment. Not a self-congratulatory moment, but just kind of an acknowledgement of the history and the power of the songs and good songwriting. It’s songs that people — it marks time for them, and it’s meaningful for them. And so it is a beautiful moment for all of us that we all get to share.”
Touching on the possibility of another “full-blown reunion” of DOKKEN‘s classic lineup, George said: “I pretty much doubt it. Mick [Brown, former DOKKEN drummer] has quit playing drums, sold his kit. He’s not a drummer anymore. His brother Steve, who’s very similar to him, does play with [me and former DOKKEN bassist Jeff Pilson] in THE END MACHINE. Mick played on the first THE END MACHINE record. We [use] Steve Brown now. So Steve Brown would be a natural fit for a DOKKEN reunion.
“But Jeff’s been in FOREIGNER for 14 years. I’ve got nine different bands. We’re all older guys. And, really, to put a DOKKEN reunion together would be very, very difficult — politically, personally. And then we have to ask ourselves the honest question: would it just be a money grab or would it be a great record; would it be a great book end? We’ve got ‘Breaking The Chains‘ and ‘Tooth And Nail‘ and ‘Under Lock And Key‘ and ‘Back For The Attack‘. Is it gonna hold up to that, or are we just too far past that? And the answer is I think that ship has sort of already left the harbor.”
Back in October 2016, the classic lineup of DOKKEN reunited to play the Loud Park festival in Japan. Cameras were rolling and captured the performance. Frontiers Music Srl issued “Return To The East Live 2016” in April 2018, which on top of the Loud Park performance, also featured footage from the classic lineup’s only U.S. show which took place in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The package also included a new song called “It’s Just Another Day“, the first DOKKEN track featuring the group’s classic lineup since 1997’s “Shadowlife“, and two acoustic re-workings of classic tracks.
Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group’s current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill, guitarist Jon Levin and drummer BJ Zampa.
DOKKEN recently wrapped up sessions for a new studio album, tentatively due later this year via Silver Lining Music. That label is owned by Thomas Jensen who is one of the founders of Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival. The upcoming record will be the band’s first since 2012’s “Broken Bones“.
