LIVE! : Dokken and Great White
by Deb Rao
Staff Writer
March 25, 2011 at The Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler, AZ.
There is a new concert venue in town in Chandler, Ariz. that is a casino and theater all under one roof. The Wild Horse Pass Casino venue opened a year ago in October and is fast becoming one of Arizona’s hot spots.
Tonight on March 25, Ovations featured two of the ’80’s legendary bands DOKKEN and GREAT WHITE. It is ironic, Last time I was in Phoenix a year ago both bands also played on the same bill. Dokken kicked off the night’s festivities at 8 P.M. This was one of Dokken’s first shows after Don’s vocal surgery and the band sounded great with Don taking full command of the audience. Opening with “Just Got Lucky,” Dokken kicked into high gear slamming out hit after hit. The audience was pumped and on their feet. The venue holds 1500 people and tonight’s show was SOLD OUT! Arizona has always been a great concert market for Dokken to perform.
During the set Don reminisced about the ’80s and Don told the audience, “Tonight we are going to do it old school. We come from the genre of Scorpions and Van Halen.” One of the great aspects of Dokken is that their music features great guitar solos and tonight Jon Levin was on fire. The band jammed on “Too High To Fly” and everyone got to do their own solo.
The rhythm section featuring Phoenix’s Mick Brown laid down the funky drum riffs like a sledge hammer and bassist Sean McNabb sizzled on “It’s Not Love”. This song also turned into a medley of Free’s, “Alright Now.”
Highlight of the set was the sing along to “Alone Again.” Front-man Don Dokken said, “You shouldn’t be at a Dokken concert if you don’t sing.” Well sing the audience did and everyone was having a great time.
Dokken has always been one of those bands that can go from melodic to heavy in a split second as the band pummeled into “Tooth And Nail.” It was great to see the band having a great time onstage and Don sounding stronger once again! Dokken ended the set with “In My Dreams.”
When I asked Don about his surgery and the show he responded, “Yes, it seems my voice is on the mend. I’m still singing with caution but every day it’s getting better, finally. Yes, we will be changing the set a lot. We’re going to do songs that we have never done live, starting in April. I’m honestly a bit tired of just playing the hits, time to mix it up and I’m sure our fans will be happy about it as well.”
It has been a year since I have seen Great White. Tonight the band featured Terry Ilous from XYZ on vocals filling in for Jack Russell who is recovering from bowel surgery. Great White has always been a band who were heavily influenced by the blues. Tonight’s performance was no exception. Terry has an R and B kind of sound that works well with the band. Opening with “Desert Moon”, Terry demonstrated his bluesy vocal style very well.
Highlights of the set were ballads “Save All Your Love”, and “House Of Broken Love.”
It was fun watching Michael Lardie perform on keyboards and guitar showing his diversity as a musician. I had the opportunity to talk to Terry before the show. He informed us that this was his 13th show with the band and he has been on the road non-stop now with Great White and was not slowing down anytime soon as the band was heading to a show in Michigan right after their performance tonight. Terry told me, he received a call from Mark Kendall while he was on vacation in San Diego and Mark asked him to fill in for Jack. The same day there was sighting of the Great White shark in San Diego. Mark told him, “This is a sign.” Terry had a day to learn the songs. When I asked Terry if the cliché in the song “Once Bitten Twice Shy” – “You didn’t know that rock and roll burned. So you bought a candle and you lived and you learned,” still held true to the rigorous touring schedule, Terry responded,” Absolutely.”
The 80’s were alive and well in Chandler, Arizona tonight. As Dokken and Great White still performed all the hits with much conviction. Proving that a good song will survive the test of time!