Classic Dokken Lineup Reunion: Tour Dates are Booked!
Well, that was quick: after stating last week that “I’ve actually been talking to Don a little bit and we’re both in agreement that that should probably happen,” George Lynch has revealed that the reunited classic Dokken lineup already has shows on the books.
A brief 2016 reunion saw namesake Don Dokken, Lynch, Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown play together for the first time in 21 years. But those dates were limited to a quick run of Japan, meaning it’s now been nearly 26 years since the lineup has played together in the U.S.
Now, speaking to Total Rock Radio — in a segment that focused mostly on Lynch’s decision to retire the “Lynch Mob” moniker last year due to its racist connotations (more on that in a bit) — Lynch snuck in this nugget about upcoming Dokken shows involving the classic lineup:
“[Shows] are on the books, yeah, they just keep being shoved back further and further. But we’ve got one in August in Texas for sure.
“Looks like there will be a two-week running up in the summer, and after that, they start ramping up.”
That is significant. That’s potentially a lot of shows! And this is a big deal… to a certain segment of us who care, naturally.
Lynch previously said that Mick Brown’s brother Steve would be “the obvious choice” to replace the recently retired drummer. Steve performs with Lynch on the upcoming album by The End Machine, Phase2. So the “reunion” would only be three-quarters of the classic lineup, if you want to be technical, but I reckon that will be good enough for most fans.
In a separate interview with Alamo True Metal, Lynch revealed that he wasn’t satisfied with the quality of the shows the reunited group put on in Japan in 2016, saying:
“I think I was slightly disappointed in it — not overwhelmingly disappointed, but I have some regrets. I wish we had prepared more. And I know we all feel that way. ‘Cause of the logistics, we all had things we had to do right after the time we had allotted and beforehand. So we just were barely able to even pull it off with everybody else’s pre-existing commitments. The fact that we got to do it at all was… you know, we were fortunate for even being able to pull it off. So we were a little underprepared, I feel. And yes, we were offered a good amount of money to go to Japan and do some other things, so it made it just kind of a no-brainer.”
Back to the most recent Total Rock Radio chat, here’s what Lynch had to say on the topic of putting the Lynch Mob moniker to bed:
“With everything going on right now in the world, it was really sort of an epiphany moment.
“I just kind of woke up and said, ‘You know, I think with this record, this is our swan song. I think this would be a good place to exit the stage.’ We’ve created this bookend – answer to the first record.
“The name itself, of course, has always been problematic, and now it’s inexcusable to keep the name. So, things have just sort of all conspired.
“A lot of different events triangulated to this point where it just makes sense on every single level to just let it go and wrap it up with and nice neat bow with this record, and move on.
“I’m not gonna tour anymore with that name or put out any more records with that name. I’ll probably still play with some of the same people; we’ll just call it something else.”
May I suggest Lunch Mob as an alternate band name? I always make that typo when writing about the band, and frankly, who doesn’t enjoy a good lunch?
[via Ultimate Guitar]
