SCORPIONS / DOKKEN (Live)

DOKKEN

Amidst rumors of a Dokken reunion looming in the not too distant future, Don Dokken and his touring band was armed and ready to entertain thousands of eager fans. Having just released their Greatest Hits album in March, Dokken pelted the audience with one 80’s classic after another.

Performing on a very simple stage set which featured only a single black banner hanging over the drum kit with the artwork from the Lightning Strikes Again album cover, Dokken’s performance seemed to please everyone. However, throughout the entire performance Dokken showed very little enthusiasm and definitely showed his age. Dokken also seemed to want to step into a time machine and was not happy at all about the year 2010. Upon introducing the song “Dream Warriors” Dokken stated “Let’s pretend like it’s 1987…In my world it’s always gonna be 1987…I own it”. Similar rants continued through his entire set. Dokken’s grumpy attitude toward the date was carried into his performance. He moved very slow and lethargic across the stage, and his scratchy vocals made his slew of 80’s songs sound not so very authentic. He seemed to have trouble with his voice throughout the entire performance, as he wasn’t able to hit any of his signature high notes.

Despite the vocals, Jon Levin’s guitar work was top-notch. His commanding performance was solid, along with pristine guitar solos. Fortunately, Levin was the saving grace that kept the music flowing so well, and kept the songs on track musically. There was also a lot of banter between Dokken and bass player Sean McNabb. At one point Dokken told a story about how McNabb was “walking around naked and drunk”. McNabb did contribute very well musically with the band, and performed a decent bass solo during the song “It’s Not Love” which actually segued into a crowd pleasing mid-song medley of Free’s “All Right Now”.

Overall, Dokken’s performance was mediocre at best. This was simply due to an edgy and arguably lazy performance from Dokken himself. To his credit, Dokken did show his gratitude by expressing “THIS is a rock and roll audience” at the end of his set. The crowd equally showed their appreciation as well by their desire for an encore. However, at the end of his ten song set, Dokken said his good-byes and made way for The Scorpions to take the stage.

Dokken setlist:

1. Just Got Lucky
2. The Hunter
3. Kiss Of Death
4. Dream Warriors
5. Into The Fire
6. Breaking The Chains
7. Alone Again
8. It’s Not Love
9. Tooth And Nail
10. In My Dreams

SCORPIONS

By the time The Scorpions hit the stage after an approximate 40 minute intermission, the crowd was energized and ready! Fittingly, unlike the previous Dokken performance, Klaus Meine and the gang were extremely energized. Billed as their final tour, the “Get Your Sting And Blackout World Tour” has been rolling across the U.S. and Canada since June 18, and Moline was the second to last stop on the North American leg. The guys showed very little signs of road wear as they were playing at the top of their game.

Their set included large video screens spanning the length of the entire stage, as well as a rising drum kit, and a runway extension which spanned some 50 or so feet into the center of the arena. The runway was used extensively throughout the entire show as there were many displays of band unity and audience interaction held there. Guitarists Matthias Jabs and Rudolf Schenker were consistently camped out playing together trading licks while Meine was performing right next to them at the end of the runway.

Musically, the band performed brilliantly. Being that Meine and Schenker are both over the age of sixty, the quality of their performance was not only energetic, but also exceptional. Meine’s vocals sounded the same as they did thirty years earlier, and Schenker was running all over the stage like he was invincible. Truly they did not show their age at all.

There were however, some areas of disconnect between Schenker and Jabs when performing a tandem guitar solo or trading licks with each other on various songs. For example during the instrumental “Coast To Coast”, they simply sounded out of sync with each other. Of course this could be due to the extreme enthusiasm displayed by Schenker as he was much more outgoing than Jabs. Either way, the crowd did not seem to mind or care at all.

Meine displayed an immense amount of humility and gratitude toward his audience throughout the entire show. During the song “The Best Is Yet To Come” Meine was visibly humbled by the huge ovation he was receiving during the audience participation part of the song. It was obvious the song had deep meaning for him and in fact carried on with the audience long after the music stopped playing. Scenes of Meine’s modesty were a welcome and recurring theme the entire show.

One of the highlights of the show was drummer James Kottak’s solo. It was choreographed with a video sequence playing behind him which featured Kottak playing a characterization reproducing the themes of various Scorpions album covers. It ended by Kottak playing the character from the Blackout album cover, complete with getting his eyes stabbed with forks. This transitioned into a high energy performance of the song “Blackout”, which featured Schenker wearing a mask to look like the character from the album cover. This entire section of the show was most definitely a crowd favorite.

Other highlights included a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio. Meine dedicated the song “Send Me An Angel” to him and called him a “true rock and roll legend” as the crowd began chanting “Dio… Dio… Dio…” There was also an amazing guitar solo from Matthias Jabs which featured some very powerful shredding, and intriguing sound effects.

The show finished with their signature classic “Rock You Like A Hurricane”. Following a loud and heartfelt “thank you” from Meine, the band gathered together on the runway to take their final bows. After a few quick handshakes and autographs for some lucky audience members, they walked off the stage as the crowd was still chanting for more even after the house lights in the arena were turned on.

Scorpions setlist:

1. Sting In The Tail
2. Make It Real
3. Bad Boys Running Wild
4. The Zoo
5. Coast To Coast
6. Loving You Sunday Morning
7. The Best Is Yet To Come
8. Send Me An Angel
9. Holiday
10. Raised On Rock
11. Tease Me, Please Me
12. Dynamite
13. Drum Solo/Blackout
14. Guitar Solo/Big City Nights
15. No One Like You
16. Rock You Like A Hurricane