DOKKEN Guitarist GEORGE LYNCH Talks "Complicated" Reunion – "I’d Pretty Much Given Up On It Happening"

The classic Dokken lineup of vocalist Don Dokken, guitarist George Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer “Wild” Mick Brown have announced a string of dates in Japan this October. Reuniting for six shows only, this lineup will perform in Japan for the first time in 21 years. Dubbed Unleashed In The East, Don Dokken comments on the upcoming shows: “I am very excited to come back to Japan and play with the members of Dokken that I spent so much time with. Being that its only 6 shows, we are going to make as spectacular as possible.”

Prior to the Japanese dates, Dokken will play their only US reunion show on Friday, September 30th at Badlands Pawn, Gold, and Jewelry in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Rocker Gabbie Rae will open the show.

Lynch recently spoke with Team Rock about the reunion, a new Dokken song that’s been written, and whether more shows are in the works. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: When the idea to do these reunion shows came up, were you surprised? Did you feel that it was something that would happen again at some point, or was the possibility off your radar completely?

Lynch: “I had been campaigning for it, actually. I’ve been an advocate for some form of reunion for many years. And we’ve had a few failed attempts at it. So I’d pretty much given up on it happening until this came along, which came through a completely different avenue than anybody had expected. It was one of our ex-roadies, one of the very first drum techs we had, who has since risen up through the ranks in the music business and is really well connected. He put it together.”

Q: Assuming these shows go off without any problems, do you think we might see more activity from the original Dokken lineup in the future?

Lynch: “If I were betting I’d say there’s probably a 50/50 chance. And I’d be advocating for that, too. But it gets more complicated when you’re talking about more shows because of all our other commitments. Jeff is locked in very seriously with Foreigner. It’s not easy for him to take a couple weeks off. That’s probably our biggest restriction. But it definitely would be something that promoters and the fans would like to see. On a business level I’m sure it could be done very easily. So, you know, never say never.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Billboard recently caught up with Don Dokken about the lineup coming back together and is adamant that the upcoming shows will be it for the band.

“My manager is getting hit up every day for pretty large sums of money to play festivals next summer, all over the world. But I had to say no,” he explains. “I love the band I have now; we’ve been together for 13 years, and I don’t want to hurt that franchise. Plus if we were to continue with (the original) lineup, old wounds might be opened, and I don’t want to revisit that. I don’t think any of us wants to. It’s all great when a marriage fails and you say, ‘I’m gonna get back with my ex’ — for a week, maybe. Six months into it, the wounds come back. I don’t want to experience that. It’s just not part of my life anymore, and I think the other guys feel the same way. So this will be enough.”

The Japan tour will launch on October 5th in Osaka, Japan, then heads to Fukuoka, Tokyo for the Loud Park Festival before continuing on to Hiroshima, Aichi and finally, back to Tokyo for the last show on October 12th.

Dokken’s Tooth And Nail, released in 1984, contained several hit songs including “Alone Again”, “Just Got Lucky” and “Into the Fire”, and sold over three million copies worldwide and the band continued releasing many more records with the same success.

Tickets for this once in a lifetime event, as well as VIP package experiences, went on sale August 27th. This will be the one and only opportunity for fans to see the original lineup play their iconic hits.

Tour dates:

October
5 – Osaka, Japan – Namba Hatch
6 – Fukuoka, Japan – Fukuoaka Civic Hall
8 – Tokyo, Japan – Loud Park Festival
10 – Hiroshima, Japan – BlueLive Hiroshima
11 – Aichi, Japan – Zepp Nagoya
12 – Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Divercity Tokyo

Drummer “Wild” Mick Brown joined Mitch Lafon for Episode #223 of One On One With Mitch Lafon back in May. He discussed the upcoming reunion and the confirmed Japanese tour dates.

About the Dokken reunion Brown said: “In spite of ourselves, we always seem to do well. You have to decide – I’m in or I’m out. Let it go and play ball… Somehow, it seems to work out. It’s never very easy and I’m sure it’s not going to be this time either.”