We’re living in the age of the band reunion, but amazingly, only one group seems to have the balls to openly admit that it’s all about money.
That band is Dokken.
In an interview with the podcast One on One With Mitch LaFon, Dokken drummer Mick Brown bluntly states that the ’80s hard rock band’s upcoming “classic lineup” reunion is strictly cash-driven.
Brown currently plays in the modern form of Dokken with frontman Don Dokken, but for six dates in Japan later this year, they’ll be joined by George Lynch on guitar and Jeff Pilson on bass. The quartet recorded seven Dokken albums together, including 1984’s Tooth and Nail, 1985’s Under Lock and Key, and 1987’s Back for the Attack, but it appears there’s still some ill will, especially between Lynch and Don Dokken.
“If I have to be real honest with you, it’s the money we’re doing it for and I think that’s the wrong reason,” Brown tells LaFon in a rare case of honesty. “The reason should be we want to play together — and I don’t think anyone wants to play together — but the money we’re being offered to do it, you just can’t say no. To me that’s the wrong reason — but there it is.”
A jovial and light-hearted Brown adds that he’d love for everyone to get along, but that’s just not the reality of the situation. Talk of the Dokken reunion gets started around the 23-minute mark:
Elsewhere, Brown says: “There’s talk of us doing something in Japan at the end of this year and if that happens and we make it through, then there could be talk about something. Let’s just get through six shows and if we can do that, then maybe we can go ahead. It’s just up in the air.”
The tension between the frontman and Lynch hasn’t subsided, Brown says, and will likely linger when they take the stage together. “It was something that was there since day one and it’s never going to go away — and that’s what’s making me feel hesitant about getting together again… I haven’t seen a change in either one of them, so I don’t know what to expect. But I’m willing to find out. In spite of ourselves, we always seem to do well. It’s never very easy and I’m sure it’s not going to be this time either.”
According to Blabbermouth, Dokken’s classic ’80s lineup played together for a one-off at the House of Blues in Anaheim back in 2009. In 1987, their song “Dream Warriors” appeared in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors; revisit it below.