Dokken
One Live Night DVD
Review by Greg Olma
I always felt that Dokken was unfairly lumped in with the hair metal bands because they were a metal band before that sub-genre existed. Not only that, they had much more to offer than just a bunch of guys trying to dress better than their girlfriends. Unfortunately, they imploded just as they were going to break, and just when you thought it wouldn’t happen, the band reunited in 1994 to play this intimate show in Redondo Beach, California. They had been recording a record beforehand, but this turned out be an excuse to go out and play in front of a small audience. Not only was this concert intimate, it was an acoustic set of new tunes, older classics, and a couple of covers. The newer songs from Dysfunctional that were performed are “The Maze,""Nothing Left to Say" and "From the Beginning," which is an Emerson, Lake and Palmer cover. Those tracks fit nicely in the set that also included the classics “Into the Fire," “In My Dreams”,and “It’s Not Love." One of the great things about this concert is hearing the band break down and “re-imagine” the songs for the acoustic treatment. When you hear the cuts in this way, you really notice the subtleties and nuances that may not have been apparent in the full electric mixes. Also, Dokken do not get enough credit for their vocal harmonies, which are in full force during the show. It is hard to cover mistakes and weaknesses during these types of performances, which is why you can see just how well the band is able to pull off any of their tunes in a concert setting.
If I had to knock this release for anything, it would be for the quality of the footage. It’s not up to today’s standards and quite honestly, it wasn’t up to late 90s standards, either. It is a pro-shot official release but it has a bit of a bootleg quality about it, which does give it some charm. The lighting is dark and moody, which is perfect for the show so I’m glad they didn’t over-light the stage just to get the crisp video, but a little bit more might have increased the video quality overall. There is some bonus material that consists of some interviews, but if you see it once, you will not need to go back and re-watch it anytime soon. Overall this is a bare bones release, but I feel that the performance of the band makes One Night Live a worthy purchase.
This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2021 Volume 4. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2021.
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