DOKKEN Guitarist Jon Levin

DOKKEN Guitarist Jon Levin - "There Is An '80's Revival All Over The Country"


Special report by Deb Rao

DOKKEN is currently on the road on the Live, Raw, And Uncut Tour featuring POISON, DOKKEN and SEBASTIAN BACH. Dokken guitarist Jon Levin has checked in with this special update from The Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

What have some of the highlights been so far on this tour?
Levin: "The tour has been going great. Every night is a highlight. We are really enjoying playing on this arena tour. Everyone has been so nice. We are having a blast both onstage and off. I have been playing my Charvel guitar with the skulls a lot on this tour."

Dokken has been introduced to a whole new audience due to the Bret Michaels reality show Rock of Love. How does the band enjoy performing to the die-hard Dokken fans, as well as Bret's audience?
Levin: "It has been great. Not only have I noticed the fans singing along to our older hits songs, but they know the words to the new stuff as well. For example when I look out there in the audience and see the kids singing the words to 'Standing On The Outside', it is exciting. From the response from the crowd 'Standing On the Outside' is already a Dokken classic. For some reason the chemistry between Don and I performing on this tour has been the best yet. We have been working together for a long time."

What are the differences between performing on the East Coast and West Coast US?
Levin: "The only downfall to playing on the arena tour is the limited set list. We have a 40 minute set. I don't get to extend my solos at all. Which at the clubs we get to play a longer set. It is difficult to decide which songs to take out. We just played to a packed at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY and we performed a lot of the Dokken classics. The East Coast tour has featured some of the top named arena venues in the country. They were packed every night. I don't think there is any difference, there is a '80's revival all over the country."

What are Dokken touring plans after the arena tour ends?
Levin: "Lightning Strikes Again has been doing very well in the US as well as in Japan. There is talk of a Japan tour end of October early November and a theater tour to follow."