Saturday February 27th was a night of old school rock and roll at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater as Dokken and Queensryche took the stage. The show was hosted by Eddie Trunk of VH1's That Metal Show, a popular MC in the metal community. That Metal Show has recently been taken off the air, but Eddie remains a staple in the metal community so it is very good to hear the show is currently searching for a new place to call home.
The stage set up for both bands was minimal, most likely due to Queensryche coming off the Monsters of Rock cruise just the day before. With simple backdrops and a large open stage space, it left the bands plenty of room to move around and rock out.
Dokken was up first and despite the chilly weather, the crowd had packed in to see the first band. Dokken's set relied heavily on older hits such as Into the Fire, Just Got Lucky and The Hunter. The current lineup of the band consists of founding members Don Dokken and Mick Brown (drums), Jon Levin on guitar, and Chris McCarvill returning on the bass. The synergy between this group of musicians is clear through their performance. The show was a major upgrade from seeing Dokk en a few years back, his notes were sharp, the music was tight, and he crowd was shouting along to every song. Surprisingly, only one song off the latest Dokken album made its way onto the setlist, so with a very 80's and early 90's heavy show, the older crowd was definitely catered to.
The crowd was buzzing with anticipation as the lights went dark for Queensryche to begin. Drummer, Scott Rockenfield started off the show with a drum intro as the rest of the ban d took the stage. For many of the fans in attendance, this was their first time seeing a live performance with the band’s new singer Todd La Torre. The set kicked off with Guardian from the newly released Condition Human album. The following songs, however, boasted many of the older Queensryche tracks such as Operation: Mindcrime The Killing Words, and Queen of the Reich. La Torre proved throughout the show that he is more than capable of the extreme high notes that Queensryche is known for. While some people may hold reservations about the split, if given the opportunity, go see the band live. You will not be disappointed.