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It was a hard rock 80s night at Jannus Live in Saint Petersburg on Friday night. L.A. Guns and Dokken were on hand to give their enthusiastic fans a warm dose of nostalgia and great songs. Jannus Live is the former Jannus Landing, one of the best concert venues in the Tampa Bay area. It is an outdoors facility that closed for a time and reopened to rave reviews. Gone are the sight obstructing poles and tent and in its place is a larger expansive stage. The courtyard is roomier and still gives you close access to the stage.
L.A. Guns was first up on this brisk night. The group had some success in the late 80s with two straight gold albums. Currently there are two groups using the name. This was the group led by lead singer Phil Lewis and not founding guitarist Tracii Guns. Lewis though was the singer during their heyday, so fans may feel more connected to his version. Personally I am not familiar with most of their material.
They did perform their hit “The Ballad of Jayne” which got a good response from the crowd. Songs like the moody “Over the Edge” and the raunchy “Sleazy Come and Easy Go” were played with much gusto and energy. It was eerie how all the band members were dressed similarly with matching hair cuts as well. That may have been a coincidence, but I think not. Lewis kept his comments to the crowd to a minimum. He did state how much he loved Jannus and how they had a love/hate relationship with their biggest hit. He also shared a story on how “Sleazy Come and Easy Go” came about. And yes he did acknowledge the competing band, who were playing the next night at the State Theatre. He said you should check them out, but he wasn’t going to be there. This got a howling response from the masses. L.A. Guns put on a good show and their fans certainly appreciated it.
Dokken came rolling out a little after 10:30. Dokken now consists of lead singer Don Dokken, guitarist Jon Levin, drummer “Wild” Mick Brown and newest member bassist Sean McNabb. Don was sporting a bandana, jacket and customary sunglasses. He discarded the latter a few songs in. I was really interested to hear how Don’s voice would be on this night. In recent years it has gotten raspier and gravelly. There was ample evidence of that on their last studio album “Lightning Strikes Again” and in concerts. Don’s voice will never be what it once was, but it wasn’t bad on this night. I am happy to report that he did attack some of the notes that he held back on previously live.
The group started out with “Just Got Lucky”. This replaced the normal opener “Kiss of Death” which came two songs later. I appreciated the change. It shows that Don can switch some things up. Some fans actually thought George Lynch was back in the band since Don and he appeared together on “That Metal Show”. I had to break it to them that wasn’t the case. At the end of the night, I am almost certain they didn’t care that George was missing in action. Jon Levin was that good. His solos were blistering and on point. There were too many mouth agape moments when he was playing that I lost count. And his solos weren’t exact reproductions of George’s signature sound either. He added some of his own flavor to the proceedings.
I have never seen Don more relaxed than on this night. His interactions with the crowd can at times be awkward or just plain corny. I’ve seen him get genuinely upset when the crowd wouldn’t sing along with him. That was not the case here. He was jovial and clowning around. He would acknowledge various members of the crowd with points and nods. One of his latest moves is to use praying hands to show his appreciation. It was nice to see Don having so much fun up there.
Dokken stuck mainly to their 80s material in the setlist. Hits like “It’s Not Love”, “Tooth and Nail”, “The Hunter”, “Into the Fire” and of course “Alone Again” were unveiled to great acclaim. The crowd was in full froth mode when Don announced the band would do “Dream Warriors”. This song of course was from the third “Nightmare on Elm Street” film. It is my favorite song from their expansive musical canon. One fan actually had a “Dream Warriors” record that he held high in the air. Don clearly got a kick out of this by giving him a thumbs up and an affectionate point. The song wasn’t a complete success on this night. The power was somewhat lacking and Don slowed it down a bit too much. It actually sounded like a jazz version which destroys the whole point of the song. It still was fun to hear it after not hearing it in the last few tours in the States.
The deviations from this formula really made this night complete. Recent song “This Fire” could have fit comfortably on “Tooth and Nail” or “Under Lock and Key”. It rocked. The highlight for me however was “Too High to Fly” from “Dysfunctional”. Don said that album is one of his favorites which I did not know. He stated the song was during his drug addled days from the past and that is no longer the case. I’ve heard the song at previous concerts and thought it was a time waster. I respectfully now change my opinion on it. There are so many layers and aspects of it to chew on. The song starts off like it does on the album. It is all fine and dandy with Don singing his heart out about being stoned. Then Don exits stage left and it really starts to take off.
My favorite guitar solo of all time has always been Jake E. Lee’s one on the “The Ultimate Sin” tour. Not anymore. Jon blew me away with his solo here. It was magically scorching. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It literally transported me to another land of guitar solo brilliance. Jon Levin was the true MVP of the night. After that awesomeness, Don comes sauntering out. He proceeds to go off script and comes up with some lines about Jim Morrison and the Doors. It is weird and out there, but it totally fits with the song. Don even throws in some lines from “The End” and from the Free song “All Right Now”. Fantastic is the word that comes to mind with the whole experience from this over ten minute excursion.
Newest member Sean McNabb gets into the act late into the set. I am not a huge fan of solos other than guitar solos. His bass solo was neat and unique. I did enjoy it, but I would have rather had another song in its place. Dokken ended the night with video favorite “In My Dreams”. This was the best concert Dokken has done since I’ve started seeing them 12 years ago. Sure I would have loved to have heard something from “Erase the Slate”, an immensely underrated album. But I can’t complain too much. They rocked my ass off and hopefully they will for years to come.
Review by Eric Sloss
Images added by Matt Williams