Review of Dokken: Live From The Sun

Introduction

Filmed at the Sun Theater in Anaheim, Ca. in November of 1999, the LIVE FROM THE SUN DVD was conceived and edited by Don Dokken.

Who or what is Dokken? Believe it or not, Dokken came from the L.A. rock scene in the late 70s with millions in record sales and huge stadia filled concerts. Comprised of Don Dokken (lead vocals/guitar), Jeff Pilson (vocal/bass guitar/guitar), Mick Brown (vocal/drums/percussion) and Reb Beach (guitars/vocals). With a line up like this, I still had never heard of the band until I received this DVD. I didn`t think I led that sheltered a life, but I was never into Kerrang either.

This DVD has 12 tracks, 10 from the concert, and 2 are `unplugged` acoustic numbers.

Video

Presented with a 4:3 fullframe, this DVD looks good. The concert performance was recorded with quite a few cameras and is edited in an interesting way. Numerous screens can sometimes show up with some nice post-production effects too and just add something more interesting to look at rather than a boring piece of concert footage. There are some onscreen graphics too which aren`t too bad and thankfully there`s not too much of this. The quality of the transfer looks very good with no sign at all of compression or dirt. Even with all the smoke on the stage it still looks good.

I think a wider anamorphic frame, perhaps using 1.85:1 (16x9), would have offered more `scope` visually and adds to the feeling of the live event.

Audio

There are two soundtracks here, DD2.0 and DD5.1. The 2.0 track is okay for those without a 5.1 decoder and provides fine fidelity throughout, though as with most concert videos, the soundtrack can sound somwwhat detached from the onscreen action. The 5.1 soundtrack sounded loud and powerful with a wide soundstage across the front. Good amount of bass too with no distortion.

Features

Nice animated menus lead to Song Selection, Special Features and The Gallery. In Special Features we get two `unplugged` tracks, `Walk Away` and `Will The Sun Rise`; a 13 minute band interview (Spanish subtitles only) and weblinks. The Gallery contains 12 stills each from the Art Gallery and Photo Gallery. All in all not a very impressive bunch of features. Since I`m new to the band it might have been nice to include a production booklet or onscreen text with biographies or discographies, something to interest me in the band a little further. The included interview is too short at just 13 minutes as well.

It would be good to also have the track titles come up onscreen as it starts just for those of us that are unfamiliar with the music.

Conclusion

I can hear some of you murmur quietly to yourselves, "Who the hell are Dokken?". I muttered something similar when I opened the package and immediately thought the worse of it when I saw what looked liked aged rockers in a concert still on the back of the box.

Dokken are one of those rock bands from the old school. It was formed, the lineup changed, the band split up and was re-formed in the 90s and somehow managed to survive. There`s nothing really new here in this DVD that hasn`t been seen before in other musical DVDs.

I haven`t been into the rock/metal scene for years so Dokken come as a complete surprse to me. I still love listening to early Iron Maiden (with Adrian and Bruce up front), early Megadeth and some early Metallica. I`ve just realised that it`s always the early stuff for me that sounded better, anyway, I digress! I think Dokken fans will like this DVD since the live performance is edited in an interesting way unlike the usual live concert type of affair which can be quite dull. There are lots of camera`s around and the angles used together with the way the screen is split makes it somewhat snazzy.

Lastly, for those that really insist on knowing, Dokken was #10 on VH1`s list of the Top 40 Best Hair Bands...Sadly there`s nothing new, so I think this is one for the fans more than anyone else.