Watch DOKKEN perform in New Buffalo, Michigan

The zztopeurope Youtube Channel uploaded a video from DOCKINGConcert on July 12 at the Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, Michigan. Check out the clips below.

Last month, DOCKING postponed what was announced as the band’s European farewell tour due to the frontman Don Dokken‘s ongoing health problems.

At 21th of June DOCKING released the following statement on social media: “It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you that all planned DOCKING The European summer dates have to be postponed.

“Due to ongoing complications following extensive neck surgery and a recently broken ankle, Don will currently not be able to stand for long periods of time or travel abroad.

“Don believes that European fans deserve the best possible farewell. With that in mind, he will do his best to make amends in 2025. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”

In a recent interview with Shawn Ratches by Laughingmonkeymusic, Don talked about the difficulties he had in maintaining his voice as he got older and the problems he had in reproducing it DOCKING‘s classic material in a live setting. He said in part: “I’ve gotten a lot of complaints. I see fans when I say, ‘The kiss of…’ (in the song ‘Kiss of death’) and I hit this B over A, this super soprano note, and I didn’t hit it, and people said, ‘Hey, you didn’t hit the note.’ I said, ‘Dude, I’ve done about three thousand concerts. It’s like a car. It wears out.'”

He continued: “When you’re in your twenties, I don’t know if we’re going to have another record or another hit or anything like that – I don’t know. So here I am just singing (in the high register). I was trying to copy (rob) Halford (JUDAS PRIEST) or all these bands and Klaus (Mine, SCORPIONS by singing) so high, but you’re on tour for a year and a half and you do four hundred shows and five albums and then you start – like me, I’m pretty stocky today just from talking to everybody. And that’s the way it is. And you get older. I’m 70, man. And some of these fans say… I’ve heard people say, ‘Don has to give up. He can’t hit the high notes.’ I’ll say, ‘Let’s see if you can hit the high notes, 24-year-old. Go ahead. Try it.'”

Don He went on to say that even if he sang “perfectly like in 1983,” there would still be critics. He added: “My daughter always visited our website and we had an open forum. So anyone could say, anything they wanted. And a guy called Acornwho didn’t even use his real name, and he made a comment when he said, “I went to five DOCKING shows this summer and Don was shitty.’ And I said, ‘Then why did you come to five shows?’ And my daughter shot back. And we finally blocked him. And I said, ‘Honey, you have to remember, this guy works at Subway and he makes tuna sandwiches all day, and he has this new thing called the internet, and he can go ahead and post whatever he wants,’ ‘because I didn’t censor,’ ‘and that’s their way of getting attention.’ Then you get people to say, ‘Fuck you,’ and ‘I agree with you.'”

Don said he wanted to “keep going until it’s no longer fun,” and he had a special message for those DOCKING Fans who are disappointed that he cannot reproduce his vocal performance from four decades ago.

“If I can’t sing the way you remember me, then just don’t come to the show,” he said. “I have no problem with that.”

Already in April 2022DOCKING Bassist Jeff Pilson addressed DonVoice problems in an interview with Tulsa Music StreamHe said, “Well, listen, to be honest, not all singers keep their vocal range… They don’t have much Glenn Hughes And Ronnie Dios out there in the world whose voices never seem to be affected. I can’t sing the way I did 35 years ago. That’s something to keep in mind.

“I hope that Don takes care of himself and I hope that he can continue singing as long as possible and that he will have a small breakthrough,” Jeff continued. “I know he’s had a lot of health problems and he’s had – it’s just a lot of problems – so there’s a reason he’s probably had some difficulties. But I wish him the best, I really do. I think he just has a wonderful voice and when it works, it’s a unique, magical voice. So I hope he has fewer problems in the future.”

Don spoke about his voice problems in an interview with Antihero Magazine. At the time, he said: “Yeah, that was a problem. We get older and our voices aren’t what they were when we were 27, 30, 35 or 40. As you get older, your voice isn’t as high as it used to be, so you lose the high notes. And I know every singer in this business, but I know very few singers that when I see them live, I say, ‘Holy shit, they sound just as good as they did when they were 30, and now they’re 70.'” Klaus Meine still sings incredibly. He has an incredible voice. He still sounds the same. So I guess it’s a God thing. Maybe God just gives people a gift.”

He continued: “You see Glenn Hughes go out and do DARK PURPLE Songs. And Glenn Hugheshe is (72). He sings incredibly. Ronnie James Diountil almost the end of his life, when he had cancer, he gave a concert at Radio City Music Hall (with HEAVEN HELL) and he was battling cancer and still sounded great, like he always did. So I guess some people are blessed and some aren’t.

“In my world I have good days and bad days, and I don’t want to blame anyone,” Don added. “But if you fly for five hours in a pressurized cabin, then go to a hotel and the air conditioning is on and it’s 38 degrees outside, and then go to your room and it’s 15 degrees and then get back on the plane, your voice fails you.”

After DOCKINGThe previous studio album from 2012 “Broken Bones”could not meet its commercial expectations, Don publicly questioned whether the band should or would record another record. He was also mercilessly criticized by fans after radiation treatments for stomach cancer and later vocal cord surgery affected his performances.

He told the Bradenton-Herald that he took about a year off after “Broken Bones” to regroup and reassess the band’s place in the rock market.

“I got so bad that I had to say, ‘Guys, I’m just destroying our brand. I suck.'” Docking said. “I gained 40 pounds. I couldn’t sing. I just didn’t look good; I didn’t feel good. I just had to get through the radiation and the rehab and get back.”

Don underwent surgery on his neck and spine in November 2019, after which he could no longer play guitar.

DOCKING released his 13th studio album, “Heaven is coming down”on 27 October 2023 via Music by Silver LiningThe follow-up to “Broken Bones” was produced by Bill Palmer And Don Dokken and was mixed by Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN).