Photos by Brooke Striewski

For years now, I’ve more or less been on a mission to see every and any band live that I’ve ever cared about going all the way back to my first concert (AC/DC) in 1996. Dokken is one such band that has alluded me all this time, although I have seen numerous ex-members over the years, including original bassist Juan Croucier on stage with Ratt in 2017, guitarist George Lynch at a Daytona record shop in 2018, and classic lineup bassist Jeff Pilson on stage with Foreigner in 2024 (whom I also interviewed for Rewind It Magazine earlier that same year).

But to see founder and frontman Don Dokken on stage performing the classics was still on my to-do list, especially knowing his intentions to “slow down” after various ailments, including a spinal/neck injury that left his right hand partially paralyzed in 2019 that has limited his mobility greatly. After taking all of this into consideration, the Mrs. and I made a last minute decision to make the trek to see Don and co. at the Mount Dora Music Hall in Mount Dora, FL this past Friday, 8/21, something I think we each can say we’re glad we made the effort for now.

Upon arrival, openers Papa Wheelee – who we previously caught opening for Bret Michaels and Lita Ford back in 2018, and as far as we could tell were not listed anywhere on the flyer for this event – were already well into their set, with guitarist Sam Bittenbinder walking down the aisles playing the national anthem with his axe behind his head, at which point we knew it would be a fairly epic night. The band closed out their sets with “Mississippi Bruhaha” (hopefully I got that one right) and “Do It Anyway,” priming the crowd for surely more epic moments to come.

Papa Wheelee performing at the Mount Dora Music Hall in Mount Dora, FL on 8/21/26 (Photo by Brooke Striewski).

And then, cover act Hairborn took the stage. Now, I don’t want to come off as too harsh here – there’s definitely some talent there, namely their two guitarists. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen the energy leave the room quite so fast before, nor have I ever witnessed so much dead noise in between songs from a band before (a sure way to lose some attention spans). They actually started off well enough though, opening with Judas Priest’s “Electric Eye” before going into Motley Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood,” Y&T’s “Mean Streak” (which I was actually surprised to hear), and Sammy Hagar’s “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” but I still couldn’t help but feel like things were a bit Spinal Tap-esque here.

The group then went into a cover of “We All Die Young” from the 2001 film Rock Star, something I’ve never seen anyone else attempt before. Triumph’s “Fight the Good Fight,” Tesla’s “Modern Day Cowboy,” Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years,” and Dio’s “Rainbow in the Dark” were all fun enough as well. But if the guys in Hairborn just worked on their onstage presence a bit more and maybe incorporate some onstage banter in between hits, they might find their fanbase grow even further.

Last but not least, Dokken finally took stage just after 10pm, and with his barstool within arms reach, it was clear this was a new era indeed. These days Don is backed by a solid band despite the absence of any and all other original members. Guitarist Jon Levin has been beside Don’s side for well over two decades now, while bassist Chris McCarvill and drummer BJ Zampa, who have each served time in House of Lords, provide a solid rhythm section.

Opening with “Kiss of Death,” the band went through “The Hunter,” “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” and “Fugitive” before Don took a seat to tell a story involving Polaroid photos regarding the origins of “Into the Fire” before launching into the 1984 track.

A drum solo from Zampa followed prior to another brief backstory on the song “Breaking the Chains” (which involved a conversation with Scorpions guitarist Rudolph Schenker while touring together back in the day), which midway through saw an unfortunate moment when Don accidentally unplugged Levin’s guitar and the crew scrambled to get it working again. (The rhythm section thankfully kept the beat going during this like the pros they are though.)

Things quickly got back on track with “Dream Warriors” (from 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3), which saw one of the biggest responses of the night from the crowd. The classic power ballad “Alone Again” was sandwiched in between newer track “Saving Grace” and ’90s-era number “Too High to Fly” before a guitar solo from Levin (which featured segments of “The End” by The Doors).

The classic sing-a-long “It’s Not Love” was up next before McCarvill was given his due with an impressive bass solo, which also segued into part of Free’s “All Right Now.” “In My Dreams” had the audience on their feet once more before “Heaven Comes Down” and finally, “Tooth and Nail,” rounded out their set for the night.

Was it a perfect show? Of course not (I’d say that’s fairly obvious at this point). But despite the current conditions (and any flaws), a Dokken show is still a show of rock royalty, one that I’m glad was finally able to be witnessed firsthand.

Dokken on stage at the Mount Dora Music Hall in Mount Dora, FL this past Friday, 8/21 (Photo by Brooke Striewski).

The Dirtt and Billion Dollar Babies at the Shock Rock Showdown in Mount Dora, FL on 9/20/25 Words By Jesse Striewski/Photos By Brooke Striewski

When it comes to “cover” bands (your average bar bands that simply play various songs by any given number of artists), I’ve always been vocal about my feelings towards them (which is usually not of the highest esteem). But tribute bands on the other hand, i.e. groups that go the extra mile to represent one band only as authentically as possible, I’ll usually make an exception or two for (even though in most cases I’ve typically already seen the original band/acts in the first place, such was the case with this past Saturday night’s showcase).

When I first set up coverage for the Shock Rock Showdown with Motley Crue and Alice Cooper tribute acts The Dirtt and Billion Dollar Babies, respectively (plus an appearance/autograph signing from legendary rock photographer Mark Weiss) at the Mount Dora Music Hall in Mount Dora, FL (the same venue Rewind It also covered last year’s KK’s Priest/L.A. Guns/Burning Witches show at), I didn’t know I’d once again be going to a show in ill health, having just had yet another PICC line installed/starting IV meds again the day before for the bone infection I’ve been fighting for far too long now.

But I hate not following through on my word, and the show had two things going for it that made the decision to still go all that much easier; not only was it at a seated venue (pretty much a dealbreaker right now), aside from it’s eight o’clock showing, it also had an earlier, matinee show that began at five, meaning I could be out of there early enough to wake up on time for my treatments the following morning (sold!)

But enough about my ‘woes,’ – “on with the show” (a little early Crue reference for those who remember) as they say. We arrived just in time to hear The Dirtt’s spot-on versions of “Wild Side” and “Take Me to the Top” before they slowed it down for the timeless power ballad “Home Sweet Home.” “Louder Than Hell” (also from the same 1985 album, Theatre of Pain) followed, and was definitely welcomed (certainly not one I’ve ever heard the actual Crue retrieve from the vault any of the many times I’ve seen them before).

The Dirtt giving the crowd their best Crue on Saturday night in Mount Dora, FL (Photo by Brooke Striewski).

More familiar numbers in the form of “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Kickstart My Heart” followed before the mood shifted with “Shout at the Devil” (complete with album intro “In the Beginning” beforehand), followed by “Looks That Kill,” which saw the band ceasing activity just after the first chorus due to “technical difficulties.” After regrouping the band then paid tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with their rendition of 1983’s “Bark at the Moon” before finally going out on top with the classic “Live Wire.”

In between acts we caught up with said Photographer Mark Weiss, who had a table set up and was signing copies of his book The Decade That Rocked, as well as his new magazine, Rocked. With Brooke and I each being heavily involved in the world of rock journalism (both print and photo) since roughly 2009 and 2013, respectively, it almost goes without saying we’ve both been fans of his for some time now (but being more of a photographer, I knew it meant much more to Brooke than it did myself).

Rewind It’s Brooke Striewski (center) and Jesse Striewski with legendary rock photographer Mark Weiss at the Shock Rock Showdown on 9-20-25 (selfie taken by Mr Weiss).

And Weiss could not have been more gracious of a host as he signed our copy of his book, making the experience all that much more worthwhile.

Billion Dollar Babies were up next, and instantly brought their best version of Alice Cooper with them. Opening with “Black Widow,” which unfortunately the band also found themselves dealing with some of their own “technical difficulties” for. But the issues were quickly resolved by the time the band moved on to such classics as “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Under My Wheels,” “Feed My Frankenstein,” and of course, “Billion Dollar Babies.”

More early tracks in the form of “Long Way to Go,” “Muscle of Love,” “Is It My Body,” “Dead Babies,” “Ballad of Dwight Fry” (complete with the singer sporting the straight jacket, naturally) and “Desperado” all followed before “Go to Hell,” “I Love the Dead,” “I’m Eighteen,” and “School’s Out” finally closed out the epic set on a high note.

Shock rockers Billion Dollar Babies paying tribute to Alice Cooper in Mount Dora, FL this past Saturday night, 9-20-25 (Photo by Brooke Striewski).

As alluded to before, I’ve been lucky enough to catch both the real Alice Cooper and Motley Crue bands live over the years (if memory serves right, four times each/eight times total), so by all means I could’ve easily skipped this show and been just fine in theory. But each band played their hearts out last Saturday, and even though I would’ve loved to have heard a tad more diverse of a set (some ’80s-era Cooper thrown in there actually would’ve been extremely welcomed), the night was no doubt a blast, and I’m glad we still have bands like these keeping the music alive.

KK’s Priest, L.A. Guns, and Burning Witches at the Mount Dora Music Hall in Mount Dora, FL on 3/8/24 By Jesse Striewski/Photos By Jacob Striewski

It’s been nearly twenty solid years now since I last saw legendary founding Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing onstage at the 2004 Ozzfest (on a bill that also saw the original lineup of Black Sabbath reunited), and about five years now since I last crossed paths with former Priest/Iced Earth frontman Tim “Ripper” Owens during the Dio Returns tour in 2019. To finally see these two icons together on the same stage with KK’s Priest, and allow my seventeen-year-old son Jacob to not only witness, but also photograph it at the Mount Dora Music Hall this past Friday, March 8, was nothing short of legendary itself.

Instantly, there was excitement in the air at the unknown venue we had traveled to for the first time ever, with the line wrapped around the building for what seemed like days. Once the doors opened, it was nearly impossible to navigate around the wall-to-wall people, but we immediately spotted L.A. Guns/former Faster Pussycat guitarist Ace Von Johnson doing his thing over by the merch tables, and took it upon ourselves to go say “Hi.”

Little did I know prior to this meeting that Von Johnson had also gotten into Black Sabbath around the release of 1992’s Dehumanizer album (coincidentally around the same time I had), which was also the very same shirt that I had on that night. This sparked an entire conversation about the late Ronnie James Dio and how amazing he was (and what an underrated album 1993’s Angry Machines truly is). But alas, I ultimately did not part ways with the literal shirt on my back, but rather settled for a photo standing together/next to it.

A mutual love for Black Sabbath’s Dehumanizer album; Rewind It’s Jesse Striewski (left) with L.A. Guns guitarist Ace Von Johnson at the show on 3/8/24.

By the time we had made it to our seats for the opening act Burning Witches, the place had already filled up nicely, and Jacob decided to just get some “practice” shots of them directly from our position (this turned out to be somewhat costly – more on that shortly). I was familiar with Burning Witches via their most recent album The Dark Tower, which for whatever reason I was never able to review despite it being sent to me at the time via their label. After seeing these five ladies live though, I kind of wished that I had.

The girls gave it their all as they plowed through powerful metal tracks like “Unleash the Beast,” “Wings of Steel,” “Hexenhammer,” “Lucid Nightmare,” “The Dark Tower,” and “Burning Witches.” I was honestly too busy low-key falling for frontwoman Laura Guldemond – who at one point left stage to run through the crowd in a frenzy – to fully take in the music. Guldemond’s stage presence was equivalent of a young David Lee Roth (albeit far more sexier), jumping and kicking her heart out the whole time (I’m pretty sure we even locked eyes there once or twice, too).

Burning Witches opening the night in Mount Dora, FL on 3/8/24.

Next up were L.A. Guns, who I have been trying to see for a long time now, but have had several missed calls (they were actually on the same bill for a 2022 Tom Kiefer/Faster Pussycat show that Rewind It covered, but cancelled at the eleventh hour). And although I have also interviewed former members like ex-bassist Kelly Nickels and late drummer Steve Riley over the years, I still needed to see original guitarist (and Guns N’ Roses co-founder) Tracii Guns live at some point, and to have him still paired alongside classic-era singer Phil Lewis was the icing on the cake.

The band were on top of their ’80s-rock game, first with Guns playing guitar over a tapped version of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary of a Madman” before ripping through old and new classics alike in the form of “Cannonball,” “Electric Gypsy,” “Over the Edge,” “You Betray,” “Sex Action” (with part of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It, Black” as an outro), “Speed,” (the intro of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” also thrown in there for good measure) “Never Enough,” a tender rendition of “The Ballad of Jayne,” and finally tearing the house down with “Rip and Tear.”

Phil Lewis (left) and Tracii Guns keeping the action going with L.A. Guns on 3/8/24.

And last but not least, the mighty KK’s Priest took stage with an onslaught of original tracks and Judas Priest classics alike, beginning with hard-hitters “Hellfire Thunderbolt” and “One More Shot at Glory” before launching into the immortal “The Ripper.”

“Reap the Whirlwind” was probably one of the least effective numbers of the night, while “Night Crawler” was a welcomed addition. “Sermons of the Sinner” lead to a trio of Priest classics I was not able to hear the band play when I originally saw them all those years ago in the form of “Burn in Hell,” “Beyond the Realms of Death,” and “Hell Patrol.”

“Brothers of the Road” was epic enough on its own, but lead to a slew of more Priest staples such as “Metal Meltdown,” “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown),” “Breaking the Law,” and of course, “Victim of Changes.” As if this was not enough, the guys still broke out two more strong ones in the form of “Raise Your Fists” and “Strike of the Viper.” As a die hard Priest fan for God only knows how long now, there was very little worth finding to complain about that night.

After the show, we ran into Ace one more time before exiting the venue. After exchanging some more pleasantries, I unfortunately had to let him down as easy as I could, and let him know I in fact could not bare to part ways with said Sabbath shirt (thanks for the guitar pic that you nailed me with during your set though – good shot, Ace!).

Metal legends KK Downing (left) and Tim “Ripper” Owens ran through both new hard-hitters and classic Judas Priest staples on 3/8/24.