Dokken With An Aerial View
By John Foxworthy
Photos by Jim Mounteer

December in Salt Lake City is usually filled with the sound of winter horse and buggy rides, the occasional waft of sweets baking in specialty shops and Christmas carols playing lightly through outdoor speakers atop many of the light posts all over downtown. On this night, however, the excited chatter of Dokken fans anticipating the band's first stop here in years aptly fused with holiday spirit and the hoards of sports fans migrating to the nearby Delta Center to see the Jazz get their butts kicked by the Miami Heat.

As we walked towards The Velvet Room at Shaggy's from the parking lot, a member of the crowd behind me commented on the bright yellow and black Pittsburg Steelers coat I was wearing, comparing them to the Broncos ... didn't those guys just get steamrolled by San Diego yesterday?

Jimmy Felt and Tim White

The outside of the venue was very misleading, being a historical cement storefront and probably built sometime in the 1880s. From the door there was a long, dark hall that opened up into a spacious floor area with two bars and a fairly good-sized stage. We took our seats towards the back by the waitress station where we could get a great view of the whole scene. '80s Rock played over the house P.A. and one couldn't walk more than 10 feet without encountering a mullet or some form of ratted hairstyle. The entire crowd barked out "Bang you're head!" along with the Quiet Riot playing over the speakers.

About 15 minutes before the opening band, Aerial, took the stage, I was introduced to their lead singer, Mike Hernandez. He was extremely friendly and completely supercharged ... I knew then that these guys would do a hell of a job priming the crowd for Dokken. I talked to Mike for a few minutes, getting their web address, band member names, set list and his email address. He then disappeared into the crowd as he headed back towards the stage.

Suddenly the entire room was doused in a piercing violet light from the modest par can rack hanging behind the stage. Aerial burst into their first song of the set, "The Right War," which Mike announced as a brand new song during the intro. They had incredible energy. Hernandez was all over the stage, interacting with his band mates and giving much attention to the audience while Tim White, Aerial's bassist, sported a permanent smile that almost radiated it's own stage lighting.

Aerial: Jimmy Felt (guitar), Ivan Jay (drums),
Mike Hernandez (vocals), Tim White (bass)

The next song, "Hot Summer Nights," seemed to be a crowd favorite. They sang the chorus as Mike held the microphone out over them. The first round was a little weak and Hernandez walked towards the back of the stage with his head down, only to return and scream at the crowd, "I didn't like that one! We're going to do this again, so let's get it right this time," and get it right they did. The place erupted in a thunderous round of "Hot Summer Nights!"

Meanwhile, Tim White played his bass, leaning over the crowd with his fret hand draped over the top of its neck and throwing guitar picks into the audience. Lead guitarist, Jimmy Felt, jumped into a scorching solo ... as a matter of fact, all of his solos were scorching. While he didn't exert the same hyper-energy as the rest of the band, it was obvious that he was very focused and it really came through in his performance.

Song number four was a rocked-out version of Nick Gilder's 1978 classic, "Hot Child In The City." This really got the crowd going and everything became a blur of bobbing heads and bouncing band members. After the song was over, Tim raised a cup of beer in the air prompting the crowd to toast to the right to Rock and Roll. His long, brown hair over his eyes and his brilliant, near perfect, smile got me to thinking, "Doesn't this guy kinda look like Eddie Van Halen?"

Timmy Champagne

Mike constantly referred to his bass player as "Timmy Champagne," which was good for a laugh from the crowd every time he said it. At this point, he began to just talk to the audience, thanking the bar's staff for doing a great job, introducing the band and announcing that Garage Radio was in the house. Afterwards they launched into another very energetic set of songs, of which I wasn't able to catch the names, but they were real crowd pleasers.

Finally it was time to wrap up, but not before one more song. Mike spoke to the crowd about idols and how when he heard this tune in 1965, he thought it was badass and he paid a tribute to the late Johnny Cash in the form of a "Metalized" version of "Folsom Prison Blues," while the mirrored Disco ball on the ceiling projected little white specks of light all over the hall. They thanked the crowd, who was cheering at an insane decibel level, and the Velvet Room staff again. Tim yelled over his mic that we'd be "rockin' with Dokken" and they began to clear their equipment off of the stage.

A no confundirse con la banda AOR/pop rock comandada por Gary O’Connor, según investigue ellos (Aerial) aparentemente son los que deberían tener la exclusividad del nombre, ya que poseen alrededor de 20 años de carrera musical. Estos chicos hacen buen Rock and Roll, los cual se ve reflejado en su demo EP de 4 canciones titulado “I’ve Seen It All”. No se si mi equipo empezó a funcionar mal, pero el sonido de la grabación no me terminó de convencer, ya que las canciones, como la interpretación de Aerial son muy buenas. Influencias? Si hablamos de las auditivas, diría que se acercan a un Poison, Scritt Scrat, y toda esa movida Glam actual, aunque la imagen de la banda no tiene mucho que ver con su sonido, cosa poco común, porque como todos sabemos los ‘glammys’ justamente balancean su música con su imagen ambigua y extravagante. La imagen de Aerial se acerca mas al Hard Rock, dejando de lado el maquillaje, pero conservando las bases, los coros y los riffs que caracterizan a esta vertiente. Para quienes conocen a Bulletboys, es como verlos a ellos hoy en día, si comparan con la imagen de sus videos, no los reconocen, verdad? Volviendo a su música, no encontré ningún hit entre las canciones, aunque reitero que tanto su interpretación como los arreglos de cada temas están bien logrados, caso de “Crazy Over You”. Los integrantes son: Tom Browing en bajo, Michael Hernandez voz y guitarra, Jimmy Felt en batería y en el demo tras la batería esta Ivin Jay. Este disco es 3 años viejo, por lo que si nos guiamos en la tecnología y superación de cada banda deben esta arrollando cabezas en cada show que se presentan hoy en día. Chequeen su página, y ustedes mismos podrán disfrutar de las excelentes melodías de Aerial.

Translation:

Not to be confused with the AOR/pop band rock commanded by Gary ÓConnor, according to it investigates they (Aerial) apparently are those that must have the exclusive feature of the name, since they have around 20 years of musical race. These boys make good Rock and Roll, as he is himself reflected in his demo EP of 4 songs titled "Ive Seen It All". Not if my equipment began to work badly, but the sound of the recording did not finish to me convincing, since the songs, as the interpretation of Aerial is very good. Influences? If we spoke of the auditory ones, would say that a Poison, Scritt Scrat approach, and all that moved present Glam, although the image of the band does not have much to do with its sound, little common thing, because as all we know ' glammys' exactly they balance his music with his ambiguous and outlandish image. The image of Aerial approaches but to the Hard Rock, leaving of side the maquillaje, but conserving the bases, the choirs and riffs that characterizes to this slope. For those who know Bulletboys, she is like seeing them nowadays, if they compare with the image of his videos, do not recognize them, right? Returning to its music, I did not find any hit between the songs, although I reiterate that its interpretation as much as the adjustments of each subjects well are obtained, case of "Crazy Over You". The members are: Tom Browing in low, Michael Hernandez voice and guitar, Jimmy Felt in action and in demo after the battery this Ivin Jay. This disc is 3 years old, reason why if we guided in the technology and overcoming of each band they must this coiling heads in each show that appear nowadays. Check his page, and you yourself will be able to enjoy excellent melodies of Aerial