UNCHAIN THE NIGHT Unleashes Dokken Classics in the Tuscany Copa Room!

The Unchain the Night Dokken tribute played the Copa Room at the Tuscany Hotel on Saturday, April 18, 2026.

The Tuscany’s Copa Room continues to remain one of Las Vegas’ hottest spots to catch a rock show. In the wake of Count’s Vamp’d closing last summer, few venues have put forth this effort to recapture much of the local music scene, and this rock and roller is there on a nearly weekly basis! My thanks as always to Mitch, Grayson, Mike, Brian, and everyone else at the venue for giving headbangers a place to go in this town, in an era when the future of live music seems uncertain.

The Unchain the Night Dokken tribute was the latest band to hit the stage at the Tuscany’s Copa Room (again, this venue is not to be confused with the similarly named Copa Room at the Bootlegger restaurant, where former Vamp’d owners Korie and Danny “The Count” Koker occasionally book shows). The band consists largely of members of Southern California’s Lovedrive Scorpions tribute band, who had played the venue the week before (though I unfortunately missed that show due to covering the SATCHVAI Band around the corner at the Virgin (formerly Hard Rock) Hotel).

Every venue in Vegas takes different approaches to live entertainment, and one place I’ll really give the Tuscany’s Copa Room credit is in their willingness to be flexible and listen to feedback. Some of the biggest problems with live music shows in Vegas is that they often start far too late and book too many bands. To my shock and delight, this show actually had its doors open at 6:30 PM, and the band start not long after 7:00 PM! There was only one band, and they only played two sets, so I was out the door and home by 10:00 PM. I hope this is the norm going forward for most of the forthcoming Tuscany Copa shows as well as elsewhere in town. It’s a much-needed breath of fresh air. To quote something I told one of the staff members at the Tuscany once: “KISS likes to rock and roll all night. I like to rock and roll until about 10:30.”

Unfortunately, there was one other outside factor that did make the experience a little frustrating on this evening, and that’s that a Grateful Dead beer event going on simultaneously blocked off much of the parking behind the Tuscany building, making finding a parking space extremely difficult. That combined with it being WrestleMania weekend in Vegas. Just one of those unfortunate “perfect storm” scenarios with a lot going on. As the Tuscany lacks a parking garage, it isn’t a good idea to hold an event that eliminates available parking spaces. That said, once inside the building, it wasn’t too hard to tell the headbangers apart from the Deadheads, which was actually quite comical.

But enough of that. You came here to read about music, right? I’m pleased to say that, in all the times I’ve seen Unchain the Night do a live gig, they’ve never failed to please. I’ve seen Don Dokken perform three or four times in the past 15 years, and the word disappointment comes to mind. I respect the man and his legacy, but he simply can’t sing anymore and should’ve retired from live performances around the turn of the millennium.

But this is why we have tribute bands.

And I’m pleased to say, once again, this quarter from Southern California absolutely slayed. This is what live Dokken music should sound like. I can say without hesitation I’d rather go watch these guys than the actual Dokken because they sing and play the material with the passion and fire that it requires.

Unchain the Night’s two sets consisted of tracks from the band’s four classic 1980s studio albums: BREAKING THE CHAINS, TOOTH AND NAIL, UNDER LOCK AND KEY, and BACK FOR THE ATTACK, spanning songs released from approximately 1981-1987. For fans of Dokken, this is the golden age, and it’s no surprise that it’s the era they hone in on this era primarily. Hits performed included the likes of “Breaking the Chains,” “Just Got Lucky,” “Tooth and Nail,” “Alone Again,” “The Hunter,” “Unchain the Night,” “In My Dreams,” “It’s Not Love,” “Kiss of Death,” “Dream Warriors,” “Heaven Sent,” the instrumental “Mr. Scary,” and a fantastic finale with the classic epic “Paris is Burning.” Unchain the Night is also no stranger to the deep cuts, tossing in numbers like “When Heaven Comes Down” and “Don’t Close Your Eyes” (not to be confused with the Kix song of the same name). I did notice a few songs shuffled around and handwritten/crossed out on the setlist, meaning there were likely some last minute changes, so sadly a few of the cuts written on the setlist like “Bullets to Spare” and “Walk Away,” the latter being the sole new studio track from 1988’s live BEAST FROM THE EAST record, didn’t get played.

That said, if tracks had to be cut or moved around due to time constraints or other factors, I believe the band took the best possible route, taking the high ground to please fans with a wide variety of hits and a generous helping of deep cuts. I’d love to see cuts like “Prisoner,” “Felony,” and “Night By Night” make the cut eventually, but as is, these guys have a solid setlist. “It’s Another Day,” the lone new studio track from the 2016 live reunion release RETURN TO THE EAST could make another fine inclusion as well.

Everyone in the band knows their job and does it well. Replicating George Lynch’s guitar work from those classic albums is no easy task, but it’s pulled off nicely here. Event frontman Bill was regularly interacting with the crowd, encouraging participation and involvement from the fans. The Tuscany’s Copa Room has a lot of tables and chairs (unsurprising given that it was clearly built with the Rat Pack tribute show it hosts in mind) but I don’t think anyone was sitting down. Plenty of fans (myself included!) crowded the stage area and were rocking out the whole time. Unchain the Night has that effect on rock fans.

What a night of rock and roll! Not only did we finally get an evening of hard rock at a decently early staring and ending time (with a crowd that was no smaller than later-starting shows), but Unchain the Night shelled out Dokken hits and deep cuts in fine form without a dull moment in their entire set. If you’re at all a fan of Dokken or classic 80s hard rock/metal, these guys get the job done. Very highly recommended!