It seems like everyone has a story of seeing a concert, or several, at The Token Lounge. The “Smokin'” Token to many in the Detroit area.
Located in Westland on Joy Road, The Token Lounge has been around for a very long time. Owned by John Anton since 1994, the venue has seen thousands of national and local bands take to its stage. John estimates that they’ve had between 4,000-5,000 bands play there. In an interview I did with local guitar hero and Motley Crue guitarist John 5 a few years back, he told me that no matter how famous or big he got, he’d always play The Token Lounge.
While John 5 has played there a few times in the past several years, so have many others. Anton says it’s cool to see some of the bands that were huge in the 80s, childhood heroes, now playing at his club. Slaughter, Kings X, Saxon, UFO, Angel, Lynch Mob, Firehouse, Don Dokken, Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple, Steven Adler from GNR, Winger, Tom Keifer from Cinderella, and TONS more have played the Token stage.
The biggest shows they’ve had there were former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley and ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist Buckethead. I was at both of those shows and I can back up those claims. The Token was packed!
I asked John about some of the nicer artists he’s dealt with over the years and two came to mind right away. He said guitarist Anthony Gomes and Graham Bonnet of Rainbow and Alcatraz fame.
Do yourself a favor and go see a show at The Token Lounge. It’s like taking a walk through rock history, and you might see a childhood hero of yours right in front of you on stage.
Check out a list of the upcoming shows here. But first, take a look at some pictures I took recently at the Token.
