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Sound Off!FOREIGNER -
Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA 8/3/06 It's a long and winding road that leads to the Mountain Winery in the hills
above Saratoga, but well worth what it takes to get there...a lot like the
band playing that night. Since their first album release in 1977, Foreigner
has followed its own winding road, but here they are in 2006, still going
strong and rockin' harder than ever. Mick Jones - lead guitar and vocals This was Foreigner's first show after canceling the previous four or five shows due to Kelly having some throat problems, so I wondered if the performance would be affected much by that. But from the first lines of Double Vision it was pretty obvious that Kelly was just fine...and pretty impressive considering what a rigorous schedule they've been on in this tour. Before I go on, here's the set list and the comments I jotted down for them: Double Vision - excellent opening number, a very powerful performance Head Games - still one of my favorites Cold As Ice - pure emotion! Kelly came out into the crowd, high fiving everybody and had a hard time getting back on to the stage, several ladies trying to grab him (I, however, behaved myself. Also I was too far away to create an incident :P Blue Morning, Blue Day - the fans always enjoy this one Waiting for a Girl Like You - go ahead and laugh, I never get tired of this ballad. It really is a beautiful song and Kelly absolutely does it justice vocally Dirty White Boy - when Kelly asked how many naughty girls are in the audience, there were a lot of arms in the air! Say You Will - beautiful vocal harmonies during this song....the guys performed it acoustically and I actually liked this "unplugged" performance over the studio version. Did you guys know bassist Jeff Pilson is also known for his vocal ability? Starrider - love the way Mick owns up to probably being high when he wrote this! Another song with gorgeous vocal harmonies in it, and a very nice guitar solo by Mick. Band intro: Mick introduces Jeff Pilson's new look and Thom Gimbel as the "international playboy" of the band. I'm sure the groupies in the crowd loved that! Feels Like The First Time: we all sang loudest for this one, I especially liked hearing Thom Gimbel on the saxophone in this one Urgent - can be described with one word: WOOOOOOO! Jeff Jacobs - organ solo - well, being a Journey fan, I can appreciate it, I used to like to hear Jon Cain's piano solos too Jason Bonham - drum solo - haven't seen him perform live before...all I can say is, this guy is so good it's SICK. Jukebox Hero/Whole Lotta Love - the crowd went nuts for this one, it absolutely rocked! I actually liked this song better live. Long, Long Way From Home- another longtime favorite I Want To Know What Love Is - the message of this song still touches me. The harmonies in this were done so well, and people responded to Kelly trying to get everyone to be the "chorus" Hot Blooded - the temperature of this crowd might've been over that famous 103....what an awesome ending to the show. (not that anyone wanted it to end) The energy in this intimate little venue soared as high as the stunning vocals of Kelly Hansen, the band's new front man, who I don't mind saying is one of the best voices in rock music that I've ever heard. Lou Gramm was indeed one of the greatest vocal talents of our time, and many have questioned whether someone else can pull off these songs. But all it takes is listening to one Foreigner song with Kelly and you realize he's just the right guy for this. And yes folks, he can hit all the high notes! His performance was energetic, and passionate.....he obviously loves this music and wants to see the fans have a great time. It's obvious from watching these guys perform together that they're loving every minute of this, and there is a camaraderie that you just can't fake. The show that night was sold out (1700 seats) and the fans that night were
some of the most enthusiastic and appreciative that I've seen in a long time.
You would have thought it was 20 years ago...the music was just as fresh
to everybody, including the band. I haven't seen Foreigner perform in years,
and I have to say this band is rocking harder with this line up than ever
before. It may not be the Foreigner many of us came up with, but I see no
reason to compare them with what was. The fact is that Mick Jones has always
been the heart of this band and he is still there....and frankly, he was
on fire that night. Mick Jones has brought together some extremely talented
guys. Foreigner has always had great songwriting and musical talent, it is
what makes their songs so timeless. But I am hoping that they start writing
again...and I'm sure with this group of guys, once again it will "feel
like it's the first time." **Sound Off! is Rock-Is-Life.com's version of Letters to
the Editor. |
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© 2006 Rock Is Life, LLC