Review originally appeared in Hair Metal Mansion.
If nothing else, you can count on me to bring you stuff from a little outside the Hair Metal box, although Foreigner isn't too much of a stretch, having had several hits in the 80's. Some of you may know that I broke my foot last year just a couple of weeks before I was scheduled to shoot Foreigner at a venue near Pittsburgh. I was quite disappointed when I couldn't make that, so I planned to catch them this year. They didn't make it easy, though, since the closest show was 5 hrs. away in Scranton, PA. Fortunately, it was on Independence Day, and it was a beautiful day for a drive and an outdoor show.
Don Felder started things off, and having never seen him live, I didn't know quite what to expect. He played mostly Eagles songs, plus a few of his solo endeavors, including his latest hit, "You Don't Have Me." He was very impressive, with solid guitar playing and strong vocals. If you closed your eyes, you could almost believe you were at an Eagles concert. The best part, though, was when he brought Tommy Shaw & Todd Sucherman of Styx out to do "Hotel California" with him. They had re-recorded the song for the Soundtrack of Summer CD, creating a fresh and soulful version of a true classic. His set also included: "Seven Bridges Road", "Victim of Love", "Witchy Woman", "Heavy Metal", "Heartache Tonight" and "Life in the Fast Lane".
Having seen Styx several times before, I knew they would put on a good show, but this night they went above and beyond. Their energy was thru the roof! Wow! Keyboardist Lawrence Gowan was practically acrobatic when dancing around his keyboard and the stage and he loves to interact with the crowd. His impeccable vocals and skills on the keys are interspersed with a little comedy. At one point, he asked that people stop making jokes about the recent fire on one of their tour buses, just before he launched into The Doors "Light My Fire." Tommy Shaw and James Young, the two original members of the band, both still have phenomenal voices. JY was hamming it up for the cameras a bit, and Tommy never seemed to stop smiling. They seemed to feed off of the energy from the crowd, and the crowd fed off the energy they returned. To keep up the camaraderie of the tour, they brought Don Felder out during "Blue Collar Man." Their set also included: "Superstar", "Rocking the Paradise", "Renegade", "Come Sail Away", "Light Up", "Fooling Yourself" and "Lady".
Foreigner is another very dynamic and high energy band that always puts on a good show. Lead singer, Kelly Hansen, never stops, and is great for providing a few classic rock-star poses for the camera! He also loves to interact with the crowd, and even takes a stroll thru the venue during one song. Having seen them in both large and small venues, the smaller venues seem much more suited to Kelly's style. His interactions with the crowd are necessarily more limited in a bigger venue like this, and it almost felt like something was missing because of it. The audience didn't seem to mind, though, as the frenzy left by Styx only increased during Foreigner's set. Original member Mick Jones only tours part time, but he was there tonight and it was a treat to hear him do "Starrider". Their set also included: "Hot Blooded", "Double Vision", "Waiting For A Girl Like You", "Juke Box Hero", "Head Games", "Urgent" and "I Want to Know What Love Is".
As is true with most good shows, it was over much too soon. For those of you that are also fans of classic rock, all of these guys are worth checking out live. I heard a less than flattering comment recently about bands that continue on even if they don't have all of the original members. But in all honesty, there are bands out there that are still intact but that just don't bring quite the same excitement to a live show anymore. Bands that have continued on with new members bring in fresh interpretations and new dynamics that can keep the music alive. That's a big part of why these bands are still around and bringing in the younger generations to their shows.
