reCAP :: Foreigner :: 2014.02.22
"We're so happy to be here tonight at such a historic place!' - Kelly Hansen
The Capitol Theatre successfully played the role of Doc Brown and brought us back in time on Saturday, February 22nd. Powerhouse band, Foreigner relived its heyday from the late 70's and early 80's with an intensely passionate two hour sold-out performance in front of a rabid mature crowd.
The current Foreigner line-up consists of Jeff Pilson (bass), Mick Jones (guitar), Tom Gimbel (flute, rhythm guitar, sax), Michael Bluestein (keys), Chris Frazier (drums) and Bruce Watson (guitar) and Kelly Hansen (vocals) as the replacement for founding vocalist Lou Gramm who departed the band permanently in 2003.
One of the world's best-selling bands of all-time, Foreigner has sold nearly 80 million albums worldwide and spawned numerous chart busting hits. This performance was an exemplary display of how varied and deep their catalog is and they played a diverse array of selections from it. They started with the incendiary title track from their 1978 monster smash and second album, "Double Vision." Complete with mesmerizing strobe lights and a huge Foreigner side on adorning the back wall, they continued through the consummate greatest hits package with "Head Games." Hansen, behind the mic, strutted about the stage while waving the long mic and extending it into the crowd at times to entice the crowd's participation.
An early highlight was an astonishingly effective, "Cold As Ice", complete with an extended jam towards its end and smooth "oohs" from the supporting vocalists. Young fans may have been interested to witness firsthand the song containing the repetitive chords once used to be the intro every time Fishman took the stage with his vacuum in the early days. Other highlight's included the bombastic and explosive "Juke Box Hero" which saw a monumental crescendo and a line-up of 3 guitarists playing simultaneously. The band only had one #1 hit but a bevy of Top 10 songs were unrolled on this night. The crowd was seen feverishly mouthing the words with authority to the #4 hit, "Urgent".
Similar to Journey who has replaced Steve Perry with a modicum of success, Foreigner managed to pull off a stellar show without the signature sound of Lou Gramm. Finally, the band took a break from their strong hard guitar-driven and heavy back-beated anthems to entice the audience into a passionate sing-along on their only #1 hit, 1985's "I Wanna Know What Love is" which is a tight power ballad that reeks of the 80's era from which it came. It was a loud crowd pleaser that could only be followed up by the powerful song, "Hot Blooded." The band passed out flyers stating they were donating to the Grammy Foundation to benefit the Port Chester High School Select Choir which included a raffle for an autographed Les Paul guitar. The band hasn't released an album since 2009's "Can't Slow Down" but will be touring with Styx and Don Felder. The fulfilling and frenetic night proved to those in attendance that you can go back in time and leave satiated reliving the good times.
Set List: Double Vision, Head Games, Cold As Ice, Waiting For a Girl Like You, Blue Morning Blue Day, Dirty White Boy, Feels Like the First Time, Urgent, I Wanna Know What Love Is Encore: Hot Blooded (partial list)