LIVE: FOREIGNER – March 14, 2022

Venue: Ruth Eckerd Hall

City: Clearwater, FL

Dates: March 14, 2022

Review and Photographs by: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur (www.toddstarphotography.com)

Foreigner is out on their Greatest Hits tour, and they are delivering the hits the way we all remember them.  Without any more fanfare than a “Clearwater, would you please welcome Foreigner” the band took the stage and from the first note, there was no looking back.  Opening track “Double Vision” was as powerful tonight as it was the first time, I remember hearing it, but this time with a familiarity that runs in my rock and roll blood.  The band is currently firing on all cylinders and giving the crowd exactly what they came for – a stroll down memory lane hearing songs ripped from the soundtrack of their lives.  Next in the set was the one-two punch of “Head Games” and “Cold as Ice” with the latter giving the band a few moments to stretch their muscles and flex a bit for the audience.  Frontman Kelly Hansen controlled the flow of the show and kept the audience engaged, even leaving the stage tambourine in hand, and becoming one with the crowd, even if only for a couple minutes.  The rhythm section of bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Chris Frazier gave the entire performance the anchor it needed, with some pinch hitting from newest member Luis Maldonado who yielded a guitar for most of the show but grabbed the bass when Pilson was otherwise busy.  The band slowed it down to drop “Waiting for a Girl Like You” on the crowd that was waiting for a show like this.  The group plays these songs with precision and doesn’t venture far from the original arrangements.  Lead guitarist Bruce Watson managed all of the most of the solos perfectly and wandered center stage as needed to deliver the music both sonically and visually.   One of my favorites of the evening “Blue Morning, Blue Day” blasted from the stage, through the sound system, and shot across the venue.  While everybody in the crowd had their own moment for an air guitar solo, this one was mine (and Watson’s) and I got lost in the music from opening note to the last.  Hansen took a moment to engage the women in the audience as he introduced “Dirty White Boy” after asking if they liked, had, or wanted a nasty guy.  The hits just kept on coming with the band ripping through “Feels Like the First Time” and jumping into “Urgent” taking us moment by moment through the band’s biggest tracks in their huge catalog.  An addition to every song was keyboardist Michael Bluestein who handled his parts mightily from behind his dual keyboard setup.  Soon the band was closing out the normal portion of the show with “Juke Box Hero” and the crowd couldn’t get enough of the heavy bottom end, the guitar work, and the lyrics that seemingly everyone in Ruth Eckerd Hall knew.  To close out the show the six guys took us through “Long, Long Way From Home,” “I Want to Know What Love Is” with a choral addition as has become standard to add depth and dimension to the song over the years in a live setting, and finally another personal favorite “Hot Blooded.”  Were there songs we all might have wanted to hear?  Sure – I would love for the band to visit some of the more rock tracks from 1987’s Inside Information, but I can’t say I wasn’t satisfied with the set and performance.  While I cannot say it was my first Foreigner show, I can say it won’t be my last.

SETLIST: 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 – Juke Box Hero – Long, Long Way From Home – I Want to Know What Love Is – Hot Blooded

FULL SET OF FOREIGNER PHOTOS HERE

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Tags: featured

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries