Foreigner at Centre in the Square

Photograph by Lee-Ann Richer.

Centre in the Square has a list longer than your arm of great concerts that they have brought to Kitchener and last night was no different. The legendary British-American rock band Foreigner was last night’s treat! I knew it was going to be busy as, good luck finding parking! At the venue I noticed the “SOLD OUT” signs and yes the place was at capacity again.  

FOREIGNER was formed in 1976 by English musician Mick Jones and fellow Brit and ex King Crimson member Ian McDonald. They teamed up with American vocalist Lou Gramm. They have had sales of 80 million records while 37.5 million of those were in the United States alone. The original lineup was made up of 3 Americans and 3 Brits making someone always a “Foreigner” in the band no matter where they performed. 

I have heard the joke numerous times with a lot of the long time bands, that the only original member is the sound man or the light person. Well Foreigner’s touring lineup doesn’t even have those, as Mick Jones, being the only original member still associated with the band, does not tour anymore. However there is no joke here. This band will kick your rock butt around the room all night! This band knows how to put on a show. There weren’t a lot of songs in the twelve song set (including encore) however it was enough for a great evening of music. Every song in the set was a familiar hit. 

The evening started off with “Double Vision”, “Head Games” and “Cold as Ice”. By the third song singer, Kelly Hansen, was out in the audience, delivering as much attention as the exuberant audience dealt to him. He had the energy of a young Mick Jagger and demeanor of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. He has a voice that was a great match for former Foreigner singer Lou Gramm. 

This is the voice of the “new” Foreigner and they were a pleasure to see and hear. At every opportunity Hansen was telling a story or joking with someone in the audience. If he wasn’t doing that, he was demanding that anyone who can, GET ON THEIR FEET! He had the audience standing and cheering more than any other band I have seen at the Square. Especially when he wiggled his butt. He even light-heartedly teased someone about being on his cell phone. He connected with the audience! 

Other hits like “Waiting for a Girl Like you”, (I was waiting to see if he was going to hit the high notes and yes he did, effortlessly!) “Dirty White Boy” and a new acoustic arrangement of “Say You Will” followed. Five guys lined the front of the stage (with one at the back) to show off the four backing harmonies. Tom Gimbel (guitarist) gave a flute solo. Hanson referred to Tom as the multi-instrumentalist in the band. He plays guitar, sax, flute and keyboards. Also to his credit he has played keys and sax with Aerosmith, and Foreigner twenty-three years.

After “Say You Will”, Kelly Hanson introduced the band. Bassist Jeff Pilson was an original member of the band Dokken and was in the movie Rock Star. Not to be outdone, Guitarist Bruce Watson (filling in for Mick Jones) has worked with Rod Stewart, Elton John, B.B. King, and Christina Aguilera. Drummer Chris Frazier who was as solid as a rock and fast as lightning was a perfect foundation for this rock band. He has recorded and performed with Gene Simons, Whitesnake, Edgar Winter, Steve Vai, Carol King, Eddie Van Halen and Eddie Money before joining Foreigner. None of these guys are new to a stage; they know what they are doing and know how to put on a kickin’ show. Last but not least keyboardist Michael Bluestein has played with Boz Scaggs, Enrique Iglesias, Stevie Nicks and with the house band on Jimmy Kimmel Live. At the end of the evening he traded instruments with bassist Jeff Pilson which had me shaking my head thinking, where did he come from, until I realized they switched places. 

Hansen announced’ “this is the first song you ever heard from this band” introducing “Feels Like the First Time” followed by some highlighted solos during “Urgent”. Gimbel has said that his days of wanting to sound like Maynard Ferguson was great training to play the sax solo in this song. 

The set was very well planned out and didn’t leave any dead spots. Between all the antics going on like Hansen hurling himself around the stage, grabbing a fan’s camera, taking photos of the band (and his crotch), or seeing all the laughing and joking going on between the band members, then you were hearing good old straight in your face Rock n Roll. The lighting was excellent; someone was really on the ball. My favorite point is where the stage went back and “Juke Box Hero” started and then the one yellow light backlit Hansen as he started to sing.

A three song encore including, “Long, Long Way From Home” and “I Want to Know What Love Is” where a local choir joined the band half way through the song. This was a nice personal touch. The icing on the cake was that they finished off the night with “Hot Blooded”.

One thing Hansen mentioned a few times was everything we heard was live. I know some bands use tracks to supplement and Hansen seemed quite proud to point out that they were not one of those bands.

Mick Jones has taken special care in the over twenty five lineup changes, in keeping the band’s music integrity intact. I understand Kelly Hansen is not Lou Gramm; however no one seemed to care. He was fabulous and played with music with respect and to perfection! 

I have seen in a number of reviews that the touring band is playing material that none of them wrote, or nothing is new; however, this lineup delivered – end of story! It is always interesting to listen to the conversations people have as they are leaving the venue. I kept hearing “he was amazing!”, “they sounded great!” and “they played all the songs I wanted to hear!”. 

These are the people buying the tickets! Thank you to Centre in the Square for another night of wonderful entertainment!