I went and seen a Foreigner tribute band tonight. I've never been a huge fan of Foreigner but I decided to go anyway. It was free, my Dad expressed interest in wanting to go, and it would give me something to do on a Thursday evening. Huge bonus: the weather was absolutely perfect tonight (it was an outdoor show).
It was the second to the last concert for Sierra Vista Mall's "Rock the Mall" summer concert series. I didn't attend any of the other shows but I have a good feeling that THIS show was the one to attend! The shows run from 6pm-9pm, with a couple of breaks (or intermissions) in between sets. Foreigner Unauthorized played 3 sets.
The first set was probably my favorite. It was absolutely badass. (This is coming from someone who isn't a Foreigner fan. I like one or two... maybe even 3 songs, but that's about it.) After a few songs in, I felt the sudden urge to run to a record store and buy me a Foreigner album. I've never felt that urge before.
I don't remember what the first song was, but I believe the second song was "Head Games"... and "Feels Like the First Time" was played shortly after. When we saw Foreigner open for Def Leppard a few years ago, that was the LAST song they played... I had to sit through everything just to get to THAT song. That killed me. So hearing that tonight, almost right from the start, was amazing! The first set consisted of about 6 or 7 songs? They played most of Foreigner's hits (they saved a few "hits" for the last set). The second set was a bit longer. It mostly focused on their awesome, yet lesser known songs... and a few 'newer' songs. "Low Down and Dirty" was without a doubt, my favorite song from that set. I don't think I've ever heard that song before... I Youtubed the video when I got home... the video looks freakishly familiar... but I never would've known it was Foreigner. Lou Gramm wasn't singing it... as it was from 1991. It just looks like some generic, badly made, hair metal-ish video. Yikes. Anywho, I also really dug "Mountain of Love". They also shared a few "Foreigner facts" with the audience. The "Waiting For A Girl Like You" story was pretty interesting.
I believe they played "Head Games" twice... which didn't bother me one bit. Ha! First and third set. Third set had songs like, "Cold As Ice", "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Urgent", "Hot Blooded"... a long with a few more. "Juke Box Hero" was the last song. A lot of people, including myself (and my Mother), kept yelling for them to play, "Juke Box Hero"... I was totally into it. It was quite amusing. They also mixed in a few non-Foreigner songs during 'Juke'... I recognized a Van Halen riff and they also did some Zeppelin ("Whole Lotta Love"). I went nuts.
Here's what they played (not in order)
Foreigner Unauthorized is absolutely badass. I would definitely go see them again! Michael Nagy's voice is amazing. The guitar solo's might not have been spot on/perfect (my Father brought that up after it was over), but I didn't even notice, nor did I care. They rock and that's all that really matters. I think I appreciate the music of Foreigner a lot more than I did before.
Foreigner Unauthorized is:
Michael Nagy (Vocals)
Max De Vivo (Guitar Vocals)
Rik Willmitch (Guitar, Sax, Synth, vocals) )
Jim Belt (Bass)
Joe LoFreso (Keyboards, Synth)
Scott Nielsen (Drums)
Peace, Love, & Music,
~Lizzy Lepp
