Video: Foreigner performs with MPAC kids
By Kevin Coughlin
On a night that was Cold as Ice, Foreigner made a packed house at the Mayo Performing Arts Center feel Hot Blooded.
And if it felt like the very first time, it was. We’ve never heard Foreigner as an acoustic act. Not until Valentine’s Night.
This will be blasphemy to hardcore fans but… I think I prefer the unplugged version.
Stripped of their testosterone-fueled late ’70s bombast, Foreigner tunes reveal some slick harmonies (the aforementioned Cold as Ice and Juke Box Hero) and tuneful melodies (Waiting for a Girl Like You).
Yet Dirty White Boy rocks just as hard when propelled by acoustic guitars and an acoustic bass. (My unscientific survey of the lovely ladies seated behind me confirms this; they were singing up a storm.)
And Girl On the Moon, my favorite Foreigner song, sounds even more hypnotic with a softer edge and slide licks on an acoustic guitar.
Unplugged tours seem to be growing more common — Squeeze and Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues gave outstanding examples at the Mayo last year.
While such shows can be treats for fanatics, they are especially intriguing from bands that you never warmed to at full volume.
The Foreigner show had a couple of extra things going for it.
Morristown native Tom Gimbel expertly alternated among sax, flute and guitar. And the band was joined onstage by a youth choir from MPAC’s Performing Arts Company for an encore, I Want to Know What Love Is.
(Foreigner has been promoting support for music in schools. The teens got a rousing response to their opening set of choral arrangements of rock classics.)
Some observations about Foreigner:
1. Close your eyes, and you would swear that lead singer Kelly Hansen is Lou Gramm, the voice behind 16 Top-30 hits.
2. The name “Foreigner” has become ironically apt. Mick Jones, founder and composer of most of the group’s hits, is the only original member.
3. That being said, this incarnation is quite convincing. Rounding out the ensemble are Jeff Pilson on bass, Bruce Watson on guitar and Mike Bluestein on keyboard.
4. The band’s foot-stomping cover of the Elvis Presley hit That’s All Right was more than all right; it was a delightful detour.
Please click icon below for slide show captions:
The MPAC Performing Arts Company opened the show; slide show below.
We were at this show and could not have had a better time anywhere else. The show was great as all the shows are at MPAC.