By Edwin Folven
Rock ‘n’ roll fans rejoiced on Nov. 9 when Foreigner took the stage at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles Friday.
The band with 10 multi-platinum albums and 16 top 30 hits showed why it remains one of the most popular rock groups of all time. Every song was culled from a catalog of classics familiar to nearly anyone who has owned a record player, tape deck, CD player or radio during the last 40 years.
In a first, current band members and original band members performed separately and later together, covering an extensive list of hits from the supergroup’s lengthy musical career. Billed as Foreigner presents “Double Vision: Then and Now,” the group’s current members Mick Jones (lead guitar), Kelly Hansen (lead vocals), Tom Gimbel (rhythm guitar, sax, vocals), Jeff Pilson (bass, vocals), Michael Bluestein (keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar) and Chris Frazier (drums) played the first portion of the show, followed by a set with Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Rick Wills joining Jones, along with legendary Foreigner front man Lou Gramm. The set list included songs such as “Cold as Ice,” “Head Games” and “Juke Box Hero” performed by the current members, with the original line-up coming together for “Feels Like the First Time,” “Double Vision,” “Long, Long Way From Home” and others.
Foreigner gave fans something special in its grand finale with all current and original members uniting on stage for “I Want To Know What Love Is” and the iconic “Hot Blooded.” The band is celebrating more than 40 years of entertaining legions of fans around the world, and with the reunion on stage of current and original members it gave the audience something that really did feel like the first time, all over again.
