August 9 2011 – Tonight we saw Night Ranger/Foreigner/Journey in concert as part of their 2011 tour. I was primarily interested in seeing Foreigner, and in my opinion, they should have been the headliners, but hey that’s just me I guess. Nonetheless, Journey was headlining – probably owing to Glee, which could also explain the high turnout of kids under 10 years of age in the audience. I must point out that given the chance, I would have attended the Foo Fighters concert. They were playing the same night but didn’t announce their show until after I bought my Foreigner tickets. Just my luck!! I will have to catch the Foos in another city.
I missed Night Ranger so no comment on them.
Foreigner played a nice tight 10 song list packed with their chart toppers, and everyone around me seemed to know every song. They faithfully stuck to the old war horses and didn’t bore the crowd with any of their newer and less known material. Highlights were “Dirty White Boy” and “Urgent” (which you can see on YouTube by clicking the links.) They rocked the encore with “Jukebox Hero”, and of course snuck in their ballads “Waiting For a Girl Like You” and “I Wanna Know What Love Is”. Foreigner had just one member of their original line-up (founding guitarist Mick Jones) remaining in the band.
Journey played 15 songs, and unlike Foreigner included new songs with their old classics. Everyone around me was sitting down or running to the concession stands when the new songs were on, and only when songs from Journey’s golden era (1981-1984) did the audience respond. Neal Schon who is considered one of the top guitarists of the classic rock genre was in fine form and threw down the riffs with apparent ease. Just like Foreigner, Journey only had one member of their original line-up (Neal) but did however have 3 members from its golden era. Needless to say Steve Perry the voice of Journey is no longer with the band and instead Pineda the new lead singer is his vocal copycat. “Open Arms” and the mega-uber popular “Don’t Stop Believin'” were highlights.
Anyhow, at the end of the night, I came away feeling that the bands lacked legitimacy without the two original lead singers on stage. Foreigner’s Kelly Hanson was the third lead singer for the band, and Arnel Pineda was Journey’s sixth. Sorry, but without Lou Gramm and Steve Perry on vocals, there was a clear lack of authenticity. Makes you think whether this is the way for music to stand the test of time and stretch its way into the future – as soon as band members leave the group, they will be replaced by copycats hired to replicate them. Maybe my grandchildren will be able to attend a Journey/Foreigner concert in 2090, staffed by copycats found on the YouTube of the future.
Verdict: Bleh…. Wish I saw the Foo Fighters instead that night.
I attended this concert as waell and agree with you that Foreigner should have been headlining. However, I do think that the new lead singers brought a much needed dose of energy to the bands live performance.
Yeah, I get it. I saw the “Foreigner” cover band at Seaworld yesterday. Mick Jones wasn't there so there were no actual members present. I got up and walked out despite the fact that the “pod people” band was tight and totally on. Now, I saw “Dennis DeYoung” there a few years back – guess what? He bills himself as “Dennis DeYoung” without a mention of “Styx” so I could care less who the backup band is. That makes sense – “Foreigner's Pod Invasion” doesn't… except for the money it generates.