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Saw Foreigner, Cheap Trick, and Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience Last Night


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Back in January tickets went on sale for Foreigner's 40th Anniversary tour with Cheap Trick and Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience.  Four months had gone by since seeing Cheap Trick, but any opportunity to see them is taken seriously.  Since they do not headline shows closer to me very often this show was likely to be my best chance of seeing them this year.  Seeing Cheap Trick sandwiched between two cover bands with a high ticket price was not so appealing, but it was my only option.  The day tickets went on sale I rolled the dice and got lucky.  My seat was front row, seven seats off center.  

All three bands were selling meet and greets.  Foreigner and Cheap Trick had packages that guaranteed seats within specific rows.   Earlier in the week the unsold package seats were released and second row center seats became available for regular prices.  Two of my friends were able to snap up great seats the week of the show.  With Ticketbastard fees those tickets were $161 each.  When I bought my ticket in the presale it was only $124 with fees.  

First up was Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience.  Jason Bonham has made it on his own as a professional drummer and could land any gig he wants.  He wants to play Led Zeppelin music, so he put together a band that can nail those songs.  There were no keyboard songs.  Everything was bass, guitar, and drums.  A member of the crew played harmonica on When The Levee Breaks.  That song was played on a Fender electric 12 string.  The bass player had a Fender Jazz and a couple of Acoustic bass amps.  The guitar player a Les Paul most of the time through Marshal and Orange half stacks.  The singer played acoustic guitar on Over The Hills And Far Away.  There was a theremin on stage that was never used which makes me think the setlist is determined shortly before the show, otherwise there would be no reason to set it up if it is not going to be used.  The band changes setlists nightly.  

Every Led Zeppelin song was played faithfully to its original recorded version.  The guitar solos were recognizable in terms of accuracy, but not necessarily note for note which can take some of the life out of a performance.  The singer was trying to mimic the exact inflection of Robert Plants singing.  Had they tried to look like Plant, Page, and Jones and try to portray themselves as clones it would have been the best cover band out there.   Fortunately, we were spared that experience.  I could do without the total accuracy and go for letting the singer use more of his own voice.  

Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience setlist  

Friends drove up from Atlanta to Charlotte specifically for Cheap Trick after seeing the show down there a week earlier.  One found a seat that got her on the end of the front row.  The other had paid for the top tier Cheap Trick meet and greet that lasted far longer than the regular meet and greet and got her the opportunity to try out Tom Petersson's Gretsch 12 string bass.  (She plays Gene Simmons in an all girl KISS tribute band.)  For the first three songs she got to watch the show from the side of the stage next to the monitor console.  After that she came back to her second row seat that was right behind me.  We were right in front of Rick Nielsen.  

The Cheap Trick set was all I really wanted to see.  Every Cheap Trick fan got lucky last night because they played a longer set than normal.  I wish I had looked at my watch to know how long it actually was, but they played what could have been a headlining show.  One of the Atlanta friends told me they played a lot longer than they did in Atlanta.  Tom Petersson usually sings one song; last night he sang two.  One of the best parts of seeing Cheap Trick is that they change their setlists every night.  If you do not hear the one song you think you have to hear they will play something else that is going to be a pleasant surprise.  

Rick had amps head heads that labeled Train-45.  They were in the wall of checkerboard amp stacks, but those cabinets are just for show.   Two combo size cabinets/amps were on the side and one was a Fender that could be a Hot Rod DeVille.  It was about that size.  Hamers Rick played included Enola (checkerboard Standard), Uncle Dick, Sgt. Pepper, Gonna Raise Hell,  Rockford, orange 5 neck, Coffee Table and it seems like there was something else.  Robin played a birdseye topped Newport 12 string.  Rick pulled out a Gibson Explorer and Flying V, both in checkerboard.  He had his 50's Les Paul, the Les Paul with the Explorerer headstock, and a newer Les Paul Junior.  Robin had Rickenbackers, a Telecaster, and a Gibson Les Paul Junior or Special in red metal flake.  On The Flame he used a Gibson Chet Atkins.  During I'm Waiting for the Man he played a Guild 12 string acoustic.  Tom played the Gretsch the entire time.   The amp wall behind Tom included Vox combos, and Orange half stack that also had a Hiwatt head under the Orange head.  There was a Fender Tonemaster half stack, too.  I have no idea who was playing through what.  

Daxx Nielsen plays Ludwig drums.  

Of course the band talked to the audience, but the talk was brief.  The band kept playing, giving me the feeling they were going long.   When they started to play the "mandatory" songs it made me think the show was ending, but they still slipped in another gem before playing Surrender and closing their set.  

I wore my Hamer Fan Club shirt knowing Rick would see it.  Robin saw it, too.  No nods or acknowledgement came my way, though.  One of my friends who was sitting about 20 feet away swore that she saw Rick throwing picks to me, but they went all too high or too wide for me to attempt catching.  Even when the handfuls went out they were not near me.  I got one.  Some people got several.  The security guy in the moat was good about picking up picks for people and distributing them evenly.  He saw to it that some of the kids got them.  He handed the drumsticks to kids, and made sure one of them was going to be relayed through the audience for a little girl.  

I got the Cheap Trick show I wanted.  

Cheap Trick setlist

The last time I saw Foreigner was in 1999.  Mick Jones and Lou Gramm were the only original members then.  Last night there were no original members left.  Mick Jones never stepped on stage.  I do not know if the separate meet and greet with him was fulfilled or cancelled.   Health issues have kept him from performing with the band in the past, so perhaps something was wrong last night.  No mention of his absence has been posted on Twitter or Facebook yet.  

There were different levels of meet and greets starting at $75 then $150 and $200 to meet only certain members of Foreigner.  To meet the whole band was $750 and people who paid to sit on the side of the stage for almost the entire show paid almost $1000 for that level.   Some people may like the music and not really know who is in the band.  It is possible.  

On this 40th Anniversary tour there have been some nights with original members making appearances for a song or two.  On those nights an extra song might be played.  Last night were shorted one song, Starrider, from the normal setlist.  The song is the only non-hit album track they play regularly.  People who bought the first album know the song.  That album was great when I first heard it back in junior high.  

The modern day show is built around hits and Kelly Hansen.  Just like with Journey, the new singer gets a lot of attention.  Kelly Hansen is the show.  He is energetic, great to the audience, and he can sing the parts with his own voice.  He never tries to be Lou Gramm!  If someone never knew there was a different singer on those old albums they would come away thinking they just saw the man who made Foreigner what it is.  Hansen has recorded an album of new material with the band, but like other new releases from old bands no one notices.  

The all white stage had no amps to be seen.  Bruce Watson played all the Mick Jones guitar parts.  He played a Les Paul Custom, ES-335, and he used a Strat on one song.  Tom Gimbel played a Gibson SG and Saxophone. Gimbel's history with the band goes back to 1992, around the time Jeff Pilson joined Foreigner on bass. Gimbel and Pilson have been with Foreigner for more than half of its history.  One of my friends gave me a Tom Gimbel guitar pick.  

The low point for me was having to hear I Want To Know What Love Is, Foreigner's biggest hit.  I always hated that song.   It ruined Foreigner for me back in 1984.

A clock was on the side of the stage that was counting up the time.  The show lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes.  Cheap Trick must have played at least that long. 

After the show my friends from Atlanta were unhappy about Mick Jones not playing.  One had told me before the show it would be a great show.  The other was more critical afterwards because there were no original members on stage.  The friend who drove up with me said that the band should have said something about Mick Jones, and he felt like it was a cover band.  Another friend was less vocal, but she knew what everyone else was talking about.  In January I was thinking "cover band" when I bought the ticket.  Those people who paid around $1000 per seat could hire a great cover band for a about $2000.  Just sayin'...

There is no reason for Foreigner to back down.  They put on a stadium sized show, and people are buying tickets.  Most people knew what and who they were seeing, too.  If Mick Jones ever completely retires from touring the band can continue.  Just like the Sons of the Pioneers changed members over the last 84 years, Foreigner can keep going.  Is Foreigner worth the ticket price?  They are not worth it to me.   What got my money was the seat location and Cheap Trick.  

Foreigner setlist

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Always enjoy your reviews.  Sounds like a real Foreigner fan would be better served to watch the tour clips on YouTube with the original members showing up to play.  I really felt great watching Lou get up and give a good effort.  Mick played along with Al and Ian on that one too.  Always wondered if Ed was asked to show up.  He was a great bass player.

 

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4 hours ago, Steve Haynie said:

The low point for me was having to hear I Want To Know What Love Is, Foreigner's biggest hit.  I always hated that song.   It ruined Foreigner for me back in 1984.

That damn song ruined the band for everyone who likes legit rock music. 

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Steve - Are you sure about the orange 5 neck and the coffee table Standard?  Both have been retired for well over 20 years. He tours with the checkerboard '96 5 neck and sometimes breaks out the Korina one from the mid-2000s.  He has a larger patterned checkerboard Standard with the graphics from his picks and the Ludwig Psychedelic Swirl drum wrap Standard, out on this tour that I've seen.  

His amp wall is made up of FUCHS Train 45s, but as you mentioned, they're all dummy heads and the cabs house lights (all but one).  He runs through his usual racked Rivera-modded Deluxes and I'm not sure whether he runs through the Hot Rod over there or not, but I did see it out on this tour.

I think you NAILED my thinking about buying tickets - I put it off for a while, because as you said, it was going to be CT sandwiched between two tribute acts.  I've seen JBLZE twice before, and they really shine when they're the headliner and have the full video show and tandem drum off with Jason and the video of Bonzo doing "Black Dog".  The stories and videos are also fantastic.

Foreigner...well...  Ugh.  We had Mick Jones ar our show last week, but he shuffled around like a sad, lost grandpa, botching notes and adding nothing apart from the intro chords to "Cold As Ice" on the mobile keyboard platform that they wheeled out for him.  Kelly sounds like Foreigner should, and in fact, they sounded damned close to any Foreigner album.  I was totally turned off by the Steven Tyler-wannbe image though, and honestly, it was nothing more than a cheezy Vegas cover band to me.  We left after four songs, and I heard the only other song I would have wanted to hear as we made a strategically critical early escape from the parking lot.  I would NEVER see that train wreck again.  On the flip side, Elduave apparently loved it and stuck around! :D

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5 hours ago, cmatthes said:

 I was totally turned off by the Steven Tyler-wannbe image

I was searching for an analogy to describe Kelly Hansen's stage persona. Chris nailed it.  

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6 hours ago, cmatthes said:

Steve - Are you sure about the orange 5 neck and the coffee table Standard?  Both have been retired for well over 20 years. He tours with the checkerboard '96 5 neck and sometimes breaks out the Korina one from the mid-2000s.  He has a larger patterned checkerboard Standard with the graphics from his picks and the Ludwig Psychedelic Swirl drum wrap Standard, out on this tour that I've seen. 

Sorry about the errors.  Everything was typed quickly.  My photos were not so great, so there was little to back everything up.  It was the checkerboard 5 neck.  What I incorrectly called the coffee table was indeed the Standard with large checkerboard and guitar pick images.  The Ludwig drum wrap Standard came out, too. 

 

Kelly Hansen could be compared to Steven Tyler, but they move differently. 

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Great review as always.  Thanks for posting.

"The modern day show is built around hits and Kelly Hansen." - Church  

The masses wouldn't know the difference between Foreigner in 1977 from Foreigner in 2017 if Mick Jones walked up and bitch slapped them. 

"Kelly sounds like Foreigner should, and in fact, they sounded damned close to any Foreigner album".  Mick Jones knew exactly what he is doing for the past two decades with Foreigner.   He has prepared a Foreigner band that will continue long after he is gone from the stage.  I personally thought it is quite amusing to have watched "Rock Star' and then go see Pilson& Bonham replay their roles in Foreigner.

"The Song is King" and as long as there are those would will pay to see XX band for $$ dollars, the song and the "band" will continue. 

Chris nailed the who KH image thing.   

Jason Bonham played with Foreigner for about 3 years and I believe came back for a short stint after Brian Tichy departed.   Bonham can play in any band he wants and certainly is great to see him pay homage to his fathers legacy. 

Hamerica

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Lou Gramm falls into the Ace Frehley / Gary Richrath category: too physically decrepit (or in Gary's case, too dead) to cut it on stage, certainly from a visual standpoint. Not everyone ages well, is able to avoid illness and/or works to keep themselves in shape.

Also, Foreigner is a band that outside of the music nerd realm, literally no one gives a damn about or can name any of the original members, subsequent members, etc. People like the songs and want to see them delivered by guys who are engaged and aren't fat. They've been playing a circuit of decent small / mid-sized venues for years using this formula (probably nicer venues than Pilson would be playing if he were still in Dokken) so something about it must be working.

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19 hours ago, Steve Haynie said:

Friends drove up from Atlanta to Charlotte specifically for Cheap Trick after seeing the show down there a week earlier.  One found a seat that got her on the end of the front row.  The other had paid for the top tier Cheap Trick meet and greet that lasted far longer than the regular meet and greet and got her the opportunity to try out Tom Petersson's Gretsch 12 string bass.  (She plays Gene Simmons in an all girl KISS tribute band.)  For the first three songs she got to watch the show from the side of the stage next to the monitor console.  After that she came back to her second row seat that was right behind me.  We were right in front of Rick Nielsen.  

 

Leigh posted some GREAT pics of her backstage/sidestage experience - lots of nice pics of the guitar racks and backline.  Note Tom is still bringing out the green and white B-12s as well as the B-12A, even though he's been using the White Falcon 12'ver all night for most every show.

Leigh RN rack 2.jpg

Leigh RN rack 1.jpg

Leigh 12vers.jpg

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3 hours ago, MCChris said:

Also, Foreigner is a band that outside of the music nerd realm, literally no one gives a damn about or can name any of the original members, subsequent members, etc. People like the songs and want to see them delivered by guys who are engaged and aren't fat. They've been playing a circuit of decent small / mid-sized venues for years using this formula (probably nicer venues than Pilson would be playing if he were still in Dokken) so something about it must be working.

You got that right!  Don Dokken has played clubs that hold around 1000 people and have minimal dressing room space.  Most metal bands from the 80's are doing the same size venues. 

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Jeff Pilson has managed to swing a better 401k than Don and George combined! :D 

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