Styx – Foreigner – Def Leppard
September 9, 2007
Fiddler's Green (Coors Ampitheatre)
This concert, wow. Two weeks later, I’m still trying to process it all. I’ve been dreading this review because it’s just not going to be a good one. I’m a music lover and I LOVE live music more than anything. And I love to write good reviews. I just do. It is a joy to be able to take that experience right to the pages. It’s not often that I have harsh words for a show, but I have to report what really happened at this show.
You might title this show “Concert for Ageing Rock Stars.”
“Are you ready to get your Styx on?” ….(Tommy Shaw)
And with that remark, we were rolling in the Styx groove and I gotta tell you…they were tight! Closing my eyes I thought it was 1978 again. The audience was so into it; singing, dancing, reminiscing and rockin it all out.
I was surprised that Styx played first. I had my back to the stage (loading my camera!) when they hit that first chord to “Blue Collar Man” and I spun around like “What?”! Could it be that due to their advanced age(s) they need an early bedtime? Seriously, the show should have been HEADLINED by Styx and the promoter who set that up should be fired. They were truly the highlight of the entire night.
I love live music mostly because it lets the artist off their leash and lets them go wild. Yes, I do want to hear the songs I love the most, but I also appreciate it when group can throw in a wild cover of a song I never expected or when they turn a predictable classic into something extraordinary. It’s the visual of the group with the sound, the venue; it’s the total package that I’m looking for.
( side note: I have to tell you that the most boring concert I have ever gone to is the Dave Matthews Band. Technically, they are superb musicians. So technically gifted that they made the show sound JUST LIKE the CD. I didn’t get anything at their show that I couldn’t have have by listening to the CD at home. And I would have saved $96!)
So did Styx deliver? You bet. They did not throw in any cover songs and they did not stray too far from the original version. Why? They didn’t have to. Styx has a 30+ year catalog to draw from and fans that want to hear it all. They came out and delivered the songs we all wanted to hear. It was classic Styx and it was played with energy, style and verve.
The set list:
Blue Collar Man
Grand Illusion
Too Much Time on My Hands
Angry Young Man (Fooling Yourself)
Miss America
Come Sail Away
Encore:
Renegade
Great set list, huh? This was Styx doing what they do best: rocking hard. I’m sure a lot of people came to the show hoping to hear “Babe” or “The Best of Times.” Great songs. I’m sure you danced to one of them at your prom, but they Styx-lite. This show rocked like Styx was meant to rock. What a shocker to hear “Miss America.” That song separated the Styx-lite fans from the hard rockin Styx fans. What a little gem that was! Tommy rocked the hell out of it!
The current Styx line up for 2007 is: Tommy Shaw, James “JY” Young, Lawrence Gowan, Todd Sucherman, and Ricky Phillips. For my money, it’s always been Tommy & JY that led that group, but I would not be doing my job if I didn’t mention Lawrence Gowan. Styx knows their fans and they know that in a longer show, they might have to crank out some of those songs that have the “Dennis DeYoung” stamp all over them. How do you ignore that many years of some serious charting hits? (we can all ignore Mr Roboto, agreed?) You get Lawrence Gown, that’s how. He has showman written all over him. He moves, engages the crowd and hits all those sensitive notes just right…..all while twirling his keyboard around. Did I mention he can play those keys behind his back? While singing? Yeah, this is the guy. He’s not a Dennis clone and he doesn’t have to be. He’s got his own style and he keeps pace with the group.
The only bad thing I can say about Styx is that their set was WAY too short (and they should have headlined the show). I was surprised that the encore was only one song, but they knocked it out of the park with “Renegade.” From the erie a cappella opening all the way through the stompin groove and smoking guitar solo. I’ve got a little bit of it on video, but they kind of caught me and my digital off guard, so I missed a bit of the opening. I also had to cut it off at the end when they started introducing each other and taking off on solos. So, enjoy this little nibble:
They didn’t play “Lorelei” or “Snow Blind”, but I can forgive that. I’ll just be at the next show.
I had never seen Foreigner in concert. Keeping up with the news through the years, I knew that Lou Graham was no longer with them so I was braced for whatever voice they were going to give us. You know, some bands actually pull it off when they replace such an iconic voice. Journey did it successfully when they replaced Steve Perry with Steve Augeri. He had that sound down! You might never have known. And then there’s Van Halen who, in my mind, not only replaced David Lee Roth, but they traded up. Sammy Hagar breathed new life into that band and they delivered some hard rockin tunes. And then there’s Van Halen after Sammy with Gary Cherone (you say WHO?)….bad move. Sometimes a great band can survive a transition into a new direction…sometimes, not so much.
The current lineup of Foreigner is Mick Jones, Jason Bonham, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Jacobs, Jeff Pilson & Tom Gimbel. In case you keeping score, that’s just one original member and some 21 former members blowing in the wind. With those stats, I’m not sure taking a job with Foreigner is a solid career decision.
I was watching Foreigner take the stage and I’ll admit that after Styx rockin the show, I was (almost) feeling it. I’m almost getting into it and then it happened: I’m watching this lead singer prance about the stage and all I can think about is a line from the movie “Rockstar” when Izzy tells the crowd,
“You know, I'm just a regular guy who grew up with the posters of these guys on my wall... and now I'm one of them! That's right, I'm standing here, living proof that if you work hard enough, and you want it bad enough... dreams do come true. So follow your dreams...”
That right boys and girls: Kelly Hansen’s dream has come true. But Kelly is no Lou Gramm. If you don’t believe me, you can head on over to www.foreigneronline.com and have a listen for yourself. There’s a live recording of “Long, Long Way from Home.” He’s just kind of pitchy and his vocal quality is thin. I wouldn’t say he’s the worst singer I’ve ever heard, but he just didn’t put out that energy and umph that should have been there. Disappointing. Sadly disappointing.
Here’s the set list:
Double Vision
Head Games
Cold as Ice
Feels Like the First Time
Urgent
Juke Box Hero – Whole Lotta Love
I Want to Know What Love Is
Encore:
Hot Blooded
They picked a good selection of hits and I’ll tell you that the band’s sound was dynamite. Mick Jones played to perfection all those solos you know by heart and the crowd was air guitar-ing right along with him. Aside from a weak lead singer, the other low point of the show was the super extended elongated lengthy expanded very very very long versions of all these songs. Maybe to promote their (lame) 2006 release titled “ Foreigner; Extended Versions”?? You know, I dig these songs like everyone else and I deeply appreciate a band that can bring on the jams (see: Blues Traveler, Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic etc etc). But come on, guys! Extra solos, an extra chorus here and there and repeating verses: Trust me, the fans knew they were getting jerked around.
The song where this was most evident was “Juke Box Hero.” To start, the intro just went on f-o-r-e-v-e-r. You know this song…the story of a boy with big rock and roll dreams… and you know every word, right? Well, there we are singing along to the first verse and it swells at the end and goes right into the second verse real low and sexy-like…..NO! HA! You just got punked! Because tonight, instead of going into the second verse you get a bonus instrumental jam! You know how it is when you are singing really loud and then the song changes and you keep singing at least for another 10 seconds before you realize what has happened? Yeah, that was it. People were looking confused and slightly embarrassed. Evidently the band thought this worked well because they managed to squeeze two more jams into this song.
Now here’s where I might seem to contradict myself, but try to stay with me: While I wasn’t digging the extended songs that were an obviously put in place to stroke the band’s ego….I’ll admit that there ARE times when this trick works. Jason Bonham is the drummer. Yes, same Bonham. Jason is HIS son. (Yes, I can read your mind) And because “Juke Box Hero” is about a boy on a quest to play some rock and roll, it REALLY WORKED when they launched into “Whole Lotta Love” after the second chorus and brought it all back to “Juke Box.” Man, it was an ethereal experience and probably as close as I will ever come to seeing Zeppelin (sadly).
And that was the high point of Foreigner. A Led Zeppelin song.
Which brings us to Def Leppard closing out the show. Yeah! This had to be good! I saw them play at Sandstone Ampitheatre in Kansas City in the late 80’s…back when “Pour Some Sugar on Me” was at the top of the charts. Bon Jovi opened for them and it was a killer show. Def Leppard has survived so much; Rick Allen lost an arm, Steve Clark died. Not many bands would make it through that. At least they still have their original lead singer, right?
Oh my.
That was my reaction. With my jaw on the floor.
Here’s the set list:
Rocket
Animal
Excitable
Foolin
High & Dry
Let It Go
Love Bites
Rock On
2 Steps Behind
Brining on the Heartache
Hysteria
Armageddon It
Photograph
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Encore:
Rock of Ages
The best thing I can say about Def Leppard is that the band rocked. They were flat out everything I expected. Super tight. Phil Collen has only gotten better with age and Rick Allen can still deliver that electro-rock drum beat. Surprise, surprise: Vivian Campbell was on guitar! Whoa! You know Vivian; formerly with Dio & Whitesnake. He was stellar, delivering it all so effortlessly…so perfect, as if he had written these tunes himself. He was amazing to experience.
So, they opened it up with “Rocket”. Not one of my favs, but still a great tune, had people on their feet, yada yada.…typical opener. I thought there was something wrong with the mix or maybe there was an equipment problem all through the first song because I just couldn’t hear Joe Elliott. Whatever. First song, band might not have sound checked…you know.
Second song, “Animal” and the “problem” was still there. It wasn’t the mix. Not the equipment. It had a name: Joe Elliot. Man, he was bad! Like, Bad-capital-B. BAD all in caps. BAD. BAD. BAD.
So we’ve come full circle in one show: One great band, One band with a replacement singer and One band with a singer that should just quit. What a night.
Joe left the as much of the singing to the crowd as he could. Of course, we all knew the words, so it worked well for him. His voice was always out of tune and out of breath. He just didn’t have the power to sing like he used to. So, maybe he was sick or something? Well, I thought about cutting him a break and assuming that to be the case, until he delivered a killer rendition of the 70’s hit “Rock On.” This song had a lower register and just fit him better than the old hits. He was really good and he sang the whole song….which was good for me, because I was getting tired of singing!
When they whipped out “Photograph” I couldn’t resist. I just couldn’t stop myself. YouTube is entirely too easy to use so, have a listen:
The male voice you hear ever-so-slightly is Joe. It might sound like I was picking up someone from the crowd, but I assure you it is totally Joe Elliot. And it is totally bad. Such a shame, because it’s such a great song.
It wasn’t until the last song, “Rock of Ages,” ( seriously one of my favorites ) that the famous line came: with the crowd yelling it out, “It’s better to burn out, than fade away.” And I have to wonder, Joe Elliott, do you really believe that? Because in your case honey, it would be better to just fade away.
Please. Let it go.
September 9, 2007
Fiddler's Green (Coors Ampitheatre)
This concert, wow. Two weeks later, I’m still trying to process it all. I’ve been dreading this review because it’s just not going to be a good one. I’m a music lover and I LOVE live music more than anything. And I love to write good reviews. I just do. It is a joy to be able to take that experience right to the pages. It’s not often that I have harsh words for a show, but I have to report what really happened at this show.
You might title this show “Concert for Ageing Rock Stars.”
“Are you ready to get your Styx on?” ….(Tommy Shaw)
And with that remark, we were rolling in the Styx groove and I gotta tell you…they were tight! Closing my eyes I thought it was 1978 again. The audience was so into it; singing, dancing, reminiscing and rockin it all out.
I was surprised that Styx played first. I had my back to the stage (loading my camera!) when they hit that first chord to “Blue Collar Man” and I spun around like “What?”! Could it be that due to their advanced age(s) they need an early bedtime? Seriously, the show should have been HEADLINED by Styx and the promoter who set that up should be fired. They were truly the highlight of the entire night.
I love live music mostly because it lets the artist off their leash and lets them go wild. Yes, I do want to hear the songs I love the most, but I also appreciate it when group can throw in a wild cover of a song I never expected or when they turn a predictable classic into something extraordinary. It’s the visual of the group with the sound, the venue; it’s the total package that I’m looking for.
( side note: I have to tell you that the most boring concert I have ever gone to is the Dave Matthews Band. Technically, they are superb musicians. So technically gifted that they made the show sound JUST LIKE the CD. I didn’t get anything at their show that I couldn’t have have by listening to the CD at home. And I would have saved $96!)
So did Styx deliver? You bet. They did not throw in any cover songs and they did not stray too far from the original version. Why? They didn’t have to. Styx has a 30+ year catalog to draw from and fans that want to hear it all. They came out and delivered the songs we all wanted to hear. It was classic Styx and it was played with energy, style and verve.
The set list:
Blue Collar Man
Grand Illusion
Too Much Time on My Hands
Angry Young Man (Fooling Yourself)
Miss America
Come Sail Away
Encore:
Renegade
Great set list, huh? This was Styx doing what they do best: rocking hard. I’m sure a lot of people came to the show hoping to hear “Babe” or “The Best of Times.” Great songs. I’m sure you danced to one of them at your prom, but they Styx-lite. This show rocked like Styx was meant to rock. What a shocker to hear “Miss America.” That song separated the Styx-lite fans from the hard rockin Styx fans. What a little gem that was! Tommy rocked the hell out of it!
The current Styx line up for 2007 is: Tommy Shaw, James “JY” Young, Lawrence Gowan, Todd Sucherman, and Ricky Phillips. For my money, it’s always been Tommy & JY that led that group, but I would not be doing my job if I didn’t mention Lawrence Gowan. Styx knows their fans and they know that in a longer show, they might have to crank out some of those songs that have the “Dennis DeYoung” stamp all over them. How do you ignore that many years of some serious charting hits? (we can all ignore Mr Roboto, agreed?) You get Lawrence Gown, that’s how. He has showman written all over him. He moves, engages the crowd and hits all those sensitive notes just right…..all while twirling his keyboard around. Did I mention he can play those keys behind his back? While singing? Yeah, this is the guy. He’s not a Dennis clone and he doesn’t have to be. He’s got his own style and he keeps pace with the group.
The only bad thing I can say about Styx is that their set was WAY too short (and they should have headlined the show). I was surprised that the encore was only one song, but they knocked it out of the park with “Renegade.” From the erie a cappella opening all the way through the stompin groove and smoking guitar solo. I’ve got a little bit of it on video, but they kind of caught me and my digital off guard, so I missed a bit of the opening. I also had to cut it off at the end when they started introducing each other and taking off on solos. So, enjoy this little nibble:
They didn’t play “Lorelei” or “Snow Blind”, but I can forgive that. I’ll just be at the next show.
I had never seen Foreigner in concert. Keeping up with the news through the years, I knew that Lou Graham was no longer with them so I was braced for whatever voice they were going to give us. You know, some bands actually pull it off when they replace such an iconic voice. Journey did it successfully when they replaced Steve Perry with Steve Augeri. He had that sound down! You might never have known. And then there’s Van Halen who, in my mind, not only replaced David Lee Roth, but they traded up. Sammy Hagar breathed new life into that band and they delivered some hard rockin tunes. And then there’s Van Halen after Sammy with Gary Cherone (you say WHO?)….bad move. Sometimes a great band can survive a transition into a new direction…sometimes, not so much.
The current lineup of Foreigner is Mick Jones, Jason Bonham, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Jacobs, Jeff Pilson & Tom Gimbel. In case you keeping score, that’s just one original member and some 21 former members blowing in the wind. With those stats, I’m not sure taking a job with Foreigner is a solid career decision.
I was watching Foreigner take the stage and I’ll admit that after Styx rockin the show, I was (almost) feeling it. I’m almost getting into it and then it happened: I’m watching this lead singer prance about the stage and all I can think about is a line from the movie “Rockstar” when Izzy tells the crowd,
“You know, I'm just a regular guy who grew up with the posters of these guys on my wall... and now I'm one of them! That's right, I'm standing here, living proof that if you work hard enough, and you want it bad enough... dreams do come true. So follow your dreams...”
That right boys and girls: Kelly Hansen’s dream has come true. But Kelly is no Lou Gramm. If you don’t believe me, you can head on over to www.foreigneronline.com and have a listen for yourself. There’s a live recording of “Long, Long Way from Home.” He’s just kind of pitchy and his vocal quality is thin. I wouldn’t say he’s the worst singer I’ve ever heard, but he just didn’t put out that energy and umph that should have been there. Disappointing. Sadly disappointing.
Here’s the set list:
Double Vision
Head Games
Cold as Ice
Feels Like the First Time
Urgent
Juke Box Hero – Whole Lotta Love
I Want to Know What Love Is
Encore:
Hot Blooded
They picked a good selection of hits and I’ll tell you that the band’s sound was dynamite. Mick Jones played to perfection all those solos you know by heart and the crowd was air guitar-ing right along with him. Aside from a weak lead singer, the other low point of the show was the super extended elongated lengthy expanded very very very long versions of all these songs. Maybe to promote their (lame) 2006 release titled “ Foreigner; Extended Versions”?? You know, I dig these songs like everyone else and I deeply appreciate a band that can bring on the jams (see: Blues Traveler, Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic etc etc). But come on, guys! Extra solos, an extra chorus here and there and repeating verses: Trust me, the fans knew they were getting jerked around.
The song where this was most evident was “Juke Box Hero.” To start, the intro just went on f-o-r-e-v-e-r. You know this song…the story of a boy with big rock and roll dreams… and you know every word, right? Well, there we are singing along to the first verse and it swells at the end and goes right into the second verse real low and sexy-like…..NO! HA! You just got punked! Because tonight, instead of going into the second verse you get a bonus instrumental jam! You know how it is when you are singing really loud and then the song changes and you keep singing at least for another 10 seconds before you realize what has happened? Yeah, that was it. People were looking confused and slightly embarrassed. Evidently the band thought this worked well because they managed to squeeze two more jams into this song.
Now here’s where I might seem to contradict myself, but try to stay with me: While I wasn’t digging the extended songs that were an obviously put in place to stroke the band’s ego….I’ll admit that there ARE times when this trick works. Jason Bonham is the drummer. Yes, same Bonham. Jason is HIS son. (Yes, I can read your mind) And because “Juke Box Hero” is about a boy on a quest to play some rock and roll, it REALLY WORKED when they launched into “Whole Lotta Love” after the second chorus and brought it all back to “Juke Box.” Man, it was an ethereal experience and probably as close as I will ever come to seeing Zeppelin (sadly).
And that was the high point of Foreigner. A Led Zeppelin song.
Which brings us to Def Leppard closing out the show. Yeah! This had to be good! I saw them play at Sandstone Ampitheatre in Kansas City in the late 80’s…back when “Pour Some Sugar on Me” was at the top of the charts. Bon Jovi opened for them and it was a killer show. Def Leppard has survived so much; Rick Allen lost an arm, Steve Clark died. Not many bands would make it through that. At least they still have their original lead singer, right?
Oh my.
That was my reaction. With my jaw on the floor.
Here’s the set list:
Rocket
Animal
Excitable
Foolin
High & Dry
Let It Go
Love Bites
Rock On
2 Steps Behind
Brining on the Heartache
Hysteria
Armageddon It
Photograph
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Encore:
Rock of Ages
The best thing I can say about Def Leppard is that the band rocked. They were flat out everything I expected. Super tight. Phil Collen has only gotten better with age and Rick Allen can still deliver that electro-rock drum beat. Surprise, surprise: Vivian Campbell was on guitar! Whoa! You know Vivian; formerly with Dio & Whitesnake. He was stellar, delivering it all so effortlessly…so perfect, as if he had written these tunes himself. He was amazing to experience.
So, they opened it up with “Rocket”. Not one of my favs, but still a great tune, had people on their feet, yada yada.…typical opener. I thought there was something wrong with the mix or maybe there was an equipment problem all through the first song because I just couldn’t hear Joe Elliott. Whatever. First song, band might not have sound checked…you know.
Second song, “Animal” and the “problem” was still there. It wasn’t the mix. Not the equipment. It had a name: Joe Elliot. Man, he was bad! Like, Bad-capital-B. BAD all in caps. BAD. BAD. BAD.
So we’ve come full circle in one show: One great band, One band with a replacement singer and One band with a singer that should just quit. What a night.
Joe left the as much of the singing to the crowd as he could. Of course, we all knew the words, so it worked well for him. His voice was always out of tune and out of breath. He just didn’t have the power to sing like he used to. So, maybe he was sick or something? Well, I thought about cutting him a break and assuming that to be the case, until he delivered a killer rendition of the 70’s hit “Rock On.” This song had a lower register and just fit him better than the old hits. He was really good and he sang the whole song….which was good for me, because I was getting tired of singing!
When they whipped out “Photograph” I couldn’t resist. I just couldn’t stop myself. YouTube is entirely too easy to use so, have a listen:
The male voice you hear ever-so-slightly is Joe. It might sound like I was picking up someone from the crowd, but I assure you it is totally Joe Elliot. And it is totally bad. Such a shame, because it’s such a great song.
It wasn’t until the last song, “Rock of Ages,” ( seriously one of my favorites ) that the famous line came: with the crowd yelling it out, “It’s better to burn out, than fade away.” And I have to wonder, Joe Elliott, do you really believe that? Because in your case honey, it would be better to just fade away.
Please. Let it go.
Labels: Concert, def leppard, foeigner, review, styx
posted by Gonzo at 11:32 PM
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