Foreigner can't get the classic-rock revival thing right
By DAVE FERMAN - Ft Worth Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Dec. 15, 2006

GRAPEVINE - For classic-rock acts lucky and skillful enough to keep
their audience, middle age can be sweet: Rush, Styx, REO Speedwagon and
Sammy Hagar still do good business, and the Def Leppard/Journey double
bill filled Smirnoff this past summer.

For others, however, it's a long way down, as was the case with the
once-mighty Foreigner, which could not even pack the small Glass Cactus
nightclub Wednesday night -- even the floor area in front of the stage
wasn't full.

The show wasn't that bad: The band (sole original member Mick Jones and
five hired hands, including lead singer Kelly Hansen) played all the
hits, opening with Double Vision and including Blue Morning, Blue Day,
Cold As Ice and the still-enjoyable hard-rock blast Dirty White Boy.

Most of the notes were hit -- the harmonies got a little shaky now and
then -- and the sound in the club was excellent, crisp and punchy and
clear.

The hair in the soup here is Hansen, who looks like a younger,
cleaned-up version of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and who seems to have
read and memorized the Classic Rock Singer Handbook. Every hoisting of
the microphone stand and bit of between-song banter about lovin' Texas
and all the hot ladies here tonight come straight out of central
casting, one part Tyler, one part David Coverdale, and no parts
original or compelling.

Hansen hits most (well, many) of the notes made famous by Lou Gramm,
but where Gramm was all business and could actually improve on the
recorded versions in concert, Hansen is a scenery-chewer, a collection
of poses, and his antics induced more cringes than cheers.

Too bad, too. Watching Def Leppard and Journey tear through their
massive collections of hits before a wildly enthusiastic crowd last
summer was perfectly enjoyable -- a fun night out for anyone who
enjoyed those bands in the first place. Foreigner's solid, workmanlike
mediocrity is the other side of the coin -- Jones should either get a
new lead singer and try to kick-start the group or just call a halt
before he's playing chili cook-offs and children's birthday parties.

GRADE: C+

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