Foreigner Rocks The Symphony Hall [GALLERY]

Foreigner and the Dave Eggar Orchestra made their last stop of the special presentation of their music at the Duluth Symphony Hall at the DECC. The evening started differently than any concert I had ever been to.

Normally there is an intro or an announcer and the band comes out hidden by something or no lights. This concert started with the orchestra playing a medley of Foreigner's songs,  Lead Singer Kelly Hanson explained this would be a different night that would include the symphony experience, but that it would rock and that he expected everyone to stand!

The show did start out hard with the best rendition of "Cold As Ice" and Kelly jumped into the audience slapping hands with everyone, went to the back and peeked through the door, eventually making his way to the front. They wrapped up the song.

The only complaint that I would have of the show was that they went slow and accoustic too quick and the energy dropped fast. The performance was great but the energy was gone right away. I understood why they did it that way, as the set went on it carried more and more momentum into the next thing.

One thing I thought the band did right, was establish a connection with the audience right away and never let go. Kelly Hanson was the leader of the show and the host of the evening beside his spot on vocals. I know some people were mumbling before the show that former lead singer Lou Gramm wasn't there and everyone was curious about how he would do. Kelly made it his show and each member of the band worked together to make it an experience. They mentioned using local singers and musicians, which made it even more special.

From the great arrangements from Jeff Pilson, or the Sax playing of Tommy Gimbel, you could tell the band was having fun with each other and there was also respect among them when each person was introduced. There was also a lot of humor, with the story Mick Jones shared for one of the songs, to Kelly Hanson mentioning the age of the crowd, or when he said, "You F***ers Haven't Stood All Evening"

I didn't expect to be so entertained by symphony rock show, but this was a fun night and to top it off, the choir from Denfeld High School came out and backed up the band on "I Want To Know What Love Is". The crowd went wild as they stepped on stage and one of the girls in the choir jumped off the stairs to help bassist Jeff Pilson by strumming his bass for the end.

Thanks for a great time for my son Sam and I, sharing singing duties when a favorite of ours came on, to Tommy Gimbel for giving Sam a guitar pick that he bragged about all night to everyone and giving him a great memory of that night, and thank you Jeff Pilson for a great interview, and being the great guy that I expected you to be.

By the way, if you enjoyed the night as much as me, the CD/DVD of a previous performance will be out in a few weeks.