Foreigner und Bassum-Open-Air

Foreigner, Europe and FM. This was quite simply a stunning concert. Three fantastic groups featuring three amazing vocalists with voices that you'd happily trade a major bodily organ for, whether it be for rocking the house or simply for serenading the knickers off of that special lady in your life! First up was FM. Now it turns out that I've seen FM before as support for Thin Lizzy back in 2011 and although I don't remember it well, I do remember being impressed despite never having heard of them. Nowadays, I know them due to their hit 'Crosstown Train', which received well deserved and extensive plays on Planet Rock. FM are a band with a extensive catalogue of truly great rock songs. They've been going 30 odd years apparently, who knew? Vocalist Steve Overland is a very impressive front man with a superb voice and I will definitely be looking at lot closer at their back catalogue. Next up was Europe. Everybody but everybody, knows 'The Final Countdown'. Now I admit I've always thought of it and indeed Europe as trashy and throwaway euro pop, but put it on and there's not many who wouldn't know it and whether they admit to liking it or not, they normally sing along because poppy or not, it's a great song which I've grown pretty fond of! That said, when Joey Tempest and the boys want to get heavy, they get as heavy as you want. 'The Last Look At Eden' album was a superb showcase of just how good a group they can be and certainly turned me round in my thinking. Add to that the fact that Joey Tempest probably (if I'm honest, despite my love of Foreigner) stole the show! He gave an electric performance and absolutely had the audience in the palm of his hand. At one point, he recalled a boat trip from Sweden to Hammersmith as a 16 year old to see Thin Lizzy and inserted a few lines of 'The Cowboy Song' into the track 'Superstitious'. That was me won over straight away! Unfortunately, it was a short set and although we got to hear classics like 'Rock The Night and the banging 'No Stone Unturned', I was disappointed not to hear the truly excellent 'Catch That Plane' and 'Not Supposed To Sing The Blues'. They closed up with 'The Final Countdown' and the place went absolutely mental! I would happily go to see them as a headliner. Finally came Foreigner who opened up with 'Double Vision'. Strangely, there was no sign of founder member and lead guitarist Mick Jones but it transpires that he'd been unable to play on some of the other tour dates due to ill health. The band played three more songs being 'Head Games','Cold As Ice' and 'Waiting For A Girl Like You' before the appearance of Jones. The rest was almost shared by the whole audience who without much coaxing were happy to sing along word for word with the band and who were obviously having a great time. Kelly Hanson is, like his predecessor Lou Gramm, a great vocalist and fits perfectly into the role of Foreigners lead vocalist as he sounds so much like Gramm. Hanson also said they'd been touring and the one country he mentioned was Israel which I was delighted to hear. They entertained the rockers like me with songs like 'Urgent' and 'Cold as Ice' whilst catering also to the couples and ladies with their trademark ballads like 'Waiting For A Girl Like You' and the soulful 'I Wanna Know What Love Is' which they performed beautifully along with a school choir. If you've never seen Foreigner, big mistake because they are a superb band with something for just about everyone!