Foreigner rocks Beaumont

This past Monday evening was a night for great rock and roll and memories as legendary British-American rock act Foreigner returned to Southeast Texas.

Foreigner, which released its first album in 1977, performed in front of a near-capacity crowd inside the beautiful Julie Rogers Theater in downtown Beaumont on Monday (April 22, 2019) and delivered an evening full of rock radio hits, showmanship and fun, as the band performed 12 songs during a 90-minute set.

From the opening notes of “Long, Long Way Home,” vocalist Kelly Hansen had the Beaumont-faithful on their feet and singing at the top of their lungs on hits such as “Cold as Ice” and “Feels Like the First Time,” while couples held hands or swooned in their seats to ballads “Waiting for a Girl Like You” and “I Want to Know What Love Is,” with the latter featuring a guest performance by the choir of Beaumont United High School.

Never let it be said this is just a job for this group of talented musicians, as guitarist Bruce Watson and bassist Jeff Pilson constantly interacted with the fans and one another throughout the concert while smiling throughout, as did multi-instrument talent Tom Gimbel who played rhythm guitar, keyboard and saxophone.

A nice highlight of the evening was the keyboard and drum solos by Michael Bluestein and Chris Frazier, respectively. Bluestein easily had the best lighting combination of the night during his energetic, hand-clapping keyboard solo, while the rock solid, Zepplin-esque drumming of Frazier was nothing short of spectacular.

While the fans knew the words to every song in the set, it was the pre-encore tune “Jukebox Hero” which brought every person to their feet and had fists pumping and digital devices recording as they sang in unison with the band. It was definitely a moment to remember.

The group is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of its third album, “Head Games,” which features the single of the same name and another highly popular song, “Dirty White Boy,” both of which helped power this record to number five on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart and quintuple platinum status.

The band will remain on the road through the spring in the United States, before heading to Europe in July for festival season and headline performances. Foreigner then returns to the U.S. for the outdoor season in August and September.

Visit www.foreigneronline.com for more information on the band and its upcoming tour schedule.

Foreigner setlist

Long, Long Way from Home

Double Vision

Head Games

Cold as Ice

Waiting for a Girl Like You

Blue Morning, Blue Day

Dirty White Boy

Feels Like the First Time

Urgent

Jukebox Hero

I Want to Know What Love Is

Hot Blooded