Imagine having to decide on a setlist that would satisfy the Foreigner fans in attendance at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Saturday. It would be difficult to say the least. The amount of music in Foreigner’s catalog over the past 40 years is astounding. This time, however, they were up for the task. Every song played was a hit and the crowd responded clearly as they sang along with every tune. With such songs as “Double Vision,” “Cold as Ice,” “Dirty White Boy” and “Urgent” it would be hard for any fan to stay planted in their seat. The sound was amazing and the band was tight. The show didn’t stop with just those hits. The band also played “Say You Will,” “Juke Box Hero,” “I Want to Know What Love Is” and ended the great night with “Hot Blooded.”

    Is Foreigner essentially a cover band now with Mick Jones unable to make the past half dozen shows because of health reasons? Does it matter that the band we saw in The Woodlands the other night, billed as Foreigner, contains exactly zero original members of Foreigner? Does it make any difference that no one on that stage had anything at all to do with making any of those Foreigner hits in the first place?

    First, judging by the fun everyone was having, the answer is no which raises even more questions. For instance, what percentage of the audience knew or cared that no original members were on stage? Surely most realized that Lou Gramm, the man who sang all of those hits on the studio albums, is no longer in the band. Most likely fewer in the audience thought anything about classic-era bassist Rick Willis and drummer Dennis Elliott — both still alive — being MIA. (Original rhythm guitarist Ian McDonald passed away last year.) With the current top-notch musical professionalism and dead-on attention paid to all the details of the originals, this show was exactly what their fans young and old came to see.

    Currently the longest touring members with the band are singer Kelly Hansen (since 2005), Micheal Bluestein (since 2008) and Jeff Pilson (since 2004). Even though they joined the party after Foreigner had already had their run in the sun Hansen and Pilson have given Foreigner what was needed the past 20 years to stay in their fans spotlight. All good things must come to an end and that will soon be happing for Foreigner as a teary eyed Hanson stated “On their own terms.”

    Opening for Foreigner this tour stop was Loverboy, a Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly "Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend," have become arena rock staples and are still heard on all the classic rock and classic hits radio stations across Canada and the United States.

    Many will also remember their song “Heaven in Your Eyes" from the soundtrack of the 1986 movie Top Gun. Other classics they played this night included “The Kid is Hot Tonight” “Lovin' Every Minute of It” and “Hot Girls in Love.”

    Unlike Foreigner, Loverboy consists of all but one of their original members. Singer Mike Reno, Paul Dean on guitar and  Matt Frenetter on Drums.  Bassist Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve has been with the band since 2001 replacing Scott Smith after he was swept off a sailboat near the Golden Gate Bridge and was presumed dead, lost at sea.

    It’s getting tougher and tougher to see the bands that I grew up with getting old and losing members. I can still remember seeing Foreigner the first time they ever played in H-Town opening for the great Ted Nugent in 1977 at Jeppesen Stadium. Their music will live on forever with all of us once they are officially retired.

Foreigner Setlist:
Double Vision
Head Games
Cold as Ice
Waiting for a Girl Like You
Dirty White Boy
Acoustic
When It Comes to Love
Girl on the Moon
Say You Will
Electric
Feels Like the First Time
Urgent
Keyboard and Drum Solo
Juke Box Hero
Encore:
I Want to Know What Love Is
Hot Blooded


Loverboy:
Notorious
Lucky Ones
Queen of the Broken Hearts
Take Me to the Top
The Kid Is Hot Tonite
Heaven in Your Eyes
Lovin' Every Minute of It
Hot Girls in Love
Turn Me Loose
Working for the Weekend