Gig Review: Foreigner/Europe/FM - Portsmouth Guildhall

  I was lucky getting a ticket for this one. By the time I got around to popping into the Guildhall box office, they had precisely two seats left, both right at the back except in different corners.
 "Seats?" I thought "For a rock gig?"
 I wasn't entirely happy about this - I've always felt that standing makes you feel more of the experience as opposed to merely watching it -  but I broke out my debit card anyway.

 When I rolled up to the Guildhall last night I couldn't help noticing that the average age of the crowd as significantly older than most. Most seemed to be older than me, in fact.

  So, I was watching three bands who had had their glory days in the 80s, sat down at the back among a crowd that might be difficult to get going. And the venue had this strange smell of curry coming from somewhere.  This had the potential to be a bit dull.

Hoooo boy was I ever wrong.

 I got to my seat as British AOR heroes FM were midway through their first song and almost immediately discovered that thanks to an acoustic peculiarity, every time the drummer hit his bass-drum I could feel myself vibrating.
 It was like standing under an airvent that switched on and off in 4/4 time.  Most odd.

 Confession time. I had the chance to see FM when they headlined Firefest a few years back and...err..I opted to grab a kebab and an early night instead. Based on tonight's showing I definitely missed out.
 Although this band are best remembered for melodic rock, it's easy to spot the blues and soul elements underpinning their sound, most noticeably on mellow groove "Closer to Heaven."
 Steve Overland still has a great set of pipes and he's a also nifty guitarist, him and Jim Kirkpatrick trading tasteful solos across their 30 minute set.
 Special mention too for keyboard-player Jem Davis. Proudly eschewing the smart-casual look in favour of a vest and shades, he spent the entire set throwing shapes behind the banked keys that hid him from view. Every now and again he'd  bounce out from behind his rig and then dive back in again.
  It's a bit unfortunate that they didn't play any of the few FM songs I actually knew - "Bad Luck" or "Tough it out" would have been nice.
Hmm, definitely should have seen them at Firefest. Oh well.

Verdict:  They did look a bit like geography teachers who decided to get the old band back together for a birthday bash. But musically they delivered and received a warm reception.

  Nobody is ever going to mistake Joey Tempest for a geography teacher. He made his presence known by bounding onto the monitors and striking a heroic pose, and from that moment on he did not stop moving, throwing shapes, twirling his mike and generally displaying more energy and enthusiasm than a 50 year old should have a right to.
 Like a lot of people, my knowledge of Europe is restricted to one song. You know the one I mean. So I'd mentally filed them away as "Cheesy Pop-metal aimed at teenage girls"
As it turns out, musically the Swedes have more in common with Deep Purple than Def Leppard and live even more so. "No Stone Unturned" in particular is something Ritchie Blackmore would not be ashamed of.
 I don't think I've ever gone into a gig knowing so little about a band and been so impressed. They got the crowd into it too.
 As the set rolled on there were more people on their feet, some abandoning their seats altogether to line up against the sides of the room and rock. Dancing in the aisles? That too.
 "Rock The Night" saw Tempest sneak in a snippet of Tears For Fears and an enthusiastic singalong. But there were still people sitting down.
 So for the encore Europe broke out the nuke.
The parpy keyboard intro hit and that was it. The entire Guildhall came to their feet and roared along.
"Iiits the Finaaall countdown!"

Verdict: Turns out that when people called Europe a Heavy Metal band, they weren't kidding. Bloody good live act too. If you get chance, go see them.

  Mick Jones is the only original member left in Foreigner so I had a vague worry that their set would consist of a bunch of hired guns half-heartedly working through the hits before "I Want To Know What Love Is" sent everybody home.
 Surprise number one was that the band came out fired up and ready to roll, opening with "Double Vision" and reminding everybody that Foreigner are, and always have been, a rock band.

 Surprise number two was that frontman Kelly Hansen is not only a hell of singer, he's a great  frontman too and if his patter occasionally dipped into cheesy, the obvious enthusiasm carried it.
 Like Joey Tempest, he did not stop moving the entire time.
 He danced on the speaker stacks, dived into the audience to stroll along on top of the seats and grab a sneaky kiss, serenaded a slightly bemused young lady who'd arrived from the bar a little late and told the audience that he saw "A lot of beautiful people out there tonight."
(pause)
"Not buying it? OK, let me rephrase that. I see a lot of beautiful women out there, surrounded by some ugly guys. Have we got any wild and crazy ladies out there?"
(Massive, high pitched cheer.)
"Well we got some Dirty White Boys up here for ya."
Trust me, his delivery made it work.

 Surprise number three was Mick Jones being not actually setting foot on stage until about 4 songs in.

I have no idea why.

 As he quickly proved, Jones can still peel off a solo with the best of them and isn't a bad vocalist either.  With seven members now onstage, Foreigner now had four guitarists and  five vocalists to play with. No wonder the choruses were so big.
 Earlier that day Mick Jones - born in Pompey - had been the first inductee into the Portsmouth Guildhall  Wall Of Fame so clearly last night was a special thing for him. He took the opportunity to break out a song not on the many Greatest Hits CDs. With it's acoustic/flute intro "Starrider" nods back to Jone's proggy days but then - Surprise number four - turned into the heaviest track on display all night.

 It took a few songs but Foreigner had the crowd off their bums and singing along to the hits. "Urgent" had an extended break for multi-instrumentalist Thom Gimbel to show off his sax chops, the drummer and keyboardist both got solos and finally "Juke Box Hero" showcased Hansen's vocal prowess, including the longest note I have ever heard anybody hit onstage.
 Of course it wasn't over yet. Nobody seriously expected Foreigner to get on the bus without their only UK No 1 hit.
 After coming back on with "Long Way From Home" , Kelly Hansen set about getting the crowd fired up and ready to sing.  He asked the crowd to reach out and put their arm around the person closest to them.

In my case that was a bloke, so never going to happen. But then a pair of ladylike arms briefly wrapped themselves around me from behind.

Hello, whoever that might have been. Thank you for taking a moment to hug a total stranger and warm his cynical heart.

For the chorus, the big, big chorus, Foreigner had enlisted some special guests. The Portsmouth High School Choir girls filed onstage and added their voices to the...ooh...thousand plus merrily singing along. Even from where I was standing they were clearly having a blast. I distinctly saw one young lady high-fiving the drummer at the end.
 Just to hammer home the point that this band are rockers, "Hot Blooded" closed the show. While nobody was looking, bassist Jeff Pilson and Michael Bluestein swapped instruments, Kelly went for a triumphant jog around the crowd and yours truly went off into the night with his ears hissing and a spring in my step.

Verdict. A great set. Lots of effort from all concerned and some top-notch musicianship. I spent the entire thing grinning and available evidence suggests that the rest of the crowd had a great time too. Certainly there's quite a few of them waking up this morning with aching limbs and sore throats. Which is how the day after a gig should be.

Band of the night: Foreigner - but Europe made them work for it.
Most peculiar moment: Hearing four or five people whistling "Final Countdown" in the gents.

Big thumbs up to all the bands involved and to the ladies and gents of Portsmouth who proved to be one hell of a crowd.

PS.  I apologise for the lack of pictures but I realised a couple of years back that I was spending too much time trying to get the shot rather than getting into the music.

That's all folks.