STEPH DEROSA: HOT BLOODED >>>

Inside Emerald Queen Casino’s event showroom, hundreds of chairs lined the flat floor surface, making me wonder if any and all people less than seven feet tall were going to be able to see the show.  Fortunately for me, I was quickly escorted to the showroom’s prestigious “VIP section.”  ‘Cause, ya know, I’m with the press. (Imagine me throwing my hair back and polishing my fingernails on my shirt, like a badass.)  The unfortunate part was that the “VIP section” made up approximately 20 percent of the venue’s floor space. 

Before the show, one particular Emerald Queen Casino usher asked me if I had earplugs, and suggested I take some of hers.  I suppose I was sitting pretty close, but I had never needed plugs at a show before, why would I now?  She informed me that the arena gets incredibly loud, and even in the back of the room the music is still almost intolerable.  Wow.  I suppose if you think I’ll need them, I will definitely take them. As the band took stage, I was appreciative for my newfound usher friend and her gift of green foamy earworms.  It. Was. LOUD.

The loudness did nothing to impair Foreigner's fantastic show.  New lead vocalist Kelly Hansen had a dreamy and inviting stage presence that seemed to make the menopausal women swoon.  To me he was a younger, more attractive Steven Tyler.  With his silky shirt unbuttoned halfway down, his Mr. T starter set of gold chains gracing a peach fuzz chest, and his circa 1978 perfectly coiffed feather head, he fit the Foreigner bill perfectly. 

I meticulously took notes on what I was witnessing, and of exactly what songs were being played.  I had to sit down and look closely at my yellow pad, diligently focusing so as not to miss a beat in the blacked-out showroom.  All the old hits came into play, one after the other: "Double Vision," "Head Games" (bonus mini-jam session included), "Cold as Ice," "Blue Morning (Blue Day)," and "Waiting For a Girl Like You."  The crowd was up on their feet and feelin’ as fine as they did many years ago in the back of their bitchin’ 1982 Camaro.

Then it happened.  You knew it was coming, and it was time to pay your dues.  THE NEW SONG.  Cripes.  Why does a band always have to throw their new shit in there?  I came to hear "Hot Blooded"!  But instead, I get “Too Late” off their new two-disc retrospective CD, No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner.  Meh, it was OK.  Cool song, very Foreigner-y, but not as rockin’ as their older stuff.  Maybe I’m just thinking that because the other songs hold memories, and this new one holds nothing for me.  Yet.

Next was “Dirty White Boy.”  I was still taking thorough notes when a silly little drunk girl behind me began to lean over my shoulder, well within my personal facial space, and heckle me for sitting down.  I’m not sure exactly what she and the group were saying, but she sounded like an irritating Charlie Brown teacher and I wanted to punch her in the face.  I laughed at first, but then it just got old.  With the combination of loud music and my green foamy earplugs, all I heard was some slurring bitch in my ear like an annoying, skanky mosquito. 

I needed to move. 

Thank goodness for my new BFF usher lady.  She moved me away from her, and up five rows.  Score.

An amazing, full band, acoustic version of “Say You Will” took my breath away and had me swaying down memory lane.  The band was in tune, and on key for the entire show, and especially this song. This acoustic gift showed us what pure talent they really did have.  Foreigner founder and guitarist, Mick Jones, was spot on and full of energy as he took over the stage and led his band mates through the night.

"Feels Like the First Time" had people jumping in the aisles, while "Urgent" was led in by a memorable and original intro followed through with an amazing sax performance by Thom Gimbel.

There’s nothing I love more than a fantastic, invigorating, blood pumping, hair raising drum solo, and that’s exactly what Foreigner drummer Bryan Head gave me next.  I watched him throw down on a drum solo, beat the shit out of his set, break a stick, take three beats to grab another, and not miss a single one of those beats while getting it.  I couldn’t take my eyes off him as the other band members entered the stage during his bit and went right into "Juke Box Hero."  BEST song of the night.  Somewhere within this 15 minute Jukebox Hero jam I witnessed a tiny scat by Hansen, homage to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” and then back into "Juke Box Hero."  It was simply incredible, and the perfect way to end the night’s set.

After a very short (like two minute) encore break, the band stepped out for their encore, which included "Long, Long Way From Home," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and finally â€" "Hot Blooded."  Ah, the first song people think of when they think “Foreigner.”  Although, now I have that song stuck in my head.  Not any of the others, just "Hot Blooded."  Have you ever noticed that no matter what you have to say, you can always fit it to the tune of “Hot Blooded”?  Thanks Foreigner, I will always love you â€" and never forget this night.