In 1999, Foreigner came to Salt Lake City and was welcomed by tornado. A couple of weeks ago, the band was playing the Walnut Creek Amphitheater in Raleigh, N.C., and the roof blew off.
Is it a coincidence that Foreigner's new lead singer (Kelly Hansen) used to sing for the '80s metal band Hurricane?
For Foreigner founder and lead guitarist Mick Jones, everything is cool as long as no one gets hurt. "It was a little scary for us back in Salt Lake, and the same goes for the show in Raleigh," Jones said by phone from New York City. "Wherever we go, things happen. Other than that, this year's tour has been quite uneventful."
For 30 years, Jones has helmed Foreigner. And regardless of lineup changes and down times, he says he's in it because he loves what he does. "It's my passion, but to tell you the truth, I never thought that I would still be playing music like this 30 years after I formed the band. When I saw older rock bands when I was young, it seemed to me that they all went schmaltzy, and I didn't want that to happen to me."
Although Foreigner has had some ballads hit the charts during its career, what has been happening lately is just the opposite of schmaltz. Even the lineup is a little harder than it has been in the past. Jones has teamed with Hansen, keyboardist Jeff Jacobs, saxophonist Thom Gimbel, former Dokken and Dio bassist Jeff Pilson, and drummer Jason Bonham.
"Foreigner has always shown that it could hold its own in rock," said Jones. "And though the music we play took big hits in the '90s — our style wasn't cool back then — we still are out there playing the music because we want to."
While Foreigner will also be known as former lead singer Lou Gramm's vocal outlet, the lineup today has proved to be solid, said Jones. "When Lou left a few years ago, I really didn't know what I was going to do. So I took a couple of years off to reassess my goals, and decided that the band is the most important thing to me."
Through the decades, Foreigner has released eight albums, six of them reaching multi-platinum status (selling more than 1 million copies each). In 2002, the Warner Music Group/Rhino Records re-released the band's first four albums — "Foreigner," "Double Vision," "Head Games" and "4" — in enhanced formats.
"I do feel when we play those songs live, we have a responsibility to make them as good as we can," said Jones. "People have notions of what the song should be because they are a part of their lives. I do think this new lineup has given new life to these songs. They feel as fresh today as they did when they were brand new in the '70s and '80s.
"And we've also picked up some metal fans because we have played metal shows in Europe and the fans know the guys from the different bands they've been in."
Recently, Jones has been working on new songs for a new Foreigner album. "We are planning to cut new songs in January. Unfortunately we aren't going to be able to play new songs in the set when we come to Salt Lake City.
"With three bands on the bill, we don't have time to play the hits and the new ones."
If you go
What: Def Leppard, Styx, Foreigner
Where: USANA Amphitheatre, 5400 S. 6200 West
When: today, 7 p.m.
How much: $30-$90
Phone: 467-8499, 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com