Foreigner Unforgettable In Rocking Night at Mohegan Sun

Foreigner came onstage to a packed house with an audience ready to rock. They were not disappointed as Kelly Hansen, lead singer, and the rest of the band gave the Mohegan Sun crowd all the rock they could want and more.

The band launched right into “Double Vision” followed by the hits “Head Games” and “Cold As Ice”.

The band alternated between all electric to an acoustical set. They brought out chairs to the front of the stage for the acoustical numbers. Including a lit up with tiny lights electric chair for Luis Maldonado who had recently had some kind of surgery or something of that nature and needed a wheelchair to traverse the stage at times.

Foreigner though not all original members from their beginnings in the mid 70’s has a stellar lineup of artists. Kelly Hansen is the lead singer, Bruce Watson on guitar, Jeff Pilson on bass, Mick Jones on keyboard, Michael Bluestein on keyboards, Luis Maldonado on guitar and Chris Frazier on drums.

They bantered with the crowd and during that banter Hansen announced the band wanted to go out before they could not give their all to the concert audience like some other artists do.

Hansen told the crowd that this would be their final year of performing in concerts. He stated that the band would do the rest of 2023 and then 2024 and call it quits. He said they wanted to pick when they would end it and not just perform when they don’t have the sound quality and the 100 percent energy from the band the audience deserves to hear after paying up for tickets to see them.

But, if this concert was any indication there is plenty of energy and life left in all the members. And although the audience was not as happy as the band with their decision, I guess life on the road and city after city takes its toll on any band and the families they leave each time they go out on tour. To sum it up I applaud and respect the decision the band has made and wish them all well in their future endeavors.

When the pace slowed for a few moments and the band launched into “I Want To Know What Love Is” you could hear the crowd join together singing along. The phones were brought out and lit up as the concert tradition of holding up lighters gave way to telephone flashlights. The entire crowd lit up and swayed to the words and rhythm of the song. It was spectacular to see so many lights as the crowd gladly joined participated.

Foreigner has not lost a bit of their edge. If you do get the chance to see them in person before they are no longer touring snap those tickets up. You won’t regret it if you see them, but you will if you lose out on this last year of watching their high energy tour and hearing all their fantastic songs in person.

Review by Donna Erichsen
Photos by George Bekris