Post Concert Review: Foreigner, Cheap Trick, and Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience
By: Gabriel Diaz
On August 1st, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, and Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience all performed an amazing, fun filled concert in West Palm Beach’s Perfect Vodka Amphitheater.
The concert was one of the most crowded spectacles that the West Palm Beach community had seen in a long time.
Upon walking to the Amphitheater, attendees were greeted with a plethora of eating options such as popcorn and food stands, a set of tasty lemonade stands, and some adult beverage kiosks.
People were also met with chaperones who tried their best to guide the thousands of ecstatic fans to their seats in the covered part of the amphitheater or other areas, such as the mosh which was right in front of the stage, or the lawn which was located outside and furthest from the stage.
The amphitheater was filled with thousands of both older and younger fans who came to listen to the bands they grew up with, or to listen to the legendary bands that they had only heard about through Spotify or Apple Music, and from stories the younger crowd heard from their parents.
The first band to take the stage was Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience. Bonham’s band played tribute to the original Led Zeppelin beautifully by performing classic hits such as “Immigrant Song” to which the whole crowd was creaming along with, and “Whole Lotta Love” amongst many other classics. Bonham killed the set on the drums, and being a South Florida resident himself, he truly engaged the crowd and got them heavily involved in their performance from the start.
After about eight to 10 songs and a 15-minute intermission break, Cheap Trick took the stage. Cheap Trick put on a legendary performance by playing their worldwide famous hits “Surrender” and “Dream Police,” as well as “I Want You to Want Me.” This amazing performance by Cheap Trick prepared the whole audience for the main performance of the night, Foreigner.
The legendary band that has been attributed to having sold over 75 million records worldwide played an amazing concert, considering that the band is now over 40 years old.
For their 40th anniversary tour, Foreigner played “Waiting For A Girl Like You” featuring rock legend Mick Jones on the keyboard as well as on the guitar playing “Feels Like The First Time” which lit up the stage and hyped up the crowd, as well as “Dirty White Boy” in which he shredded the guitar on an epic solo. Kelly Hansen (lead singer), then asked the crowd to pick between a set of songs for them to play, which ended with the crowd choosing “Blue Morning, Blue Day”.
When Mick Jones and Thomas Gimbel started shredding the guitar and Mick Jones started singing this song, the crowd went wild and the only thing you could hear were the fans singing along to this all time classic.
Toward the end of the show, Foreigner dropped a new banner unto the stage and played a song that made them international icons, this being “Jukebox Hero”. For this song, the stage went dark and then, to everyone’s surprise, a spotlight appeared on Kelly Hansen who was standing on an elevated stand in the middle of the seated section. When the crowd heard the words “Standing in the rain” and saw Hansen on the stand, they lost their sanity and started singing along to “Jukebox Hero.” Then, when Mick Jones struck his guitar, the whole stage lit up red and yellow and revealed a massive jukebox banner with an amazing lighting effect.
To end the unforgettable show, Foreigner concluded by playing “Hot Blooded,” which earned them a standing ovation from the crowd who had been amazed and entertained the whole night by the amazing spectacle they had witnessed the whole night from all three bands.
Even though the band has been around for 40 years, Foreigner still performed like you would expect the legendary band to by engaging the audience, and playing their songs with passion and love, all in the name of Rock ‘N Roll!
