ST. GEORGE — One of Foreigner’s very first hit songs was titled “Feels Like the First Time.” And if you listen to bassist Jeff Pilson talk, it’s evident the passion that band members displayed 47 years ago is just as palpable as it is today.
L-R: Foreigner lead singer Kelly Hansen and bassist Jeff Pilson are pictured during a concert, date and location not specified. The band will perform two shows April 11-12, 2024, at Tuacahn Amphitheatre. | Photo courtesy of Foreigner, St. George News
It’s this very energy he and his bandmates will bring to the Tuacahn Amphitheatre stage April 11-12.
“The whole show is nothing but excitement, fun and great songs all the way through,” Pilson told St. George News during a recent phone interview. “You can expect a high-energy show, and it’s going to be just nothing but fun.”
Not bad for a rock ‘n’ roll band that was founded in 1976 and has since produced numerous chart-toppers — nine top-10 hits, to be exact.
Among those who listened then, listen now and probably will continue to listen is Lauren Wood, The Hawk 95.9 on-air personality who has met and interviewed Foreigner members and many other stars during her extensive career spinning records. She sums up Foreigner as follows: “The music carries the legacy. The songs are so classic and such a part of the culture that they deliver what the fans have always connected to, giving the legacy what it deserves.”
‘That Was Yesterday’
Pilson was not an original member of Foreigner. Born in Illinois in 1959, he said his earliest recollection of a musician or band that inspired him is as classic as it gets.
“The Beatles, of course, that was No. 1,” Pilson said. “That’s what ignited the spark that continues to this day. I saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show and I thought, ‘That’s a good job. I want that.’”
Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson jams during a concert, date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of Foreigner, St. George News
Pilson, who was a member of the band Dokken before joining Foreigner in 2004, said concert-goers might be surprised to discover themselves singing along to familiar songs they didn’t know were recorded by Foreigner.
“You can expect to hear way more songs than you realize you know,” Pilson said. “Even young people don’t realize how many Foreigner songs they know because the songs have been around and part of the culture for 47 years now.”
“Cold As Ice” and “Long, Long Way From Home” and the aforementioned “Feels Like the First Time” were among their early hits and were all on their self-titled 1977 debut album. Then came “Double Vision,” the title track of which shot up the charts along with “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” and “Hot Blooded.”
Fronted by lead vocalist Lou Gramm and producer/vocalist/keyboardist Mick Jones, Foreigner had arrived.
‘Jukebox Hero’
Taking the stage still thrills Pilson. His voice reveals a love for music, a love for performing and a love for being a member of Foreigner. When asked about the band’s staying power and what has enabled Foreigner to endure years of recording, changing faces and touring, he offers a simple but poignant response.
“In a nutshell, the songs. They’re just great songs,” he said. “They resonated with people then. They resonate with people now. It’s the catalog of songs that makes this so special.”
Electric guitars. Keyboards. Drums. Vocals. Lights. Fans. A rock concert has it all, and Pilson said like the bands he played with before joining Foreigner and those he’s toured with and been inspired by, it’s all about delivering, night in and night out.
“Foreigner is a high-energy show,” he said. “People are often shocked by what a high-energy show we are.”
Wood concurred, adding, “They are at the top of their game, still firing on all cylinders and performing a non-stop, hit after hit, high-energy show, where the fan reaction is always phenomenal.”
‘I Want To Know What Love Is’
While many who attend the Tuacahn shows are doing so because Foreigner is in town, the subplot is perhaps equally as intriguing. Backing up lead vocalist Kelly Hansen will be 24 local students from grades 7-8 — the Vista Rising Stars show choir. Like the jukebox hero, the band has been singing about for over 40 years, these Vista School singers have “stars in their eyes” as they prepare for something unforgettable.
Jacob Thomas is the director of Vista Rising Stars — a troupe of 24 Vista School students grades 7-8 who will perform with Foreigner April 11-12, 2024, at Tuacahn Amphitheatre. Photo date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of Vista School, St. George News
“We feel extremely excited,” choir director Jacob Thomas said in an email to St. George News. ” This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many if not all of the students involved. They get to sing onstage with a legendary rock band.
“In fact, we did hear back from one student who went home and told her dad that she was going to be able to sing onstage with Foreigner at Tuacahn, and to put it into her words, ‘He started leaping up and down with joy, whooping and weeping, because, like, Foreigner is his all-time favorite band!’”
Pilson, meanwhile, said band members covet this aspect of the show for several reasons, not the least of which is the reminder of what it was like when they were younger and had dreams of one day making it big.
“They get very excited and they’re having a great time, but I gotta tell you, so are we, and we get to kind of live vicariously through them. And it’s a wonderful feeling,” Pilson said. “We get to look in their eyes and see the excitement and that makes us even more excited. And isn’t that what performing is all about? Everybody getting a great feeling?”
Thomas said he relishes his role as the mentor to these talented young people and finds their passion and dedication invigorating.
“Working with these students is the best job in the world,” he said. “I love to sing, act, tell stories, play characters, connect with audiences, etc., but the fact that I get to help students learn how to do all that for themselves is incredibly rewarding. I am much more fulfilled when I see my students learning, growing, struggling and then succeeding in rehearsal and on stage than when I am up on stage myself.”
And come April 11 and 12, Thomas and his students, along with Pilson and the current members of Foreigner, will come together for what is sure to be a defining moment.
“Every time we get to the chorus on ‘I Want To Know What Love Is,’ you can just feel the audience connecting,” Pilson said of the marquee hit from their fifth album “Agent Provocateur.”
‘Long Long Way From Home’
After playing Tuacahn, Foreigner will continue its Farewell Tour, which began in 2023 when founding member Mick Jones, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, stepped away from performing due to health concerns. They will conclude the year in residence in Las Vegas, their last show scheduled for Nov. 9.
L-R: Foreigner band members include guitarist Bruce Watson, keyboardist Michael Bluestein, lead vocalist Kelly Hansen, bassist Jeff Pilson, guitarist Luis Maldanado and drummer Chris Frazier, date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of Foreigner, St. George News
But Pilson said the band isn’t quite ready to perform “Feels Like the First Time” for the last time.
“We’re not going away,” he said. “We’re not disappearing off the face of the earth. We’re just not going to be touring nine months of the year anymore. We’re going to be doing far more selective dates and will be doing some shows in 2025.”
Pilson said “it’s an honor and a privilege” to perform. And when the curtain falls and the lights come up, he and his bandmates hopefully will have given fans their money’s worth — and then some.
“We are so appreciative of the audience. They have been there, some of them for 47 years, and that’s not lost on us,” Pilson said. “Our job is to deliver the very, very best show that we can — and we will. As much fun as we’re having, we take our job very seriously delivering this music. Thank you to the fans, enjoy the show and let’s keep rocking!”
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