Foreigner, Sala Palatului, 07.05.2018

The evening started surprisingly with Iris, and I say surprisingly both because there was no mention of them being the opening act and because it took me a while to recognise them. And yes, I am not blind to the irony of not recognising one of the few Romanian rock bands with “legend” status, but apparently the court of law also has troubles figuring out who these guys are, judging by the fact that there are now two groups of individuals allowed to use the Iris trademark. 

After all the scandals with the coming and going of Minculescu and other iconic members, I took a step back from the group and yes, I had to read on the drums that this was indeed Iris. The music was unmistakable, of course, but I thought they were just some dudes trying to sound like the original. And after half an hour of watching them live, I still felt like they were some dudes trying to sound like the original. With one of the founding members absent, two founding members hidden behind the drums/keyboards and three unknown members fronting the band in the most boring and lifeless way possible, they looked like a cover band. 

The lead singer is supposed to have experience playing in rock bands, but his stage presence was… lacking, to put it nicely. Good voice (although it wouldn’t kill him to stop trying to imitate everything about Minculescu, down to the phrasing and breathing), but zero charisma. I get that Sala Palatului is a difficult location to play rock music in, but it’s not impossible, as we later saw. Other than shaking his ass (and I really mean shaking his ass, I’m not exaggerating), he didn’t move at all, he barely tried to talk to us and most importantly, he looked like he just didn’t want to be there. Like all the “raise your hands, sing with us” were there just because they had to. The guitarist and bassist flanking him were similarly uninterested and insipid and when the drummer whom you can barely see is more active and captivating than the three people who are basically the first contact you have with the band, there’s a problem. They were gone quickly, but honestly I was quite disappointed. Iris were a huge part of my childhood, along with Pasarea Colibri and Phoenix, and it made me sad to see them squabbling in the tabloids while their art is lacking. It definitely doesn’t help that Phoenix has their own embarrassing squabble. 

But enough about behind the scenes stuff, let’s get to the real show. I admit at first I wasn’t mega-excited about being there. I grew up with Foreigner and I do like them, but I always saw them more as my parents’ band and not something I was particularly attached to. But when the opportunity presents itself, I’m not going to say “no” to a free concert of a good band. I’m very glad I didn’t say “no”, it was awesome!

From the first second they entered the stage, they just conquered it and owned it. I’m not sure how much was genuine excitement on their part and how much was 40 years of experience in one of the best selling rock bands in history (I think it was a bit of both), but they could fool anyone that they were having the time of their life and this was the most magical crowd they’ve ever sung for. I’m so impressed by their energy, they had a lot of it, always dancing and jumping and running around the stage, and they also shared a lot of it. Like I said, Sala Palatului is a difficult location. Maybe it’s because of its history, but it has such a cold communist anti-fun vibe, when the lights turn on between bands I feel like they’re doing it so we don’t kiss with boys in the audience or something. I don’t feel like I can let my hair hang down, so to speak, and I rarely get into the show 100% like I do in other locations. But this time it was different, and it’s all because of these guys. 

From the second song, the lead singer got down from the stage, into the crowd and just started walking on the chairs to get to the people in the middle of the hall. The chairs are plushy and elegant. Walking on them… let’s just say the security didn’t seem too pleased, but I just loved him for it. I loved him even more when he told us “you do know this is a rock show, right?” and asked us all to get up from the seats and gather near the stage. People were sitting politely in their chairs, maybe clapping, cheering a bit, but all very reserved and he was just having none of that. He flirted with the ladies in the audience, he complained we didn’t seem very impressed by his compliments, he made us sing along and cheer (and wouldn’t take silence for an answer)… to put it shortly, if we didn’t know how to have fun, he was going to teach us how to do it. And it worked. By the end of the show, everyone was out of their seats, singing and dancing. It was just impossible to sit down and not be taken with them! It was a lesson on how to get in front of an audience and make it yours. 

If it seems like most of my comments were about Kelly Hansen, it’s because he’s a real showman and a ball of energy. I don’t know what he eats for breakfast, but I want it, because I couldn’t keep up with him and I’m literally half his age. His age… oh man, I knew he was younger than Lou Gramm, so I expected him to be in his 40’s, but when I read he’s fifty-freaking-seven I almost fell of my chair. There is no way you could tell that judging by his performance last night! Like I said, a ball of energy, and a very charismatic one. All the other members of the band were impressive in their own way and the sax, drums and keys solos were a real joy to hear and watch, but Hansen needed to step off the stage or move to the back to stop stealing the show. I also discovered that I knew almost all the songs and lyrics and that I loved them all, I guess they were a bigger part of my musical background than I realised before now. It always fascinated me how the most beautiful and heartfelt ballads can come from the heaviest or sometimes sleaziest rockers (of course I haven’t been able to get Waiting for a girl like you out of my head since last night), but at the same time they weren’t as mushy as I remembered them and played quite a few lively hard rock tracks. It was a good balance between rocking out and waving lighters while hugged with your partner (or mom, in my case. What, who do you think planted the seeds of my music life?). 

I had way more fun than I ever expected I would, I left the show feeling happy and energised and maybe a bit humbled in being reminded that all the bands I now fangirl over started with these dudes and others like them, that to our younger elitist ears seem a bit corny and maybe even a bit past the expiration date. *I* am more past my expiration date than any of the guys I saw in Foreigner the other night, they were simply impressive with how well they sounded, how flawlessly they harmonised and how much energy they shared. If I said the evening started surprisingly, it ended even more surprisingly, this time entirely in a positive tone. I’m happy I was there.