Foreigner got me “Hot Blooded” in Berlin
I am jumping ahead here, as in, I still haven't done my wild thanksgiving night blog lol, but 'this just in' has to come out now before I forget any details.. I went to the "Columbia Halle" early this evening to say hi to my pal Anna , who works backstage and just wanted to give the band, Foreigner my flyer (I wasn't planning on massaging anyone as a very good friend of mine bought me a ticket, so I was just planning on watching the show). When I stopped into the production office to say hi, I was surprised to see so many familiar faces. Most of the people who work with the band knew me from other bands they have toured with, mainly Iron Maiden. The wardrobe lady said "oh my god, Dr. Dot is here, the one from myspace!???" She came in and told me I had left a funny comment on her page of a cat taking a shit. Me? Nooooo! That can't be. heh heh. She took a picture with me and promised to send it to me on myspace asap 🙂
Jeff Pilson, the bass player, used to play with Dokken years ago ^
When I mentioned I didn't bring my massage table, but I DID have some massage oil with me, Jeff put his hand up first, so he got the first massage. The band does have a guy on tour with them who does massages, named Peter, from Sweden, whom I've met before at Iron Maiden, but Peter is usually busy working on the lead guitarist and founder of Foreigner, Mick Jones, so sometimes they can use an extra set of hands and Peter lent me his massage table to work on the band. This was indeed my lucky night.
I kicked Jeff's ass good. He really need a deep tissue, brutal massage to sort him out before the show. Touring is HELL on the body and I think everyone on the tour, roadies, bus drivers, caterers and managers, not just the artist, need massage on a regular basis to survive. It recharges their batteries so to speak.
Jeff is super cool, lives in LA and is a big tipper. Great guy! The whole band is on health kick, no alcohol or even cigarettes were to be seen backstage. If you want to remain in the music biz for a long time, you have to take care of yourself or you will burn out (like the Happy Mondays for example). You just can't party hard every fucking night on tour and expect to last. It just doesn't work.
Kelly Hansen , used to sing with a band called Hurricane ^
^ CAMEL TOE ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This shot was taken seconds before they went on stage. I was horrified when I saw the picture and noticed my raging camel toe. Oh well, what can I do? It's there, staring me in the face. Oh Lawd!
You're gonna think I'm just a brown nosing cunt, but let me tell you, this band fucking ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I usually never watch the whole show. I usually watch one or two songs. Last time I watched the WHOLE show was when I saw Steve Vai in NJ. I LOVE Steve's show, so I watch it in full. This band, Foreigner is tighter than a Chinese virgin. TIGHT I tell ya. I just gave into the cheesy-ness of it all, you know the 80's rock bands that you secretly love, but are afraid to admit to listening to at home alone? Like Styx, Journey, Foreigner, Pat Benetar, The Cars.. well, I fucking LOVE Foreigner and have never seen them in concert before. My massage team, however, has massaged them before, as they toured with Def Leppard and my team was doing that tour, so "we" got our hands on them, but this was my first time "feels like the first time". Oh man, I was singing along to every fucking song, jumping up and down, howling after each tune and clapping like maniac. I was happier than snoopy at dinner time.
The show didn't sell out, as it was a rainy, Sunday night here in Berlin, but it was still packed and I was surprised how many Germans in the audience were singing right along with me to the songs. They knew the freakin' words. It was sooooooo fun. If you just give in and sing along and relive the 80's, it's a blast. The singer KICKS serious ass. I was surprised when I heard it is NOT the original singer. EH?? I thought. He sounds identical, if not better. His voice is perfect and he is so energetic, he can give Jagger a run for his money. Not to mention the tight white pants he was wearing, well, he was packing' a mean pistol and it got the females in the crowd all sooooo excited. I just love REAL Rock bands, you know? Long hair, sexy singers with tight pants, ridiculously long guitar and drum solos and all that. LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeff in action ^
Tom Gimbel on Sax ^
Tom tore up the sax solos on "Urgent". I never realized how much sax is needed for Foreigner songs . Anyways, Tom is a sweet heart and I loved how he spiced up the show.
When they played "Juke Box Hero" I nearly creamed my jeans lol. I actually forgot that song. It was like every song they sang was a hit. Seriously, they are underrated. Go ahead and scoff at me, take the piss, make fun of me, whatever, I still love them and they are fucking hot in concert.
It also drove me wild to know that in 24 hours, they will be opening for Led Zeppelin in London. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I already booked my flight back to NYC on Dec 11th, so I could not change all of my plans. Dam Jimmy Page for breaking his finger, as this show is the alternate date. They had a previous date in Nov. that I could have gone to. Oh well, I have seen Led Zepp before (at Live Aide) but I would have LOVED to go and be there tomorrow. Sigh.
Foreigner's normal drummer is Jason Bonham, John Bonham's son. Jason wasn't here in Berlin, as he is in London rehearsing with Led Zepp, but their other drummer, Brian Tichy is out of this fucking WORLD good! He was smoking hot ^ in every way. Schwing!!!!!!!!!!! heh heh.
Some people write me and ask me if I still get excited when I meet a star or see a show etc. I have seen well over 3,000 live shows so far but yes, I still get excited. Tonight I was giddy as fuck. I was indeed a fan. A fan meeting a band she loves. Mick Jones is sooooo nice. He sounds American as he has lived there over 30 years, but he is from England. He has a kick ass sense of humor and didn't mind when I told him I found his guitar playing to be "dirty". His solos are razor sharp, crystal clear, but his riffs are raunchy, sexy, dirty, gets your pelvis moving, if you know what I mean. He has been playing for over 30 years and he STILL fucking rocks. Hard.
I had so much fun tonight, I felt 18 years old again, yay! The security guards, who know me, must haven been shaking their heads behind me as I danced like an obsessed freak. AAhhhhhhhhhhh, loved it.
Robbie, the production manager nabbed a set list for me and all of the lads signed it for me. Aw, they are sooo sweet! Mick asked Peter, the massage therapist, to go get me one of their Live Dvd's. OMG, I told him I would pay for it, but nooooooooooo, Mick insisted I have it as a gift. These guys are the bomb.
< The DVD Mick gave me
^ It's all superb live footage. So if you can't see them in concert, you can still get their DVD online..
Their singer, Kelly, looks a bit like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. I said that to someone backstage and they said "don't say that to him, he gets tired of hearing that", so I guess I'm not the only one who thinks so. Some bands break up, reform and get a new singer that just does NOT cut the mustard, like Queen and Paul Rogers (eh? WTF!???????????????????? George Michael would have been prefect, but not Paul with his rough, raspy voice, it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard) BUT Kelly is fucking amazing; sounds exactly like the original, Lou Gramm and is much hotter (just an observation 🙂
Another example of bands finding a new singer and hitting the nail on the head is AC/DC. Brian does a perfect job (as good as anyone could do) of filling Bon Scott's shoes. A perfect fit indeed.
Anyhow, I have to get to bed, it's freakin' 8:30 AM and I'm STILL awake and have to pack for my flight to NYC which leaves in less than 24 hours..
x
FOREIGNER TOUR DATES:
12.10.07 O2 Arena London
12.10.07 Offenbach Frankfurt
12.11.07 Volkshaus Zurich
12.13.07 Papp Laszlo Budapest
12.14.07 Gasometer Vienna
12.16.07 Filharmonie Stuttgart
12.28.07 Fort Myers FL
12.29.07 Boca Raton FL