For any classic rock station, there are certain bands that are de rigeur: Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Boston, Queen.
Foreigner fits right in. During 97.1/ The River’s Memorial Day top 500 as voted by listeners in 2022, the band landed eight songs in the mix, more than Styx, the Who or the Beatles. Expect all eight songs to be played July 6 at a sold-out Ameris Ampitheatre in Alpharetta as part of what has been billed as the band’s final tour. That includes classics such as “Urgent,” “Double Vision,” “Hot Blooded” and “Feels like the First Time.” (Tickets range from $44.50 on the lawn to $119.50 closer up via Live Nation, before fees.)
Jeff Pilson, 63-year-old bassist and keyboardist since 2004, has been with the band longer than anybody except lone original member Mick Jones, 78 who decided it was time to call it quits.
“This stuff is not easy to sing,” said Pilson to The Atlanta Journal Constitution in an interview before the tour began. “His feeling was he didn’t want to be singing this stuff unless he could do it at 100%. He figured there was only so much tread in the tire.”
He admits the forthcoming end is bittersweet. “I love this band,” he said. “I love the members. I love management. I’ve loved the whole experience.”
Then again, he said, “traveling is tiring. I am ready to slow down.”
Pilson noted that the band has been consistently touring for many years, hitting up to 125 dates a year at one point.
And he himself was on the road for years before Foreigner as bassist for hard-rock group Dokken, then Dio. Even while with those bands, he admired Foreigner.
“Foreigner is heavy rock with great songs, great choruses, powerful vocals with heavy guitar. That was a model for me when I was with both Dokken and Dio.”
Jones has suffered from various medical maladies over the years and has skipped many dates, but Pilson said Jones is now in good shape and ready to go for this tour. “We’re pretty well rehearsed,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to killing it.” (UPDATE: Jones did not show up on stage for the Atlanta date.)
He himself does plenty of yoga, Pilates and meditation to keep himself focused.
Pilson said a quarter century before he joined Foreigner, he was in a progressive rock band in Seattle which had a Mellotron, an old-school synthesizer. “We were broke musicians and were making payments on it,” he said. “Mellotrons are very temperamental. Foreigner’s Mellotron broke and they needed to rent one. In exchange, we got tickets to see them. So I got to watch them perform ‘Cold as Ice’ with our Mellotron!”
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