Iconic classic rockers Foreigner ‘frozen solid’ with a tour stop at Caesars
Jukebox heroes, Foreigner, will be rollin’ into the city Sunday to rock hot-blooded fans of Windsor. The legendary classic rockers will be performing on the Colosseum stage at Caesars Windsor, a stop on The Cold as Ice tour.
“I like cold, clean air — and snow,” Tom Gimbel, the band’s multi-instrumentalist said of coming back to the city. “It’s The Cold as Ice Tour — we’re frozen solid!”
The band has been rockin’ famous anthems since the ’70s with hits like Jukebox Hero, Waiting for a Girl Like You and I Want to Know What Love Is.
After taking some time off, lead and rhythm guitarist Mick Jones decided to bring Foreigner back and formed a new lineup in 2004. “It’s been a natural progression,” Gimbel said. “The band did get a little tougher sounding, which was cool, it changed with the times — times are tougher.”
Before joining Foreigner 15 years ago, Gimbel toured with Aerosmith for six years.
“There’s a lot of similarities when you get two bands that are sort of iconic level,” he said. “One of the things that I was surprised by was that neither band had a taskmaster. I thought I would be working in Aerosmith and they would be looking over my shoulder ‘What notes are you playing? This or that?’ they wanted me to just take it to the next level with the saxophone.” Gimbel described the same experience when joining Foreigner — both bands encouraging creative expression.
“Mick and Lou (Gramm) said ‘after you do the regular solo in Urgent do your own thing and take it to another gear shift and tear the roof off the house,’” he said.
While the band has an extensive repertoire of songs, Gimbel said Urgent holds a special place in his heart.
“I love every one of these songs so much, but I do get a special charge out of Urgent because I have the saxophone and that’s a lot of adrenaline,” he said. “It’s like an e-ticket ride — Space Mountain or something.”
Gimbel stressed the importance of togetherness at concerts. “Our singer, Kelly Hanson, talks to the audience like they’re his friends,” Gimbel said. “He runs around the crowd he’ll high five people, kiss girls and do shots. He’ll stop at nothing to get people to lose their minds and just let loose.” Having people “lose their minds” isn’t the only goal for this tour. They’re also raising awareness for a cause close to their hearts. “We’re trying to spread the message that school music programs are important and so valuable,” Gimbel said. “I think probably every one of us, except for Mick or Kelly, came up through the school music system.” Foreigner will perform at Caesars Windsor, 377 Riverside Dr. E., Wednesday, March 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $25 plus fees through ticketmaster.com