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September 21st, 2006
Foreigner Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Virginia Beach, VA
We went to this concert because it was our anniversary. We're old people. Old enough to remember when Foreigner had their first hit! They are slightly older than us, but we're not far behind! This concert was great. They played all their number one hits... we knew all the songs and we kept remarking how many songs were mainstream. They still sounded great. At one point in the show, the lead singer came up to our section two rows in front of me about 5 or 6 seat over to my right. Very close. He stood on the edge of the seat and I tried to snap a photo, but I got disoriented at first not realizing what was going on. By the time I raised the camera, I got his backside and it was a bit blurry so I am not including it here. We were further back than normal. In the second section in the middle. Usually we aim for orchestra seats, but this time we didn't remember till almost an hour into ticket sales... so... that's the breaks I guess. Expensive as always. Ticket prices reasonable for the show as compared to other bands (38.50 for mid-section); not sure how much orchestra seating was or grass passes. Prices for other things not so reasonable. SMALL diet Pepsi 3.00 each; small coffee at one stand 3.00 a slightly larger coffee at another stand 5.00. Not sure how much anything else was food/drink-wise as that's all we got. T-Shirts EXPENSIVE at 30 bucks! CD's 20-30 bucks (30 for the signed ones); signed drumhead for 25 bucks (one sig). A cheaply made blanket for 15.00 (it was chilly). Lawn chair rentals available for those in the grass. I think they were 4.00 each. Several radio stations were there. See Triple Shot area for a photo of Arlo from 106.9 "The Fox" Bicycle!
1) Band 2) Duo 3) Actual distance we were away 4) Closer view of band 5) Trio and 6) Keyboardist
1) Guitarist 2) Lead Singer 3) Panoramic photo of the band 4) Signed CD (by all the band)
Links that might be interesting (some of the bands that played):
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July 18th, 2008
NTelos Pavilion Portsmouth, VA
We went to this concert because we had the opportunity to meet the bands. I wanted to actually get one of the VIP passes and see what it's like to be on the other side of the fence. They actually took part of the ticket (because their scanners weren't working I guess?) and above is the wristband we got. The VIP package wasn't a great deal I can tell you that. For 200.00 a ticket, (175.00 plus fees totaling 198.00 a ticket) you were supposed to get great seats, meet and greet, be able to take photos with the band, a CD of your choice from either band, a poster and other great stuff, along with a BBQ dinner. We did get the CD's and mini poster. The other great stuff turned out to be a can koozy and some ads in a bag. The BBQ dinner turned out to be a hot dog and some stale potato chips. You had to buy soda and beer or other food if you wanted it (soda was 5.00 and beer 8.00 a cup). Some deal? And there was much debate over the possibility of getting autographs or taking photos with the band. We were told we were NOT allowed to go near the band (behind or on the side of them) and not to touch them, not to ask for photos with them, not to ask for autographs....so we wondered what the hell we got for our money. I could've gotten a hot dog and chips anywhere for about a buck. Tickets were about 40 bucks. So for the rest of our money we just get to walk by them and say hi and move on? They didn't "mingle" either. However, when the bands came out, they told the venue to screw off and they signed at least one item per person and did allow photos of them or on near them (just not WITH) them as it'd take way too long. Bryan Adams allowed people on the table... to sit or crouch to take a photo with him. He was smiling and friendly; as were the band members. Jason Bonham (drummer for Foreigner) wrote on the table (Shame on him). The venue staff or band wranglers (not sure exactly which was which) were going nuts. The guy in the Hawaiian shirt was constantly trying to get rid of people out of the area. When they wouldn't leave he was exasperated. But we paid all that money for what??? He needed to chill because once the concert started, was when everyone left and that seemed appropriate. As for the concerts; they were good. Foreigner's lead singer is very entertaining and went into the audience twice which people loved. Bryan Adams was upset some people couldn't take a good photo because guards shooed them from the aisles. So he told the fans to come down and they did. That freaked the venue people out. If you got up to get a drink or use the restroom, people stole your seat. I had to remove some people from ours when we came back. Both bands sounded good and had a number of hits and new songs to win over the masses. It was a quite enjoyable event overall, but wish they'd of at least allowed photos with the bands and a REAL BBQ dinner.
1) Jeff Pilson (Bass) 2) Whole band 3) Mick Jones (founder/Lead Guitar, Keyboard and Vocals), Kelly Hansen (lead Vocals) and Tom Gimbel (Guitar, Sax, Flue and Vocals) 4) Jason Bonham (Drummer) 5) Lead signer Kelly Hansen goes into audience 5) Jason Bonham riling the crowd.
1) Mick Jones 2) Jeff Pilson 3) Tom Gimbel 4) Jeff, Jason and Tom 4) Mick, Kelly, Jeff Jacobs (Keyboard and Vocals) and Jeff 5) Tom plays sax
1) Band with their sign in background 2) Whole band at end of their gig 3) Signed CD obtained at the event (during the meet and greet) 4) Poster signed by all of Foreigner and Bryan Adams
Links that might be interesting (some of the bands that played):
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June 21st, 2010
Foreigner Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Virginia Beach, VA
We went to this concert because we love these groups, have seen them and enjoyed them before. This was a little different. We were lucky to get first row seating. There were only 38 people allowed in the first row and they did something new this year where just the first row got wrist bands. This allowed them to cross the front and to get up to the stage but nobody else could. In the past, there'd be people cutting across to go to the rest rooms but stopping to take photos and pausing to get a better view or just people rushing down at the end to try to catch picks or get an autograph (never happens ever, but people will still try and ruin it for others). Anyway, they had bouncers at the end of the row blocking potential trespassers, and so the lucky 38 got to enjoy the concert up close with lots of room and get what they paid for! I loved that. We were so close that when Kelly Hanson went into the audience and could not get back up on the stage I nearly pushed his butt back up on stage. I was lucky enough to catch four picks but I lost one of them, so only three are scanned in. I already had a couple Foreigner signed CD's so I didn't even bother buying more or trying to get a graph directly.
Left to right: 1) Mick Jones 2) Mick Jones and Kelly Hanson 3) Mick Jones 4) Michael Bluestein 5) Michael Bluestein
Left to right: 1) Jason Sutter and Thom Gimbel 2) Foreigner 3) Kelly Hanson 4) Jeff Pilson 5) Foreigner
Left to right: 1) Kelly Hanson 2) Foreigner 3) Mick Jones 4) Foreigner 5) Kelly Hanson
Left to right: 1) Pick we caught during the concert.
Links that might be interesting (some of the bands that played):
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