Why the Hell Not?; Foreigner with Night Ranger @ the MO State Fair 8/16 Concert Review

I had no intentions of going to this concert and had only been to the state fair once before a good 20+ years ago. But the perfect blend of events, led to a spur-of-the-moment decision to go.
Not having been sleeping well, I was in a cranky and tired mood, having been up earlier than normal. Then going into to work to find out that, we're only going to be there a few minutes to clean up. So, driving 30 minutes for about 30 minutes worth of work, didn't really help with that tired crankiness. (I could have stayed, but just wasn't in the mood). Then contemplating whether to go on a CoMo run or to go home, a co-worker brought up Foreigner playing that night at the State Fair. I thought, "what the hell, maybe a little music will cheer me up?"

Whether it was the adrenaline and excitedness of the spur-of-the-moment decision or the caffeine, by the time we hit I-70 my mood changed considerably.

We arrived with a little bit of time, but most of that was spent waiting in line for getting tickets. In the rush, I wasn't thinking I should have ordered on my phone. But we still managed to get in with time to spare. And got decent seats on the track.

Night Ranger hit the stage first playing 11 songs over 70 minutes or so. They were more enjoyable than I thought. I'm not big on 1980s music and hair metal types even more so. But they were fun, played fast and I guess it helped they played a smattering of cover songs of guys various members had worked with.

After a half-hour set-change, Foreigner came on and blasted away with hit after hit. It was pretty cool that they played a near perfect almost no-frills set list. Opening with Double Vision, they hit almost everything you'd want. (Of course my dad would have been pissed with them not playing Blue Morning Blue Day ). Nothing spectacular, but well worth what you paid in seeing these two acts. They played around 90 minutes with 12 songs. The only real filler was the keyboard and drum solos, but both were entertaining.

With only Mick Jones, as the sole original member, and he didn't enter until the fourth or fifth song, it almost feels like a grand Foreigner tribute band. But still fun nonetheless. It wound up being a pretty good day from the early day pissiness.

Another neat aside, during the set change I noticed former MU Men's Basketball coach and Sedalia native Kim Anderson was in attendance. In fact he was sitting in the same row, in the next section over from us.

Night Ranger Set List

Somehow, Someway
Four in the Morning
Sing Me Away
School's Out
Crazy Train
The Secret of My Success
Night Ranger

High Enough
When You Close Your Eyes
Don't Tell Me You Love Me
Sister Christian 
(You Can Still) Rock in America

Foreigner Set List

Double Vision
Head Games
Cold As Ice
Waiting for a Girl Like You
Dirty White Boy
Feels Like the First Time
Urgent
Keyboard and Drum Solos
Juke Box Hero
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Long, Long Way From Home
I Want to Know What Love Is
Hot Blooded