Symphonic Rock Affair Gives Boost To Hits

Concert Review
Symphonic Rock W/
Lou Gramm
Mickey Thomas
Terri Nunn
Robin McAuley
Seneca Niagara Events Center
Niagara Falls, NY
Friday April 28, 2017
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto

The Seneca Niagara Events Center was the place to be Friday evening as The Symphonic Rock show came to town. It featured a full orchestra flanked by a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and drummer. There was plenty of vocal star power on hand. The show featured the original singer of Foreigner Lou Gramm, Starship’s Mickey Thomas, Terri Nunn from Berlin and Robin McAuley who sang with McAuley-Schenker and for a brief time Survivor.

Following a very good rendition of Journey’s “Separate Ways” by Christine the background singer, McAuley entered and broke into a strong version of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”. McAuley did an average job with “Hotel California” before ending his stint with a zesty version of Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger.”

Berlin’s Terri Nunn was up next as she sang a trio of songs including the number one smash “Take My Breath Away”. This marked the first time Nunn has sung in front of the orchestra and she was very honored and excited.

Following a brief intermission, Mickey Thomas came right out of the gate with “Find Your Way Back”. Thomas is a marvel at 67 years old, his voice as solid and strong as it was back when “Jane” first came roaring from the speakers in 1979. Thomas followed with Starship’s three number one hits “Sara”, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” and the much maligned “We Built This City”. How “We Built This City” is considered one of the worst songs of all-time is beyond me. The accompanying video may be cheesy but not the song itself. It always receives a good ovation in concert as it did on this particular night.

Up next was Lou Gramm the original voice of Foreigner. Gramm started off with “Feels Like The First Time”, a song that was no stranger to opening Foreigner shows when he was in the band. “Cold As Ice” was probably the highlight of Gramm’s set because of how well he sounded on it. His set concluded with the typical “I Want To Know What Love Is” and rocker “Juke Box Hero”.

Nunn, McAuley and Thomas came out together to perform Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”. Lou Gramm returned immediately after and everyone ended the night by singing Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded”.

Anyone looking for rare songs or B-sides went home disappointed. While many fans have heard the majority of these songs a thousand times or more, having the orchestra, added a different dimension which seemed to give the songs more power and made more robust. A very enjoyable experience for many. I hope Seneca Niagara can bring a similar show in the future.