Foghat: Well-Seasoned Rock

December 21, 1997

The audience at the House of Blues for the Foghat show was a 'ROCK' audience...no studs, rings in the nose, eyebrows, or other pierced parts of the body - no tongue studs, flannel clothes, or clothes that are four or five sizes too big and no one into angst and depression. This audience was your basic jeans and 'Rock" T-shirt crowd who wanted to hear good time blues-based rock and roll, and Foghat provided that with plenty of bluesy songs sung by Lonesome Dave Peverett, and tons of slide guitar work from guitarist Rod Price.

Foghat is one of those bands who has always been touring and always seems to be the bridesmaid rather than the bride. I have seen them open for just about every other 70's rock band in the world. Formed from the remains of Savoy Brown in 1972, they have toured constantly for the last 25 years, and it shows in their show and their ability to rock and roll. The band played most of their hits, such as "Slow Ride", "Drivin'Wheel", "Fool for the City", and of course their first hit "I Just Wanna Make Love To You", along with a new song - "Baby, I'm Gonna Rock Your House" - to be released on their next CD, "Baby, I'm Gonna Rock Your House". They also played a good selection of blues songs, which fit well into the House of Blues theme. Rod Price's slide work was very popular with the audience.

Opening act Sons Of Doctors made the perfect opener for Foghat. Using a playlist that sounded like it was taken from local "Classic Rock" radio station 96.5, they played spot on renditions of songs by Starship, Journey, Boston, Styx, Free, Bad Co. and Foreigner, although about half way through the one-hour show, the vocalist needed to put on a tighter pair of pants to hit some of the high notes on the demanding vocal parts. Overall, the audience really enjoyed them.

The House of Blues is a pretty good venue for a show, with almost no bad place to see the stage in the house. However, if you're used to getting a table, get there early or be prepared to wheel and deal with the underground economy that has developed due to the shortage of seats. Several people had stools that they would only give up for cash, and there were people willing to pay for a seat. Maybe the House of Blues should do like the racetracks do and provide two ticket prices: standing room in the pit and seating in the stands. The sound system is excellent and LOUD; however, taking pictures is "verboten", and the "camera police" will grab you immediately. At the end of every show, they have a large box of cameras removed from the patrons. Also for you autograph types, I have yet to see any of the artists come out and do the autograph routine, and I have been to HOB a bunch of times since it opened.

Would I recommend the House of Blues?...yes. Are there other places in the area where I would rather see these acts?...again the answer is yes, but the HOB has the sound, lighting, and funding to bring name acts to town which some of the other venues will find hard to match.

Murf Murphy
Murf is a registered professional engineer....(i.e. haircut and a real job) who loves to play guitar. Vist Murf's home page. He lives with (1) wife who wishes he would grow up, (1) teenager who wonders how his parents got to this point in their lives without his help, (2) dogs who sleep a lot, (1) ferret who attacks when not looking and (1) cat who is basically useless.