Located in the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia, the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre hosted the latest summer stop on The Renegades & Juke Box Heroes tour on Wednesday night. Featuring co-headlining legendary classic rockers Styx and Foreigner, this tour bill was rounded out with John Waite as the special guest opener. Built in 2008, this 12,000 capacity open air venue is a destination spot for summer concert goers, especially for those looking to brave the nearly unbearable heat with uncovered lawn seats to simply enjoy an evening of familiar musical hits from their favorite artists.
Veteran British rocker John Waite, along with bassist Tim Hogan, drummer Alan Childs, and guitarist Brent Woods, took the stage shortly before 7:00pm to start their night off with the tune “Midnight Rendezvous,” a song pulled from The Baby’s catalog. Still looking rockstar dapper at 72 years old, Waite’s seemingly short 8-song set still pleasantly crisscrossed his nearly 50 years of recognizable hit tracks, including “When I See You Smile,” “Every Time I Think of You,” and 1984’s chart-topping song, “Missing You.” Like many of the musical contemporaries he is sharing this tour with, Waite has aged gracefully and his multi-generational music continues to stand the test of time.
John Waite Band:
John Waite – Lead vocals, guitar
Brent Woods – Guitar
Alan Childs – Drums
Timothy Hogan – Bass
Setlist:
1.) Midnight Rendezvous (The Babys song)
2.) Change (Spider cover)
3.) When I See You Smile (Bad English song)
4.) Every Time I Think of You (The Babys song)
5.) Missing You
6.) Head First (The Babys song)
7.) Back on My Feet Again (The Babys song)
8.) Whote Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin cover)
With the clock slowly creeping in on the 8:00pm hour, the venue house lights dropped to spotlight Foreigner drummer Chris Frazier as he appeared behind his kit with sticks held high in the air. In addition to Frazier, Foreigner is comprised of longest ranking band members Kelly Hansen (vocals) and Jeff Pilson (bass), with the band rounded out by keyboardist Michael Bluestein, and guitarists Bruce Watson and Luis Maldonado. From purists to internet trolls, everyone has an opinion on Foreigner’s touring lineup, which is absent any original members; my opinion is, if you don’t like their music, then just stay home.
From the first note of “Double Vision” through the last note of “Hot Blooded,” this band’s lineup of highly skilled musicians delivered upon a delightful and memorable Foreigner experience. Hansen, who has been fronting the band for nearly two decades, was a joy to both listen to and watch as Foreigner blasted through all-too-familiar radio hits in “Head Games,” “Cold as Ice,” “Feels Like the First Time,” and “Urgent,” while wrapping up their main setlist with fan favorite, “Juke Box Hero.” The adoring Atlanta audience sang every verse to every song.
Following a quick break, Foreigner returned to the stage for a two song encore session, which started off with the inclusion of the West Jackson Middle School Panther Chorus participating in the 1984 power ballad “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Closing out their energetic performance was arguably the band’s signature song, “Hot Blooded,” off their second studio album, Double Vision (1978). Foreigner is supposedly in the final run of what they’ve deemed their farewell performances, so don’t be a naysayer; go sing your lungs out.
Foreigner:
Mick Jones – Lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards, backing and lead vocals (*not touring)
Jeff Pilson – Bass, backing vocals, keyboards
Kelly Hansen – Lead vocals, percussion
Michael Bluestein – Keyboards, backing vocals
Bruce Watson – Lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Chris Frazier – Drums, percussion
Luis Maldonado – Rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals, bass
Setlist:
1.) Double Vision
2.) Head Games
3.) Cold as Ice
4.) Waiting for a Girl Like You
5.) Dirty White Boy
6.) Feels Like the First Time
7.) Urgent
8.) Juke Box Hero
Encore
9.) I Want to Know What Love Is (with West Jackson Middle School Panther Chorus)
10.) Hot Blooded
After a fairly efficient backline equipment turn, multi-platinum recording artists Styx entered the stage in front of a capacity crowd shortly after 9:30pm, opening their evening with the tune “The Grand Illusion.” I last caught Styx live back in 2018 at this same venue, and they have not lost a beat . In fact, other than singer Lawrence Gowan’s younger brother Terry replacing Ricky Phillips earlier this year on bass, the lineup remained the same.
Similar to Foreigner’s set, Styx delivered resounding performances of their iconic songs, all pulled from a deep musical catalog will that immediately transfer you back to your youth (at least if you are my age). Anchored by “The Godfather” James “JY” Young and the legendary Tommy Shaw on guitars, Styx powered through classics such as “Too Much Time on My Hands,” “Lady,” “Blue Collar Man,” and “Fooling Yourself.” From the complimentary synthesizers to the multiple musician vocal harmonies, there really is no other melodic hard rock band quite like Styx.
Perhaps keeping to a formula that plays well to their fans, Styx closed out their main set with arguably their most well-known hit single, “Come Sail Away,” off The Grand Illusion (1977). As soon as those first keys were played by Gowan, the venue lit up with cell phone video lights looking to capture the moment. Then similar to 2018, Styx returned to perform an encore pair of tunes in “Mr. Roboto” and “Renegade” to put an emphatic bow on an amazing evening of rock and roll classics.
The Renegades & Juke Box Heroes tour continues on through Wednesday, August 28th, where it will conclude in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
Styx:
James “J.Y.” Young – Guitars, backing and lead vocals, occasional keyboards
Tommy Shaw – Guitars, lead and backing vocals, occasional mandolin and banjo
Todd Sucherman – Drums, percussion, occasional backing vocals
Lawrence Gowan – Keyboards, lead and backing vocals, occasional acoustic guitar
Will Evankovich – Guitar, backing vocals, occasional mandolin and keyboards
Terry Gowan – Bass, backing vocals
Setlist:
1.) The Grand Illusion
2.) Too Much Time on My Hands
3.) Lady
4.) Lorelei
5.) Crash of the Crown
6.) Miss America
7.) Rockin’ the Paradise
8.) Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
9.) The Best of Times
10.) Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
11.) Come Sail Away
Encore
12.) Mr. Roboto
13.) Renegade
Follow John Waite Online
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.
