Concert Review: Foreigner / Lynyrd Skynyrd

• FOREIGNER/LYNYRD SKYNRD
• Morton Amphitheater – Riverside, MO
• August 14, 2026

Photo Credit:  Michael Smith/Media Mikes

Long time readers of Media Mikes know how much we love the band Lynyrd Skynyrd.  In the past we have featured interviews with group members Ricky Medlocke and Johnny Van Zant and covered their music.  I’ve been a fan since Sweet Home Alabama first hit my radio in 1974.  For five decades they have unapologetically personified Southern Rock.  I was in high school when I first heard Feels Like the First Time by a band named Foreigner.  My friends and I used to frequent a popular comic book shop owned by a gentleman named Dusty Hess from Rochester, NY.  He would tell us of a great local band called Black Sheep and how his friend, Louis Grammatico, was the lead singer.  Dusty played bass (he even jammed with my band once), but we could never figure out if he had been in the band.  One day we’re in the shop and Feel’s Like the First Time comes on the radio.  When it was over Dusty said, “that was Lou.”  It was.

Since then, both bands have endured highs and lows but have never stopped making music.  Last week they brought their high energy to the new Morton Amphitheaters and, plain and simple, rocked the house.

What is amazing about both bands is that they continue to create new music, and the evening was a great mixture of classic hits and newer songs.  Foreigner kicked off their set with a rousing version of Double Vision. From the opening chords, the band was tight.  Lou Gramm first left Foreigner in 1990 (though he did return and tour with the group until 2003).  He was replaced by Kelly Hanson, who left the band this year.  Today the band is fronted by Luis Maldonado and, as the night went on, he powered through each song as if he was born to sing them.  By the end of the night, he was physically drained but you couldn’t tell from his performance.  The show included such hits as  Head Games, Dirty White Boy, Say You Will and an encore that included a moving version of I Want to Know What Love Is, with the band accompanied by the choir from Liberty High School.

Skynyrd then took the stage, kicking off their set with a double dose of Workin’ For MCA and What’s Your Name?  Like Foreigner, they played a great mixture of much-loved hits and new material.  Lead singer Johnny Van Zant roared through the classics, with the crowd singing along with every song.  A touching moment came when, during Sweet Home Alabama, the stage included a microphone stand on which rested the iconic hat of the band’s original lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant.  It was a powerful image, especially to those of us who still remember that tragic day in October 1977 when a plane crash took Van Zant, fellow band mates Steve and Cassie Gaines and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick.  Both the pilot and co-pilot were also killed.  Tribute was also paid to lead guitarist Gary Rossington, who passed away in 2023.

The night ended with an amazing performance of Free Bird.  A quick tip of my hat to drummer Michael Cartellone.  He never missed a beat during what has to be one of the longest and hardest songs to play along to ever!

Opening act Six Gun Sally put the crowd in the proper mood with a fun comgination of classic covers and a few original tunes.  Vocalist Aimee Jane Williams has a voice reminiscent of the late Janis Joplin, which she proved on songs like Piece of My Heart and Somebody to Love, as well as the title track of their upcoming album Ain’t Going Down.  They are definitely a band to keep an eye on.

SET LISTS

Six Gun Sally

 Sittin’ Pretty, Stand Up, Piece of My Heart, Ramblin’ Man, Ain’t Goin’ Down, Somebody to Love, Gypsy Queen, Fast Train

 FOREIGNER

Double Vision, Head Games, Cold as Ice, Waiting for a Girl Like You, Say You Will, Dirty White Boy, Break It Up, Feels Like the First Time, Urgent, Juke Box Hero, Long, Long Way From Home   ENCORE  I Want to Know What Love Is, Hot Blooded 

LYNYRD SKYNYRD 

 Workin’ for MCA, What’s Your Name, That Smell, Saturday Night Special, I Know a Little, On the Hunt, Don’t Ask Me No Questions, I Need You, Gimme Back My Bullets, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Tuesday’s Gone, Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, Call Me the Breeze, Sweet Home Alabama   ENCORE Free Bird