Photos by Andy Argyrakis

Following a lifetime of touring as both the original singer/co-songwriter for Foreigner and as a solo artist, Lou Gramm planned on taking “One Last Look” at the road, but that retirement announcement turned out to be a bit premature.

The initial downtime allowed the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer to discover a few previously unreleased recordings in the vault, plus record a batch of completely new tunes, now combined on the “Released” record.

As a result, the headliner resumed filling up historic halls like the Arcada Theatre, whose President and CEO Ron Onesti awarded him the 100-year-old venue’s lauded Legacy Award, while demand remains strong enough, another date is already on the books for the Des Plaines Theatre on Saturday, December 19.

In the meantime, Gramm spent around 90 minutes focused mainly on Foreigner, including the iconic “Feels Like The First Time,” “Double Vision” and “Cold As Ice,” alongside the deeper tracks “Long, Long Way From Home,” “Blue Morning, Blue Day” and “That Was Yesterday.”

From the current collection, “Young Love” picked up precisely where the classic “Midnight Blue” left off, each enhanced by a band of All Stars featuring guitarist Gary Hoey and bassist Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder).

Vocally, Gramm, 76, is unquestionably one of the greatest to ever step up to the microphone, and though being diagnosed with a brain tumor in the late 1990s has affected the way he’s sung since then, he continues to recover and rebuild.

In fact, fans were completely captivated just to be in the presence of the living legend, fervently replying to every anthemic command in “Head Games,” “Urgent” and “I Want To Know What Love Is,” sweetly serving as the latter ballad’s backing choir.

However, Gramm and company made sure to leave the Arcada completely “Hot Blooded,” revving up their engines until the very last note and officially welcoming the fearless front man back to playing live for as long as he’d like.

For additional information on Lou Gramm, visit LouGrammOfficial.com.

Upcoming concerts at the Arcada Theatre include Zebra (Jul. 11); Mark Farmer’s American Band and Molly Hatchet (Jul. 12); Ted Nugent (Jul. 15); Jon Anderson And The Band Geeks (Jul. 17); The Classic Rock Experience (Jul. 23); DDXS: A Tribute To The Music Of Duran Duran & INXS (Jul. 24); L.A. Guns and Saigon Kick (Jul. 25); The Doo Wop Project (Jul. 26); The Rascals (Jul. 26); Arrival From Sweden (Jul. 30); Nektar (Jul. 31); Kiss The Goat: The Premier Ghost Tribute (Aug. 1); Ultimate Elvis Experience (Aug. 2); The Purple Xperience featuring Marshall Charloff (Aug. 2); The Second City (Aug. 5); One Vision Of Queen featuring Marc Martel (Aug. 7). Bad Co Legacy (Aug. 8); Night Moves: The Ultimate Bob Seger Tribute and Small Town: John Mellencamp Experience (Aug. 9); NMB (Aug. 12); Vandenberg (Aug. 14); Blessid Union Of Souls (Aug. 15); Free Fallin: The Tom Petty Experience (Aug. 20); Quiet Riot and Vixen (Aug. 21); Al Jardine & The Pet Sounds Band (Aug. 22); Marc “Skippy” Price, Steve Hytner and Todd Bridges (Aug. 22); George Thorogood And The Destroyers (Aug. 23); Josh Turner (Aug. 29) and One Night In Memphis (Aug. 30). For additional details, visit ArcadaLive.com.

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