LIVE REVIEW: LYNYRD SKYNYRD / FOREIGNER – DOUBLE TROUBLE DOUBLE VISION TOUR, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – AUGUST 23, 2026

Saratoga Performing Arts Center looked about how you would expect for a Sunday night with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foreigner. There were a lot of black concert shirts, a lot of people who have probably heard these songs thousands of times, and a surprisingly wide range of ages making their way into SPAC for the Double Trouble Double Vision Tour.

Six Gun Sally got things started with a short set that made perfect sense for this lineup. They mixed their own songs with covers including “Piece of My Heart,” “Somebody to Love” and “Ramblin’ Man,” giving people arriving early something immediately recognizable while introducing plenty of their own material too.

Before Foreigner started playing, original lead singer and cofounder Lou Gramm came out to talk to the crowd. He spoke about Foreigner celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and mentioned his new album Released, his third solo album and his first under his own name in decades.

Then Foreigner came out and very quickly became the surprise of the night.

They opened with “Long, Long Way From Home” before going straight into “Double Vision” and “Cold as Ice,” which included an extended jam. It did not take long to realize just how many huge songs this band has to work with.

Luis Maldonado is also impossible to ignore. This is his first year as Foreigner’s lead singer, and watching him perform, you would never know he was the new guy. He was constantly moving, working both sides of the stage and putting a huge amount of energy into songs that existed long before he was part of the band. I went into the night wondering what Foreigner would feel like in 2026 with a new singer. That question disappeared pretty quickly.

They just sounded like Foreigner.

“Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” “Say You Will,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero” all followed throughout the set, and there were very few stretches where you were waiting for the next song you knew.

“I Want to Know What Love Is” was one of the biggest crowd moments of their set, especially once the Averill Park High School Concert Choir joined them onstage during the encore. Seeing local students singing behind Foreigner while basically the entire amphitheater joined in made an already huge song feel even bigger.

Then Lou Gramm came back out for “Hot Blooded,” taking over lead vocals for the final song. After opening the night by talking about Foreigner’s 50th anniversary, getting to actually hear the band’s original lead singer perform with them was a pretty great way to finish.

That made the encore feel more special, with the current version of Foreigner sharing the stage with the voice that originally helped define so many of those songs.

By that point, I honestly wasn’t sure Lynyrd Skynyrd was going to top them.

Skynyrd had a completely different energy. Foreigner felt fast and constantly moving, while Lynyrd Skynyrd put much more focus on the band’s history. The screens played old footage and showed images of former members throughout the night, making the people who helped create these songs a constant part of the show.

Johnny Van Zant spent a lot of time talking directly to the crowd between songs, while the three guitar lineup gave the set exactly the sound everyone came for.

Songs like “What’s Your Name,” “That Smell,” “Gimme Back My Bullets” and “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” filled the first half before things got more emotional during “Tuesday’s Gone,” when images of Gary Rossington appeared on the screens.

“Simple Man” brought another huge singalong before the set moved toward the songs everybody knew were still coming.

When “Sweet Home Alabama” finally hit, people were on their feet, singing every word and holding phones in the air all over the amphitheater.

Then came “Free Bird.”

There aren’t many songs where an entire crowd knows exactly what is about to happen and still loses its mind when it happens anyway. Footage of Ronnie Van Zant played behind the band before the song opened up into the guitar section everyone had been waiting for. It was also easily one of the coolest parts of the night visually.

Going into the night, I expected Lynyrd Skynyrd to be the obvious main event. Foreigner made that a much closer competition than I expected.

Maldonado brought a ridiculous amount of energy to their set, while Skynyrd’s show felt more focused on the history behind the music and the people who made it. Both approaches worked, just in completely different ways.

Two very different performances, a whole lot of songs everybody knew, and probably more guitar solos than I’ve heard in one night in a very long time.

For a Sunday night at SPAC, I’ll take it.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Photo Gallery

Foreigner Photo Gallery

Six Gun Sally Photo Gallery

Setlist

• Foreigner Setlist
• Long, Long Way From Home
• Double Vision
• Cold as Ice (with extended jam)
• Waiting for a Girl Like You
• Blue Morning, Blue Day
• Say You Will
• Feels Like the First Time
• Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
• Urgent
• Keyboard and Drum Solo
• Juke Box Hero (extended, with band introductions)
• Encore
• I Want to Know What Love Is (with the Averill Park High School Concert Choir)
• Hot Blooded (with Lou Gramm on lead vocals)

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• Lynyrd Skynyrd Setlist
• Workin’ for MCA
• What’s Your Name
• That Smell
• On the Hunt
• I Know a Little
• 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 (J.J. Cale cover)
• Sweet Home Alabama
• Free Bird

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Live photography by Ben Rekemeyer for No Flash Needed. © 2026 No Flash Needed. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without written permission.