'Feels Like the First Time' -- ForJoury: Tribute to Foreigner and Journey makes Stocker Center debut

Rock tribute acts aren't a forgery by definition, but that doesn't mean musicians can't have fun with the concept. Take New England-based ForJoury: Tribute to Foreigner and Journey, which performs Nov. 12 at Lorain County Community College's Hoke Theatre. "We also do a Doobie Brothers tribute called the Brother Doobie, which started out about five years ago," said guitarist Peter Tentindo, calling from outside of Boston. "With our group being so versatile as musicians, we morphed into the Foreigner/Journey territory with ForJoury. "There's a lot of Foreigner and Journey tribute bands out there, but we wanted to do our spin and have a great time with it. A lot of the bands will use a lyric of a song and/or a song title, but we have a sense of humor about it. So we came up with ForJoury. We really like the name and it stuck." Averaging a handful of dates a month, ForJoury performs all of the hits of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee acts with Journey a member of the 2017 class and Foreigner going in last year. For perspective on the differences between the two arena rock groups' approach to the guitar, Tentindo said Journey's Neil Schon's style is unique with phrasing that has a lot of "ferocity." "We do a lot of Journey's 'Raised On Radio' stuff," he said. "Songs like 'Girl Can't Help It,' 'I'll Be Alright Without You' and 'Be Good to Yourself.' "On the Foreigner side, we hit a lot of the hits — 'Feels Like the First Time' and 'Hot Blooded' — and some of those deeper cuts, such as 'Blue Morning, Blue Day,' 'Dirty White Boy' and 'Long, Long Way From Home.'" Considering the cost of concert tickets these days, Tentindo said he's in the same boat as Foreigner and Journey fans. "Believe it or not, I never got to see either band," he said. "I was supposed to see Journey some years back with (singer) Arnel (Pineda), but he got sick and I wasn't able to do the rescheduled show. So I haven't really got to see them live, but I've been a big fan of all these records." Continuing that idea, it's not a stretch to suggest that despite not having seen either of the mothership bands live, Tentindo gets to create his own experience every time ForJoury performs. The same goes for concertgoers. "When we do 'Open Arms' or 'Faithfully,' you'll start to see the crowd light up their phones, which is really nice," he said. "We were actually sold out three nights in Vegas a couple of months ago and the crowds were just fantastic. We played those songs and the whole place lit up like a Christmas tree. It's great." Contact John Benson at ndiffrence@att.net.