We love our loud and hard metal shows, but sometimes the doctor prescribes a good old fashioned classic rock concert, and Foghat and Nazareth filled the prescription when they came to the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati on May 22.

Led by original bassist Pete Agnew, Nazareth's hour-long set covered 11 songs.

The harder rocking “Telegram” opened the set, followed by “Miss Misery” off Hair Of The Dog.

Gianni Pontillo has filled the mic stand since Dan McCafferty’s death in 2022.

Pontillo sings in a slightly higher register but provides that same bluesy gruffness to his voice so essential to Nazareth's sound.

A rough comparison would be McCafferty is more Bon Scott, Pontillo is more Brian Johnson.

The set list moved from the slower hard rockers to the fast-paced “Razamataz” before storming into the more slightly bluesy “Shanghai’d in Shanghai.” Nazareth has continued to release new material, and while “When The Lights Come Down” from 1998 is not exactly new material, it is more recent and fits right in with their older material, meaning bluesy hard rock whiskey-soaked vocals.

“Holiday” from 1980 shows perhaps a slightly poppier sound to the band.,“Whiskey Drinking Woman” from Hair Of The Dog gives us an extended guitar solo from Jimmy Murrison, who has been in the band since 1994.

Looking sort of like a taller, slender Bob Seger, he is one of the few guitarists who plays guitar with his fingers rather than a pick.

I’d not previously seen him play live.

I’d add him to the list of guitarists I could listen to all night.

Great tone.

Interesting lines.

Fun to listen to and watch play.

“Beggar’s Day” and “Changin’ Times” Off Hair Of The Dog followed.,While there were some ladies dancing through the entire set, “Love Hurts” brought the crowd to its feet, and the cell phone sprang into action.

And then came the encore “Hair Of The Dog,” which doubled the energy, and became the crowd participation song of the night.

This version of the band has updated its sound a little, but retains that gritty edge which separated them from many of their contemporaries.,After a short break came Foghat.

While Nazareth is the dirtier sounding hard rock blues rock band, Foghat is the more polite version.

Perhaps Rolling Stones versus the Beatles? Drummer Roger Earl sustained a sprained wrist, and so Jules Radino from Blue Oyster Cult was behind the kit.

Foghat is another band that has continued to release new music.

“Road Fever” from their 1973 self-titled album opened the set, with “My Babe,” off Fool For The City, decidedly not sounding like the Righteous Brothers’ version.

The ladies were still dancing in front of their chairs for “Drivin’ On” from 2023’s Sonic Mojo album, which this version of the band recorded, and is more of a straight-up blues tune, as was “It Hurts Me Too” from 2010’s Last Train Home.,“Stone Blue” brought more ladies off their chairs and dance in the aisles, and then my personal favorite Foghat tune “Fool For The City” pretty much forced everyone to leave their seats and sing along.

The band then dug deep to their first record, Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love To You.” Scott Holt on lead vocals tells us that we wouldn’t have rock and roll without Willie Dixon.

Guitarist Bryan Bassett was a member of Wild Cherry, and played guitar on their first three albums, the first of which featured “Play That Funky Music,” and so we were treated to Foghat’s version of that epic tune.,That led to the encore, of course, “Slow Ride.” One of the classic ‘70s guitar riffs.

And so ended Foghat’s hour-long set.

The show was a very nice welcome change of pace from most of the concerts I attend, featuring some great classic rock music in a laid-back atmosphere.