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Partisan politics, plummeting economic figures, turbulent times -- for a few hours on Friday night, the crowd at the Foothills Fall Festival could forget about it all.

With the presidential race taking an ugly and personal turn on Friday, the same day that the stock market continued to reverberate with aftershocks from the ongoing economic crisis, Blount County residents and visitors alike took a time out, at least for one night. Lines formed long before gates opened at 5 p.m., and by the time Friday night's headliner -- classic rock band Foreigner -- took the stage at 9 p.m., Theater in the Park was packed with concert-goers.

"They opened the gates, and it was like a stampede," said Blount County resident Nick Bright, who was working event security for the festival. "I was just waiting on somebody to fall down and get trampled."

No injuries were reported, however, and festival-goers were treated to two local acts before Foreigner took the stage -- the mellow, country-ish sounds of Americana band Slow Joe Crow, and the high-energy Southern country-rock of the local boys in The Dixie Highway Band. Despite the cloud of impending collapse hanging over the nation, the financial skies parted a bit when the latter band finished up -- they stood at the merchandise table for an hour, signing autographs and selling CDs and T-shirts.

For those in the crowd waiting on Foreigner, the festival is a chance to get away from depressing headlines and telecasts for a while.

"It's just an opportunity to just forget about everything for a little bit, to take a break from the constant onslaught of negativity," said Don Bright, guitarist for Christian rock band SevenDayBeliever, which performs at 3 p.m. Sunday on the festival stage. "For me, the financial crisis outweighs the politics, because what's going on right now is going to affect the way we live for the next 10 years."

Old times recalled

Foreigner, he added, offered a chance to revisit old times -- he last saw the band at downtown Knoxville's Civic Coliseum in the 1970s.

Blount County resident Ron Jennings was at that show, and Friday night he got the opportunity to see the band once again -- as well as have his picture made with the members at the pre-show meet-and-greet. It's not the same band, he acknowledged, with guitarist Mick Jones the only remaining original member, but that didn't stop him from seeking autographs of his old vinyl Foreigner albums.

"This is my getting away -- doing this is what I live for," said Jennings, clad in an Allman Brothers Band T-shirt. "When I'm old and in a wheelchair, I hope somebody is pushing me around at a concert."

Despite the music, the crowds and the atmosphere, however, the state of the nation was never far from anyone's mind. Jennings worries about what the future holds for his two daughters, ages 24 and 28, and Blount County resident Rick Kravat -- attending with his wife and two children -- expressed concern as well.

"This is definitely an escape, but it's still on everybody's mind," he said. "It's good to continue on, to keep going, because if all you do is sit around and wallow in what's happening with the economy, you can get really depressed."

This weekend's event -- the ninth Foothills Fall Festival -- was Kravat's first time in attendance after moving to Blount County from Baton Rouge, La., two-and-a-half years ago. Standing along the walking path a few yards from the merchandise tent, staring across a sea of bodies both in motion and seated, he could only shake his head in amazement.

"This is incredible," he said. "I wish I'd come before now."

Others in the crowd were returning attendees. Joe Thornhill, a Maryville resident originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., said he and his family come every year.

"It's relaxing and distracting," he said. "With the economy and everything else going on, it's basically an escape. You can come here, sit down, relax and get away for a little bit, and this is a bargain. It's a good value for the money."

Before selling out, three-day passes to the festival sold for $35. With many of them snatched up by local residents, the festival offered an opportunity for old friends to reconnect and for the community as a whole to come together for a common purpose. Paul and Alice O'Donovan, transplants from California, said the festival reminded them of the home they left on the West Coast.

"Coming from small-town Monterey, this is the kind of thing I thought I'd miss," Paul O'Donovan said. "This reminds me of what a small town is supposed to feel like. I use events like this for escape just to get out and see the community spirit."

'An honor and privilege'

Before taking the stage to the hit "Double Vision" and barreling right into "Cold As Ice," prowling the stage with mannerisms eerily similar to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Foreigner singer Kelly Hansen acknowledged the band's role in providing an outlet for those in the audience to get away for a little while. It's something that can feel like a great responsibility, he said -- an honor and a privilege, but also a great deal of fun.

"It just goes to show the need for people to have a good time, and we're fortunate to be here and be a part of it," Hansen said. "To see people everywhere going through tough times everywhere, it really makes you realize that what we do really isn't work. It is, but I've waited my whole life to be in a band like this, and knowing that people out there are looking to us for a little relief, a little get-away, is an honor."