Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Between the fan club ending and a year’s worth of rumors about Hanson taking a break, I had little hope that there would be many if any Hanson shows this year (also, I will die on the hill of Hanson never officially said they were taking a break). So when shows began trickling out one by one, I was happily surprised, but hesitant to commit to anything without having a fuller picture of how many shows there might be and where. After a few more unexpected announcements, that trickle of shows started feeling more like Lucy and Ethel working the chocolate conveyor belt, just one date after another with barely any time to figure out if there’s a presale before another two are coming down the line at full speed. I’ve never loved the stress of trying to buy tickets to 10 shows at once, but I think I have a new appreciation for the known chaos of a traditional tour announcement vs. months of drawn out blink-and-you-miss-it sales.



When one of those dates ended up being 1) within driving distance, 2) at a theme park I loved, and 3) within a week of my birthday, I finally had my answer of where I was heading to kick off this “let’s not call this tour a tour” tour.



My Own History with Williamsburg


The last time I visited Williamsburg, VA was on a class field trip when I was in the 7th grade. Looking back, it's probably not something that could happen today, 60 middle schoolers being set free in a theme park during a time when none of us had cell phones. I remember calling my mom from a payphone with a calling card on that trip, a detail that would probably seem straight out of colonial times to today's 7th graders, or maybe up there with Lucy in black and white. I loved every moment and rode every coaster and thrill ride in that park, and when Hanson announced a show there this year, I couldn't wait to go back 25 years later and try to replicate some of those fun memories--armed with dramamine and ibuprofen this time, of course.



Revisiting Colonial Williamsburg

I drove the 5.5 hours to Williamsburg and met up with four friends the day before the show. We made typical tourist plans and had dinner at a reproduction 18th century tavern (where I had “an onion pye”) followed by an interactive witch trial based on real events. When it came time to vote on the accused witch’s guilt, I was one of only five people to raise my hand to vote "guilty", and all four of my friends looked at me like I was setting women’s rights back 300 years. Hear me out; modern me knows that these trials were barbaric and unfair, but they told us to abandon our 21st century understanding and try to deliberate solely based on the facts presented, and the fact is 18th century me was sufficiently convinced that she was 100% that witch (I appreciated her diabolical cackle on the way out after being pardoned). It was a good time, and I left wondering how often the audience pardons her and how often she gets convicted.



Another fun detail that came out of our time in Colonial Williamsburg was an unexpected piece of merch to commemorate my 250th show. I’ve said it before, the number of shows you’ve been to does not make you a better or worse fan, and it’s a totally arbitrary thing that doesn’t actually matter. I still like to keep track as do many others, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that if you’re not leading every conversation with it in a braggy way. So Williamsburg was my 250th Hanson show and a few days before my birthday, and that means basically nothing, but then I found a basket of stuffed cakes with “Happy 250th!” written on them in a colonial shop, and what an oddly perfect coincidence is that? So now I’m the proud owner of a 250th cake toy because it took me 19 years and 250 shows to accidentally find milestone-specific merch. I will be shocked if I ever find any coinciding with shows #251 and beyond. 

Roller Coaster Love


For anyone that didn’t go to Williamsburg, know that the weather forecast leading up to the show was utter trash. Ten days out, it mostly fluctuated between 60-80% rain with lows in the 40s and highs in the mid to upper 50s. This is not theme park weather. That means water rides are off the table. Cute outfits are off the table. Without the proper rain gear and layering, fun in general is probably off the table. Thankfully, we got really lucky and saw a shift in the forecast at the last minute, and while I showed up in an insulated rain jacket, waterproof sneakers, and water resistant athletic pants just in case, it just barely sprinkled.

I ended up in line for most of the day instead of blazing a trail through all of the best rides, but I did get to ride three coasters and eat a few mildly disappointing food festival samples. (Sorry, Busch Gardens. Epcot’s pierogis are definitely superior).

I made sure to ride my favorite ride from middle school—Alpengeist—which turned out to be a whole lot rougher and more painful than it felt to my 12-year-old-body, but maybe that’s because I sat in the back row this time. Darkoaster was kind of underwhelming for the amount of time we spent in line for it, but Griffon was fantastic. A+ Coaster material.

When the venue opened and we claimed our seats, we found ourselves sitting in front of the stage with two hours left before showtime. "What are we supposed to do for two more hours?" I asked. And then I heard screams from a nearby ride and I knew:  this was my moment to squeeze in another roller coaster, because when else in the history of Hanson shows will I get to ride a roller coaster between doors and show time? I was determined to go find one I hadn't gotten to ride yet, but the confusing park layout, long lines, and my own inability to read a map all worked against me. I tried to follow the map to Loch Ness, but instead I found myself in some kiddie dinosaur corner of the park where I walked in circles for a solid 20 minutes before giving up and heading back to the venue. On a last ditch attempt to have not completely blown my mission, I joined a single rider line for a second round on Griffon and managed to disembark the ride about 20 minutes before the show. New pro-tip: go on a roller coaster immediately before a show if you want an instant blowout and volume boost to your hair. Honestly, I'm probably just lucky my motion sickness patch was still working.

Hanson at Busch Gardens

The stage at this place was absurdly huge, and Hanson was nestled way in the back of it. I joked in an instagram story "When you're front row center but feel suspiciously like you're in the back of the parking lot at Hop Jam" because they were so far away. I'm dead serious when I say the front row was probably equal to 20th row in a smaller venue. I'm not saying that to complain or whine or act like it wasn't good enough for me; I'm just here to share the facts, and the facts are Hanson was approximately four miles from the crowd.

The setlist was pretty much exactly what I expected for a "one-off" non-tour show, but I knew I wasn't signing up for BTTI when I bought the ticket, so I had a great time singing along to the staples. They fittingly ended with "Roller Coaster Love" and left me wishing the park was open longer so I could go back for a few more rides.

After it was over, everyone crowded around the front in hopes of snagging a setlist or a pick, and when the crowd started thinning out and we were about to leave, I saw a girl come running over next to me to catch some unidentified object from the stage. I reached my hand up at the same time, halfway caught the item, and immediately let it go and surrendered it to her when I realized it was just a ball of tape. She walked away with it, and I put my hand back down in something wet on my side that definitely wasn't there before. I looked down and saw an unidentified liquid just rolling down the side of my rain jacket, then back to the girl who I now noticed was holding a suspiciously empty wine glass. I don't think she meant to do it or even realized it happened in the moment.

Final new pro-tip: It turns out full-body rain gear isn't such a bad idea at a wine festival even if there isn't a chance of rain. 😂