November 15, 2011

Lancaster, NYC, Falls Church, Philadelphia, NYC


Lancaster 10/17/11

The Chameleon Club in Lancaster is easily my 2nd least favorite venue (Amos' Southend in Charlotte holds first place). Picture a shoebox with one too many pairs of shoes shoved inside and you'll get the general layout and organization. Now picture a pair of shoes on the 2nd level with a really gross pair of cheap knockoff heals scuffing up against them all night--that's where I ended up. Thankfully the show itself was one of the best I saw this tour and made up for the minor details. The guys had a lot of energy and seemed to be just as excited as we were to be back to playing shows after the week-long break. Finally seeing Isaac play the piano almost made missing the other shows worth the wait, and we definitely got a kick out of  "Somethin' Going 'Round" as the encore.

New York 10/18/11

The New York show was significant for three reasons: 1) It was my first trip to NYC, 2) I won tickets for the show via Hanson's Musical Ride Tour contest (remember this post? turns out it paid off), and 3) I decided to try to drive my car into the city. Two out of three of those turned out well. We managed to get into the city with just a $12 toll, and I stretched the remainder of my luck and found free street parking just a block away from where we were staying with Rachel's friends. By some miracle I parallel parked without any trouble, and my car was untouched the next morning. Getting into the show with my won tickets proved a bit more difficult, but thankfully in the end I had two friends with me that held me a spot inside while I tracked down someone who could find my name on the guest lest and let me in. It was definitely worth the wait to save $50 on the ticket.

The story was entertaining but I can't say I remember much about it. I recall a Hanson comparing The Walk to Deathly Hallows part 1 and Shout it Out to Deathly Hallows part 2 where they get to kill Voldemort in the end, and I specifically remember Zac saying "booyah!" after connecting slavery to the roots of rock and roll music. We shook our heads. Even Zac Hanson can't "booyah" slavery (obviously this is all paraphrased and out of context, so don't quote him too closely on that).

Falls Church 10/19/11


Rain, rain, rain, rocket-launched guitar picks, cameras rudely in the aisle. Oh, and I laughed really hard when Isaac tried to hand Taylor a guitar pick WHILE Taylor was playing the guitar. Not sure how Isaac expected him to pick it up, and Taylor was giving him a look that said the same thing with a little more attitude.

Philadelphia 10/20/11

Parking in Philly was definitely more of a nightmare than anywhere else I've been. Anywhere that allows parallel parking in the middle of a median is nuts in my book. Here we hit a few used music shops and picked up some more music for the road since CDs were our only option in my car. We picked up some Green Day, No Doubt, Creedence Cleerwater Revival, and ABBA before cutting ourselves off (and for the millionth time couldn't find any SoCo).

During the show, we watched from the balcony as security dragged off some drunk girl trying to violently shove her way to the front, and Zac declared "Sometimes having a good time means having one less drink." And sometimes having a good time means one less crazy person in the packed, sold-out crowd.


At the end, Charlie Mars came back out on stage and had Hanson sing and play backup to a new song with a title I can't remember and a dragging I can't forget. Maybe they knew it, too, because they didn't end the set with it and instead came back out and played, well, something else that I'm sure I enjoyed more at the time. Perhaps my lack of memory isn't all in part to the lameness of the performance so much as the fact  that it's been a month and I saw a lot since then.

New York City 10/22/11 VH1 Save the Music Event

There's a first for everything, and this show was the first time I saw Hanson play an elementary school auditorium. We didn't bother to try to wait and get good seats for this since the focus of the event was for families and kids. It was cute watching Hanson play for the kids and try to get them to dance and have fun, and they invited the children to stand in front of the front row. Isaac tried to get them to jump on cue to the drumbeat during parts of "MMMBop" and "A Minute Without You," and Taylor taught them to twirl and "get down low" during "Give a Little." It was also the first time I've ever had my view blocked by a dancing balloon, but I happily put up with it just picturing the hopping kid on the other end of the string.

At the end of the show as Hanson was leaving the stage, the host announced that there would be one more song, to which the crowd erupted in cheers and all three Hansons looked like they might throw knives, clearly not being aware of this extra song. The host quickly realized his mistake and added "'--but not by Hanson! YOU guys are going to sing!" And we did. We sang Happy Birthday to Zac as someone brought out a massive cupcake with a candle that they trusted Taylor to light, and for the first time I watched them not smash cake in anyone's face.

1 comment:

Teagan said...

I remember seeing the dancing balloon also lol was a fun day for all and we were able to meet up with them after the show for a brief moment. Great day and the kids had lots of fun :D