October 10, 2013

Anthem Tour: Albuquerque

Albuquerque, NM, Sept. 17th, 2013

I don't have a lot of luck when it comes to travel plans. My last Hanson trip ended with me calling AAA to come jump our car at midnight on my birthday in the middle of nowhere, SC. The trip before that was to Jamaica, and our bus broke down on the way home--roughly six times, no exaggeration. This trip was no exception. Let me give you a timeline (we won't discuss the canceled flight on the way home yet):

Sept. 14th
5-10 PM I work
10-midnight I drive home, then finish packing the car.

Sept. 15th
12-3:30 AM I drive to the Charlotte airport, 3.5 hours from my house. I intend to pass out as soon as I board my 5:45 AM flight.
4-5:30 AM Airport check-in & boarding
5:45-7 AM We sit in the plane. We sigh and look at our watches and make angry status updates on our phones. Passengers traveling to Connecticut are asked to exit the plane and rush to another flight. We know this is a bad sign for the rest of us. Turns out there's a fuel leakage and we need a new plane.
7:30 AM I stand in line back in the terminal, waiting to find out how United proposes to get me to L.A.
8:10 AM My connecting flight from D.C. to L.A. leaves. I'm still sitting in Charlotte.
9:45 I board a new direct flight to L.A, 4 hours after my original flight.

After I finally landed in L.A. around 12:30 west coast time, Rachel picked me up and we rushed to Knott's Berry Farm for the rest of the day.

 

We hit the road to Albuquerque on Day 2 and visited the Grand Canyon on the way there.



On show day, I participated in the smallest walk I've ever seen with less than 50 people. I also stuck to the front of the walk, where I stepped in some kind of microscopic needle-like booby traps before the rest of the crowd. If you walked and didn't feel them, you're welcome. I picked them all up in my own feet first.

It was a great first stop on the tour because it was a seated show, and Paul McDonald opened his set by coming down into the crowd and walking the aisles with his acoustic guitar (leaving J.P. and his hoard of instruments on stage). We saw Paul & J.P for 10 out of 11 shows, and they put on a good show for every one. Check them out.

And then I got to stand in my favorite place in the world, even though I've never been to New Mexico before:

 

It felt like a great show, but I'm sure I'm a little biased. Isaac put on a KILLER performance of "Being Me." I literally think it was the best performance I've ever seen from him of anything, ever. I know that's a strong claim to make, but it was that good. We were excited to hear their new cover of "Happy Together" for the first time, and I remember particularly enjoying "Juliet" with Zac on the piano and Taylor on drums. I ended the night by fulfilling something on my imaginary Hanson bucket list--drumsticks!




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