Underneath: Experience Tour Atlanta

Atlanta is always a complicated tour stop for me. On one hand, it's always one of my closest show options (a ~6 hr drive depending on traffic) and feels like a no-brainer for someone who likes to do multiple shows. On the other hand, there is a long list of things I'd rather do than drive in Atlanta traffic, and on occasion, skipping a Hanson concert is one of them. Under different circumstances I might have just chosen another city, but with a small tour where my closest stop fell on a Hanson’s birthday, I knew this wasn’t a “skip Atlanta” year for me.


I entertained the idea of driving alone at first, but I’m a little embarrassed to admit that this trip ended up breaking my 10-year self-imposed rule of hoarding air miles for international use only. I couldn't bring myself to pay $400 for a flight to a place I could drive on $50 of gas, so throwing away air miles was the compromise. I’ve now cashed in my miles on three exotic locations: Australia, Brazil, and Atlanta 😂. 

Acoustic Night One

The crowd at the acoustic show was weirdly rowdy and had me a little concerned about what things would be like on electric night. There was a lot of talking during quiet parts, but it wasn’t just bored people talking to their neighbors; they were actively involved and trying to take the conversation to the stage with lots of randomly shouted “Happy Birthday!” moments and “I love you (insert brother here)!” Then there was the one guy close behind me who just kept shouting “39!!” throughout the show like the universe glitched and dropped some angry football fan shouting at a player on the sidelines directly into acoustic “MMMBop” instead. It’s fortunate he was there to remind us all what we were celebrating, though. Just imagine how disappointing the show might have been without his dedication to spreading the awareness of Zac's new age.

But the rowdiness wasn’t all bad. The crowd participation during the singalong parts was top-notch. We nailed “Madeline.” We had Isaac grinning during his solo of “River.” We practically became a 4th member of the band during “A Song To Sing” whether they wanted us to or not, and I always love when the crowd has that sort of electric vibe of all being connected in the same moment. 

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As for it being Zac's birthday, I feel like there's always this expectation among fans for something epic to happen at a birthday show. It's true that there's something a little bit special about it, but I think we're past the years of cakes being smashed or thrown into the audience. I got the feeling Zac appreciates the well wishes but also wants us to focus on the music and quit screaming bonus content at him every five seconds. This show had me trying to remember the last time I saw an actual cake smash, which had me questioning how many of his birthday shows I've been to, and here's what I found:

Apparently I've been to every one of Zac's birthday shows since the first one I attended in 2009, there have been a grand total of six since then, two of them had smashed cakes, and the last time that happened was 2015. Also pro-tip: If you see the cake being brought out mid-show, it's not going in anyone's face. That's a finale move. You don't cover the drummer in icing if you expect him to sit back down and play more songs. Here's a throwback to them all, because why not? 

No cake in 2012 because it was at Epcot, and I guess you don't waste 5 min. of a 30 min. set on cake

On a more serious note, this show in particular was a better reminder than usual that we all perceive things differently and it can be hard to get at the "truth" of a situation even when you're all taking in the same details at the same time. Someone shared a video of Taylor during "A Song To Sing" after the shows were over and there were comments about how he was in tears. I didn't notice it at all in person despite Taylor giving a self-proclaimed "ooey gooey speech" to introduce the song. But there were several concerned comments and people that said they noticed him crying, and his face is definitely glistening with a drip or two in some of the videos shared. Then someone presented perspective number two, which was Taylor was just sweating profusely and it was dripping into his eyes. Is anyone lying? No. Are any of us equipped to know the real answer? Also no, and I think the same thing applies to so many fan disagreements where nobody is making anything up, we just all took in the same incomplete information and processed it differently. 

Electric Night Two

While waiting in line for the second show, a local comedian showed up around noon to record some promo footage in front of the venue and said he was shocked to find a line there. We talked to him for a little while and he ended up going down the line and getting us to help him film some content which was a fun twist to the usual characters we meet on sidewalks. I'm definitely no actor and the footage may never see the light of day, but it was fun talking to him, and if nothing else he got a crash course in the dedication of Hanson fans. Maybe our insanity will be a bit in his routine one day.

Oddly, the crowd seemed almost calmer to me during the electric show. I don't know if people were more invested in trying MMMHops and Pink Moonlight on night one and had a few extra drinks out of fear that it would sell out (it didn't), but I didn't notice any heckling or catcalling on the second night. What I did notice was it felt like there was a lot of energy on the stage, and the band seemed really into it. It was one of those shows that felt so interactive that I took like six garbage photos the whole night and never bothered to do better because I was having too much fun to care. Isaac made a post after the show saying he was sick, but I absolutely could not tell it during the show. The last few songs were just insane back to back. We got "If Only" into "In the City" into "Rock 'n' Roll Razorblade" with a "Lost Without Each Other" encore featuring Phantom Planet. As I joked later, the only thing screaming louder than the crowd after that line up of songs was my shins the day after. 

Accidental Existential Thoughts

Sometimes I catch myself raving about how awesome a show was, and I can't help but wonder if my perception of any show is ever truly accurate or in any way comparable to what someone on the "outside" walking in would think. Does it ever actually sound as good as I think it does? Did the bartender hear what I heard? Am I involuntarily applying a mental filter to everything because I know every word and every note by heart and my brain is equipped to fill in the blanks for missed lyrics or flubbed chords? The adrenaline rush of a high-energy show is practically a drug, and it's so easy to get wrapped up in living out a feeling and a moment that I'm never really sure if my experience was what actually happened or if I'm always smoothing out the edges without even knowing it. Honestly, does it even matter? If perception is reality, I'll choose mine every time over the girl texting in the back.

Underneath: Experience Tour Minneapolis

I don't know what it is that makes me hate spoilers more and more the older I get, but there is nothing I love more than walking into a Hanson show with no idea what's going to happen. Don't get me wrong, I will go to 17 String Theory shows with identical setlists and I will like it, but my truest happy place is an open-ended Hanson Show with a setlist full of blanks. I'm not sure how it took me this long to figure out that the obvious hack to avoiding spoilers is to just go to the first show of the tour. Problem solved. That being said, this post is going to be full of them, so please don't keep reading if you prefer to go into the shows blind as well.

An opportunity to skip out on spoilers and visit local friends was all I needed to include the Minneapolis shows in my plans for this tour. I didn't get to attend any of the original Underneath tours, so I think my expectations for what it means to have an acoustic night and an electric night were probably a little more simplified than they should have been. In my mind, acoustic = mellow, electric = upbeat/tire me out jumping, and I think the reality was somewhere in the middle for both. Apart from the stage setup mirroring the original Underneath Acoustic setup with Zac's drums pulled forward and off to the side, the two nights mostly just felt like a continuation of each other. There were several ballads on night two that I would have mentally placed in night one, and a few more upbeat songs during night one that I would have expected on night two. I think the best way to approach this tour is just embrace the fact that it's an "experience," and enjoy the variety without getting hung up on what each night should be. Both setlists were phenomenal and totally different from anything you might describe as their usual.

Night 1

I'll start by dropping a link to the setlist here so you can peruse the awesomeness without me raving about every single song choice and parrotting some of the comments I already made on my post about the Church Studio show. Apart from just loving the overall variety, the first significant comment I want to make is a major shoutout to "Hand in Hand." I have to admit, it's not a contender for my favorites list, and there was a time where it felt overplayed. But in all fairness, Isaac always gives it 100%, so it usually slays and I'm happy enough to hear it. In Minneapolis, though, Isaac dug deep, channeled 2003 Isaac, and found a way to give 1,000%. I feel pretty confident in saying it was the strongest performance I have ever seen him give of "Hand in Hand," period, and according to Hansonstage, I've got 35 other performances to compare it to (that's a smaller number than I was expecting for someone who was just complaining that it's overplayed). I can remember raving about how epic his performance of "Being Me" was in Albuquerque on the Anthem Tour, and this was a similar vibe of just all in, totally present and giving his absolute best in the moment. Standing ovation material if I wasn't already standing, sir!

"Teach Your Children" did a great job showcasing their harmonies and was the one part of the show I decided to record and post to Instagram. I'm so internet illiterate that other Holly had to tell me that Hanson shared it to their stories the next day and that's why I kept getting notifications that it had a bunch of views.

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"Thinking 'Bout Somethin'" definitely qualifies as one of the "how did this wind up on an acoustic Underneath set?" songs of the night, but then throw in a guest appearance of Cory Wong and we truly reached "what is going on?" status. (He hosted some event Hanson played at Bonnaroo last year and apparently is a musician & Minneapolis native). Like I said, I love random blanks on a setlist that I can't predict, and this one qualified. 

Night 2

The second night setlist was no less impressive and had a few fun surprises of its own. But before we get into that, let me introduce you to the luckiest fan at the show that had the best seat in the house: 

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I got a kick out of it at first, the puns freely flowing, but when Hanson took the stage and the thing was still just sitting there front and center and plugged into absolutely nothing, it continued to stick out to me like a sore thumb. No, it wasn't in my way or blocking anyone's view, but it was just one of those things like spotting a crooked tile in a floor that's probably been there for years without you noticing, but the moment someone points it out, it's all you can see. That stupid fan was right in my line of sight all night long, which, of course, beats an actual living, breathing fan blocking my view. ("It doesn't even go here!" "How did that fan get on stage?" "That's the luckiest fan in the room!" "Do you think it's up there because it's a member of the 'fan' club??" "Maybe it's a guest performer for Dancing In the Wind.") In the end, no one on stage ever acknowledged it, "Dancing in the Wind" had a fully missed opportunity, and I'm as confused as ever.

The main standout at the second show, rogue fans excluded, was a medley I never expected. Maybe "medley" is the wrong word since the full songs were played, but regardless, it was three connected songs that I never in a million years would have connected. It started with "Crazy Beautiful," one of my all time favorites. I was excited and ready to do the sped up clapping bit at the end, but when the time came to do that, the song ended abruptly and morphed into, of all things, a cover of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Like, what? And then the final notes of "Everybody Wants to Rule The World" morphed into the opening notes of "World's on Fire" which was even more "WHAT?" inducing than the last one. I might not have known what was going on, but I loved every moment of it.

I did manage to tell Isaac after the show that I really enjoyed "the medley with World's On Fire." He mentioned that it had a lot to do with the unique 6/8 time signature of each song and that "Crazy Beautiful" was inspired by "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (again I say, WHAT?) He didn't elaborate and I can only assume he meant rhythmically and not thematically, but that was entirely new information to me!

All in all, it's a five star show review here. Truthfully, I can only be so excited for a re-released album where I already own almost all of the songs (though happy to purchase it to support the band), so my true excitement this time was reserved more for the tour. It didn't disappoint. I do hope some of the rarer b-sides that got released with Underneath:Complete (and the SETB DVD) will make their way onto future setlists, but I'm not going to dock any points for not playing a 40 song set to squeeze it all in. The mix so far was great, and time will tell if the vault will be opened to songs like "Let You Go" and "My Own Sweet Time." Thankfully, I've got the hack for that down pretty well; just keep going to shows.

Five stars, love the mix of songs, get yourself to a pair of shows if you can!

Underneath Complete: Church Studio

It feels a little strange to be writing about traveling for fun during a time when so many people in my home state and neighboring areas are dealing with devastating loss in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Remember my blog post about dancing on stage with Taylor in Asheville, NC a million years ago? That entire city is practically under water right now, completely cut off from roads, electricity, and even cell service. My heart goes out to the countless people who have survived the worst but are still a long way from anything being fixed or normal. I'm not sure how fully this is being covered nationally, but it's all I can see in my local news, and it's heartbreaking. If you would like to consider making a donation or sharing a link, this news article has a great list of places accepting donations, including verified gofundme pages if you want to see your dollars go directly to affected individual families.

Seeing all of this news while on my trip to Tulsa went a long way towards giving me a fresh perspective on my own struggles over the last few days. Sure, I might have had to change my flights literally four times and spent five hours at my home airport before calling it done and trying again the next day (ironically a technical difficulty unrelated to weather), but in the end I made it to Tulsa in time and I'm safely back home, and that's really all I can ask for.  P.S. Shoutout to Jocelyn, a random AA chat representative for whom I would like to start a fan club. She listened to me when I asked for a flight change that wasn't strictly necessary by their standards, and she is the reason I am writing this calm post from home right now and not raging in the CLT airport overnight composing an angry letter in my head.

Weather and travel issues aside, I don't have to tell you that being able to go to this show was a privilege, and I'm grateful that I was able to get a ticket and jump through all the right travel hoops. I know for Hanson and for plenty of their fans, being at this show was a special opportunity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of an album, an era, and the Underneath Acoustic recording. Since I showed up on the Hanson scene in 2006/2007, I think it was a little different for me. I don't have the same memories that others have attached to the Church Studio or even to the Underneath era of shows, but sitting there in such an intimate setting definitely brought back memories of my first time seeing Hanson at the Middle of Nowhere Acoustic recording and the general feeling of awe and gratitude at being allowed to be a part of that moment. 

I think for special shows like this, I'm always looking for some sort of wow factor. It's usually a rare or unexpected song; sometimes it's a special guest or a Hanson deciding to go swimming in the ocean in the middle of a set. In this case, I think the wow factor was simply the setting and the sound quality. Don't get me wrong, they gave some great song performances, but there was no single "wow" song so much as an overall "wow" quality to listening to good music straight from the source in a recording studio with a rich musical history and excellent sound.

There were two sessions, 1pm and 4:30 pm. I was at the 1pm show, but the setlists were identical. Here is the setlist courtesy of Hansonstage.com:

Strong Enough To Break

Stories

When You're Gone

Annalie

Deeper

Runaway Run

Believe

Teach Your Children

MMMBop

Penny and Me Moonlight Version

Underneath

Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard / Cecilia

Out Of My Head

With You In Your Dreams

Optimistic

Dancing In The Wind

Dream Girl

Love Somebody To Know

The first song that got me excited was "Stories," which was always my favorite 3CG song as a kid. We all know there are a few old school songs that might be cringy coming from grown men ("bing bang, you hit me like a boomerang," etc.), but I think "Stories" comes off as a nostalgic folk-y sounding song that if possible sounds even better from grown-up Hanson. It aged well, and I'd be happy to see this one as a tour staple. 

"Annalie" felt a little bit like it got lost on its way to a different setlist and wandered into the wrong show at first, because I wasn't expecting to hear anything outside of the Underneath era. But you know, it's kind of like the time I got us lost on the way to Joshua Tree and accidentally drove us to to Lake Tahoe instead. I didn't mean to be there and it wasn't what I expected, but it was still beautiful. I could see "Annalie" fitting in well with the full acoustic set on tour, but I am a little surprised it made the cut for an abbreviated preview. Still, it was probably the best performance of it that I've ever heard, and I loved the drums.

"Runaway Run" was the same amazing slowed down version they played at HDay a few years ago that we feared might go into the vault forever, and I felt like Taylor poured his whole soul into his performance of "Believe." 

I also have to give Isaac props for successfully pranking us with "MMMBop" this time. I know I'm always joking about how he will intro a song with "We've never played this live before" and my instant reaction is to wonder which song he's lying about now. But this time when he said it, he followed it with "MMMBop," and okay, he got me. I was fully expecting to hear something semi-rare that he forgot playing approximately 10 times instead of "MMMBop." He's just ensuring that I never trust his song intros again at this point.

At the risk of saying something slightly offensive, I think my favorite part was the "Me and Julio"/"Cecelia" mashup, and the reason that feels offensive is who in their right mind gets to go to a special show like this with rare original songs and comes out loving a cover song the most? I can't help it, though. The vibe was absolutely perfect and everything I've ever wanted out of an acoustic performance--solid vocals and an upbeat rhythm that forces me to tap my feet. Honestly, it was perfection, and "Annalie" felt like a distant cousin with a similar vibe. I'm definitely going to need a tutorial on those claps on tour, though. 

I probably need to stop gushing about each and every song before I've gone on for 19 paragraphs, but it's hard not to when so much of it was memorable. It's funny, in person, the overall feeling of the show felt very mellow, maybe even excessively so at times, and there were moments when I was hoping things would speed up and wishing that I could have been standing and dancing around a little more. In retrospect, looking at the setlist, it's kind of hard to find fault with anything. It's so vastly different from your typical "festival" setlist full of singles and setlist staples, and I really can't wait to see what the extended version with two separate nights looks like.

The only thing I would change at all would have been to leave off "With You In Your Dreams." I realize I say this too often, but I stand by the fact that if I'm saying it too often, then they must be playing it too often. When Taylor said "Can I get a 'whoah whoah'?" to the crowd referring to the crowd participation part, I really wanted to sarcastically respond "whoah, whoah" in an entirely different tone, Peter Griffin style. It's a beautiful song and a prime example of the power of music when you have a sobbing mass of fans every single time you play it, and kudos to Hanson for having harnessed that power, but to reference another Peter (Parker), with great power comes great responsibility, and I think the responsible thing to do would be giving us a solid break from this song on occasion. I realize I'm being a total drama queen and all sarcasm aside, I'm not actually mad. I also don't expect them to cater to me when for every person who is tired of crying over it, there's probably another one feeling some epic healing catharsis. Still, can we get a once a year rule or something? I might even settle for a "not at three shows in a row" rule. Or what about a "not at BTTI" clause? Just think about it, guys.

I'm sure I've skipped over several other great moments because this post is starting to get longer than the show itself, but if you're a fan club member, the good news is you can currently still stream it for free directly on hanson.net and get all the fun and none of the flight delays. It will probably be removed shortly, so go ahead and give it a watch if you want to check it out! 

Special thanks to Hanson for creating such a cool show opportunity, to their team for facilitating ticket sales and for great organization the day of the event, and shoutout to all my fellow fans that kept all unsolicited "whoah, whoahs" to themselves and made the whole experience fun and enjoyable. See you all soon on the road!