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When I finally left the room and journeyed out into the city to get in line the day of the first show, I had one of the craziest sidewalk experiences I've ever had. There's no moral to this story, folks. It was just a crazy moment destined to become one of those "remember that time..." stories for years to come if you can get through it in one piece.
There's a Downtown Corner People Downtown Throw
Acoustic Night One
I also have to give a shoutout to John Calvin Abney, who I've seen play harmonica on "Dressed in Brown Eyes" with Hanson a few times before, but this time was even better. I feel like this tour managed to take that song from a generally liked fan-club song to having a stronger standing in the general list of Hanson songs that really come to life during a live performance.
Going back to the concept of being cognizant of fans in the room while also aware that things are being recorded for a moment...There was one issue on the first night that has me dusting off the old soapbox to say something I thought was super obvious and understood among fans, but clearly someone missed the memo.
Here's the memo:
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There's a Downtown Corner People Downtown Throw
Part of the reality of waiting in any Hanson line for an extended period of time is encountering a colorful variety of locals going about their day. If you sit on enough sidewalks around the world, you'll inevitably run into (and be judged by) everyone from businessmen to college students, celebrities, infinite dog owners on walks, and a healthy circulation of homeless individuals. The homeless population can be a wild card and one that is not always looked at fairly, but for all of the kind people I have encountered who were simply down on their luck, there have also been a few who were walking red flags exhibiting aggression, and common sense usually tells you when to exercise compassion or self preservation. Unfortunately, we encountered one of the latter on this trip.
He was shouting angrily to himself before he ever crossed the street to where around 20 of us were sitting in line. If you've been in that situation, you know the drill. You don't engage. You become incredibly invested in a conversation with the stranger beside you. You don't show fear or surprise or any reaction whatsoever, and you wait for him to move on because whatever internal conflict he's experiencing, you're not equipped to fix it. As he got closer to the line, he started screaming "B****, where's my money!" and then began shouting "B****!" "B****!" repeatedly at each individual fan going down the line at the opposite end from where I was sitting. Nobody moved or spoke while this happened; each person just waited for their turn to pass hoping he would leave without further conflict.
Things took a turn when he stopped to pick up some items fans had left behind on a blanket saving their spots, and someone said "that's not yours." At this point he was four or five people away from me, and all of a sudden I heard a loud BAM! sound of something hard slamming into metal with a lot of force. I looked over and saw a busted cell phone laying on the ground. At first I thought he had picked it up from the blanket and that it belonged to a fan, but apparently it was his own phone, and he had thrown it full force against the metal wall we were sitting against. The girls sitting under where it hit scattered, and he walked around the corner back towards the front of the line where I lost sight of him but immediately heard what sounded like a glass bottle smashing.
He was shouting angrily to himself before he ever crossed the street to where around 20 of us were sitting in line. If you've been in that situation, you know the drill. You don't engage. You become incredibly invested in a conversation with the stranger beside you. You don't show fear or surprise or any reaction whatsoever, and you wait for him to move on because whatever internal conflict he's experiencing, you're not equipped to fix it. As he got closer to the line, he started screaming "B****, where's my money!" and then began shouting "B****!" "B****!" repeatedly at each individual fan going down the line at the opposite end from where I was sitting. Nobody moved or spoke while this happened; each person just waited for their turn to pass hoping he would leave without further conflict.
Things took a turn when he stopped to pick up some items fans had left behind on a blanket saving their spots, and someone said "that's not yours." At this point he was four or five people away from me, and all of a sudden I heard a loud BAM! sound of something hard slamming into metal with a lot of force. I looked over and saw a busted cell phone laying on the ground. At first I thought he had picked it up from the blanket and that it belonged to a fan, but apparently it was his own phone, and he had thrown it full force against the metal wall we were sitting against. The girls sitting under where it hit scattered, and he walked around the corner back towards the front of the line where I lost sight of him but immediately heard what sounded like a glass bottle smashing.
Moments later, he came back to the end of the line where I was sitting. I could see him draw his arm back to throw something, but I was sitting cross-legged on the ground which, btw, is a terrible position to be in when your fight-or-flight reflex kicks in. (Note to future self: stick to not engaging for as long as you can, but if you sense danger, staying folded in a pretzel is not it.) Anyway, he threw the cell phone with all of his strength in the general vicinity of my head but missed, thank God. When I finally bambied onto my legs, because screw staying seated and disengaged if I'm having projectiles thrown at my head, he started fake-out lunging at me without actually touching me. I was still solidly team "flight" since he hadn't actually made any physical contact, so my goal became to turn my body away from him so that we weren't squaring off--a difficult task considering I was backed against a wall.
After a couple of lunges I managed to side-step away from him, at which point I turned to see venue staff running towards us with a baseball bat. I took the opportunity to get out of his path and missed seeing him throw his jacket at the girl next to me before finally running away. Writing it all out sounds like some lengthy traumatic ordeal, but in reality the whole thing from start to finish was probably no more than a couple of minutes--just long enough for someone on staff to spot him throwing things on camera, grab the bat, and run outside. For what it's worth, no one was hurt, and if this feels like some cautionary tale against camping out for shows, think again because it took place in broad daylight around 1pm.
On a much lighter note, spending one day sitting on what might be the dirtiest sidewalk on earth inspired us to order cheap knockoffs of the tiny packable chairs other fans had in line. One day Amazon Prime delivery for the win. We had them delivered to our hotel early the next morning, I actually had room to take mine home in my carry-on, and it was one of the best impulse buys I've had in a very long time.
On a much lighter note, spending one day sitting on what might be the dirtiest sidewalk on earth inspired us to order cheap knockoffs of the tiny packable chairs other fans had in line. One day Amazon Prime delivery for the win. We had them delivered to our hotel early the next morning, I actually had room to take mine home in my carry-on, and it was one of the best impulse buys I've had in a very long time.
Acoustic Night One
To be completely honest, I wasn't thrilled to learn that these shows would be on a streaming platform. Maybe that sounds weird and you're thinking how great it would be to be able relive a show you were at, but I've had an experience or two years ago where it felt like the band was more invested in playing to the cameras than playing to the crowd in front of them, and in general it kind of changes the dynamic of the show. I prefer more off-the-cuff, anything might happen banter and surprise songs vs. scripted for replay quality, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this show did not feel too stuffy or scripted; it felt like most of the other acoustic night shows. I thought Hanson did a great job balancing being present for fans in the room while also staying aware that they were being recorded.
I think my favorite part of the night, silly as it may sound, was finally nailing the claps during "Cecilia," if "nailing" can be described as staring intently at Zac's hands with such concentration that I couldn't sing along, smile, or spare much attention for the melody or words. Probably not the best way to actually enjoy the song, but I felt accomplished after that first Church studio performance that had me eyeing all three of them going "What do I do with my hands?" We also managed to not completely butcher the "Thinking Bout Something" dance and at least mirrored our simultaneous wrongness into looking planned, so that was fun.
I think my favorite part of the night, silly as it may sound, was finally nailing the claps during "Cecilia," if "nailing" can be described as staring intently at Zac's hands with such concentration that I couldn't sing along, smile, or spare much attention for the melody or words. Probably not the best way to actually enjoy the song, but I felt accomplished after that first Church studio performance that had me eyeing all three of them going "What do I do with my hands?" We also managed to not completely butcher the "Thinking Bout Something" dance and at least mirrored our simultaneous wrongness into looking planned, so that was fun.
I also have to give a shoutout to John Calvin Abney, who I've seen play harmonica on "Dressed in Brown Eyes" with Hanson a few times before, but this time was even better. I feel like this tour managed to take that song from a generally liked fan-club song to having a stronger standing in the general list of Hanson songs that really come to life during a live performance.
(Un)Spoken Etiquette
Going back to the concept of being cognizant of fans in the room while also aware that things are being recorded for a moment...There was one issue on the first night that has me dusting off the old soapbox to say something I thought was super obvious and understood among fans, but clearly someone missed the memo.
Here's the memo:
1. If you have something you need to yell at Hanson, no you don’t.
If you feel driven to do it anyway, pick the one thing you can’t live without yelling, yell it at an at least semi-appropriate time during the show, and move on. You do not need to yell the same thing 10 times, yell 10 different things one time each, or loudly discuss variations of what you plan to yell next in between yelling.
2. If you find yourself telling a story that has a beginning, middle, and end at any point during the show, then you’ve come to the wrong place.
3. If you find yourself in attendance with someone who is trying to tell you a story that has a beginning, middle, and end, then it is your responsibility to take one for the team and deliver the message that your friend does not want to accept from angry strangers, i.e., kindly STFU.
4. If you don’t like a song, feel free to play quietly on your phone. Go to the bathroom. Get a drink. Take apart a dozen friendship bracelets and rearrange the letters into a haiku expressing your dislike. Do literally any silent thing that you wish, but let the rest of us listen and enjoy the show. BRB, requesting a new hansonstage feature to track songs I almost heard but can’t in good conscience count because there was too much talking.
And finally,
if you take nothing else away from this soapbox rant,
5. Yelling repeatedly and having loud, full conversations over multiple songs within the first few rows is not just disrespectful to the people around you, it's disrespectful to the band--especially on a night when they are recording and have an opportunity to potentially make a first impression on a much larger audience and gain new fans.
This concludes my Ted Talk, which I chose not to deliver in the middle of a live performance of "I've Got Soul" out of respect to others. Thank you.
(To be fair, things were significantly better on night two, so idk what changed, but I'd like to extend a strong thank you to whatever variables we have to thank for that.)
(To be fair, things were significantly better on night two, so idk what changed, but I'd like to extend a strong thank you to whatever variables we have to thank for that.)
Electric Night Two
I can't talk about night two without first giving a verbal standing ovation to Phantom Planet, who somehow managed to make this last show on their home turf feel like I was attending a headlining Phantom Planet show. This show had OG band member Sam Farrar and a bonus saxophone player who I can only assume had Hanson and their love of horns feeling a little jealous. The energy was great, and they were filming it all for a documentary that I will definitely be watching if it means I can relive part of a great show. I don't think I've gone a single day since I've been back home without bits of "Do the Panic" popping into my head at random. I REALLY hope these guys make it Back to the Island with us at some point.
I can't talk about night two without first giving a verbal standing ovation to Phantom Planet, who somehow managed to make this last show on their home turf feel like I was attending a headlining Phantom Planet show. This show had OG band member Sam Farrar and a bonus saxophone player who I can only assume had Hanson and their love of horns feeling a little jealous. The energy was great, and they were filming it all for a documentary that I will definitely be watching if it means I can relive part of a great show. I don't think I've gone a single day since I've been back home without bits of "Do the Panic" popping into my head at random. I REALLY hope these guys make it Back to the Island with us at some point.
The electric show ended with the same crazy buildup of high energy songs that I was raving about in Atlanta, "If Only" into "In the City" into "Rock 'n' Roll Razorblade" into "Lost Without Each Other" featuring Phantom Planet. I don't care if we all got old enough that Taylor and the majority of the crowd are not into jumping during every "In the City" chorus anymore, I'm not ready to edit it down to just one jumping session yet, even though my legs will pay for it later. (Also, God bless venues like The Belasco that pass out free water at the barricade).
As we exited the lobby to leave for the night, I spotted a familiar male face leaving at the same time that had me staring for a moment trying to place who this fan was and what show I had met him at before. I finally spotted a second familiar face just behind him and realized I had been staring at Andy Lawrence, followed by his brother Joey, and not some fan I had met in passing. The last time I saw Hanson in L.A., we ended up bottlenecked at the tiny exit with Darren Criss, so maybe this a weird new tradition.
Another One Bites The Dust
As we exited the lobby to leave for the night, I spotted a familiar male face leaving at the same time that had me staring for a moment trying to place who this fan was and what show I had met him at before. I finally spotted a second familiar face just behind him and realized I had been staring at Andy Lawrence, followed by his brother Joey, and not some fan I had met in passing. The last time I saw Hanson in L.A., we ended up bottlenecked at the tiny exit with Darren Criss, so maybe this a weird new tradition.
Another One Bites The Dust
I realize for a post that is supposed to be a recap of a couple of Hanson shows, I've managed to use a lot of words without saying much about the music this time. The truth is this tour was great for varying things from night one to night two, not so much for varying setlists between cities, so there's not much to add once I've discussed it all once. I would have liked a few more twists from city to city, but having roughly 45 unique songs in constant rotation on a tour is hardly a slacker move. I'm glad I got to see the start and the end and a few in between, and for the spread of friends I got to see along the way, some in one city, some in a few, and some I missed and will catch up with soon enough in the new year.
And speaking of the new year, I've got a few "resolutions" from this tour that I can think of for Hanson if they need inspiration for the next BTTI:
1. "The Luckiest."
2. "My Own Sweet Time," "I Almost Care," and "Let You Go."
3. "Pink Moon."
4. Phantom Planet.
And speaking of the new year, I've got a few "resolutions" from this tour that I can think of for Hanson if they need inspiration for the next BTTI:
1. "The Luckiest."
2. "My Own Sweet Time," "I Almost Care," and "Let You Go."
3. "Pink Moon."
4. Phantom Planet.
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*For accuracy purposes, if you would like to live vicariously through this blog and get a feel for what it was like to be there in person, try watching the Veeps stream and imagine that this post was delivered verbally beginning during "Strong Enough to Break" with every tenth sentence shouted.
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