Finally It's Christmas: Chicago

If you know me at all, you already know I'm an incredibly cheesy human being. I prefer puns to profanity on any given day, and it only gets worse being named Holly around Christmas time. I chose to do the two Chicago shows over the rest of the FIC Tour cities because several of my friends were also planning to go, and as you can imagine, the Christmas cheer got a little extra when we joined forces.

The trip began with me somehow packing a full sized sleeping bag, a giant thigh-length down coat, an extra fleece blanket, a holly dress, boots, and a few Christmas sweaters into a carry-on suitcase. I packed everything else in a personal item and managed to pull off not checking a bag or re-wearing anything. It was the first of many Christmas miracles this trip and probably my most impressive packing feat to date (after all that effort, it was 60 degrees Fahrenheit by the day we left. Go figure).

I'd normally talk about both shows separately, but the the setlists were identical and the biggest difference for me was the fact that I was front row the first night and in the balcony for the second show. The first night, Isaac's son also played the role of an elf roadie and handed his dad guitars while wearing a full elf costume. He kept waving to the audience and hamming it up dancing on the side of the stage. It was absolutely adorable and Isaac was beaming the whole time.

Hanson's performances were beyond amazing. There's a reason a video of "Joy to the Mountain" a fan recorded in NYC went viral; that song perfectly showcases their voices and ability to blend in seamless harmony, and it got the biggest crowd response both nights. Zac's rendition of "Please Come Home for Christmas" was gorgeous, "Merry Christmas Baby" felt the most nostalgic and put the biggest involuntary smile on my face, and the finale made it clear that Isaac's voice was the perfect choice for "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" that manages to somehow make you feel just a touch of sadness while you're also bursting with joy. To be honest, I was a little disappointed that the setlists didn't vary at all, if only because I didn't get to hear my favorite part of the new album, "Happy Christmas." My all-time favorite is "My Favorite Christmas Sweater," but I didn't have much hope for that one being played since it's on neither album. Maybe one day.

After the first show, we managed another Christmas miracle by getting an overly festive Holly photo with Taylor. The other Holly pictured has since mailed it to me in an equally festive holly frame, and it will absolutely become part of my Christmas decor for years to come.

Oh holly night! It's a Christmas miracle photo. ❤ #tistheseasontobeholly #hollyerthanthou #happyhollydays #deckthehollies #theprettiestsighttoseeisthehollythatwillbeinyourownfrontrow #Hanson

A post shared by Holly (@_hollywouldnt) on Dec 2, 2017 at 5:34am PST

We made the most of our extra day and a half in Chicago and managed to check off a lot of tourist necessities. We went to Millenium Park and saw the Bean, the giant Christmas tree, and a picturesque ice skating scene that we all knew better than to try. We ate deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's, hot dogs and cake at Portillo's, and rode the ferris wheel at the Navy Pier. We braved the Tilt ride at 360 Chicago on the 94th Floor of the Hancock Building, which I thought would be scary since I'm normally afraid of heights. Instead, the unexpected blinding reflection of 1997 Zac Hanson's unimpressed face from the front of my shirt in the window made the experience more laughable than anything else.

The part I expected to be my favorite was the Christkindl German Christmas market, for which the English translation might as well be "Santa Claustrophobia" because it was so overrun with people. We waited in a giant hot spiced wine line before half of our group gave up and left, but I was determined to have my traditional German food to go with it. I'd take the number system and Hanson line cutters any day over a wiener schnitzel kiosk with an infinite number of branching lines and only two service windows. There were times when people who weren't even in the food line were at a stand-still in front of us for minutes at a time simply because there was no room to even leave. It was in no way a joyful experience, but to be fair, the goulash alone was kind of worth it.

By coincidence, SantaCon was happening in downtown Chicago on our full tourist day, so we kept passing dozens of bar-hopping Santas. There was an array of creative costumes, including a full-suited Buddy the Elf and one confusing Santa with severed Coke cans protruding from his face. Someone identified him as "Canta Claus," and now I can rest easy knowing that the worst pun of the entire trip was someone else's doing. In a peak moment of greatness, we caught a glimpse of about thirty or so Santas outside of a bar called "Joy." My only regret was not asking to be in a group picture with them all.

At some point before the trip, (other) Holly had the genius idea to hang stockings from our box in the balcony for the second show. We weren't sure we'd be able to pull it off or if it was even worth trying, but somehow it worked and we found ourselves with a makeshift mantle place with seven stockings, two small battery-powered candles, and a tiny USB-powered Christmas tree. We thought the whole setup was relatively minimal right up until we caught a glimpse of ourselves in a video on instagram later where a couple of blinking necklaces and one light-up sweater had us looking a little more 4th of July than we ever realized (or intended). Thankfully we didn't keep those on the entire time, and we managed to secure everything well enough that nothing fell or shifted. I'm still amazed and excited that we pulled it off.

Come on, it's Christmas; we bring it with us. Stockings, lights--forgive us! #punderfulchristmastime
(lyrics c/o @yelanger)

At the end of the show, the House of Blues trumped our display by surprising Hanson with snow during "Blue Christmas." It was a magical moment that I never expected, and I'm so glad I got to experience it alongside a few good friends and a few badly hand-painted stockings. I don't think I was the only one that teared up a little when Isaac changed the lyrics in "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to "Through the years we all have been together, as the fates allowed" and motioned to the crowd and back at himself as he said "we." It was a beautiful ending to a great pair of shows and probably my favorite one-off trip ever.

We went back to the hotel in our fancy dresses and laid our candles and tiny tree on a lobby table to prepare for a candlelit takeout feast. One of the few places still open for delivery to our location was a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant, and I think it may be safe to say that cheesy goodness became a big theme of our trip. I feasted on delicious Mexican and pulled-pork grilled cheeses, fried cheese curds, fried pickles, and chocolate milk, and it was everything I've ever wanted from midnight delivery food.

I'll end by saying this: May your days be merry and filled with "Finally It's Christmas" songs on repeat, and forget the candy canes--may all your grilled cheeses be wrapped in quesadillas.

Superfreaking Awesome (Chicago pt. 2, 9/28/11)

There's no easy way to write down a dream setlist, the Hanson fan's fantasy draft of songs. I could probably spend an hour with a pen and paper writing, crossing out, and rewriting without ever coming to a final conclusion. Instead, it might be easier to just sit back and point at this show. Maybe Asheville '08 is still my favorite, if only because I was a new enough fan at the time that I had never heard a lot of those songs--but this show ranks pretty darn close if not higher.


The Story

Okay, so I'm a bit biased because Underneath is my favorite album and this show was the night of the Underneath story. For anyone who doesn't already know, this means fan club members got to enter the venue early and listen to Hanson ramble on about everything from how the album was made to how much Zac loves Mexican food before the actual concert began. Beth and I waited in line all day and ended up in the front row right in front of Isaac, so we had a great spot to watch from.

The story was decently entertaining. The guys assumed correctly that most of us had already seen their documentary, Strong Enough to Break, so they tried to keep any duplicate information to a minimum. What we got instead was a lot of goofing off and a lot of Zac pretending he didn't know what was going on. Isaac ended up doing a Cookie Monster impression (I couldn't tell you why) that sounded a little off at the end, so he joked that it was really a Cookie Monster slash Yoda impression. He did it again and perfectly nailed what some split-personality version of Cookie Monster and Yoda might sound like. Just imagine in ten years when Isaac's had it with Hanson and you're taking your kid to see "Isaac and Friends: The Musical." There would be dancing puppets with gravelly accents. What? It could happen. I wonder if we'll all still fight over front row for that. There was some ninja talk and maybe something to do with Mexican ninjas, but that part is a bit foggy. If anyone remembers more and wants to leave it in the comments--feel free!

For the Q&A portion, someone asked a technical question about guitars that went over my head, and then someone asked how they juggle all the different responsibilities that go along with being a touring band and owning your own record label. They gave the generic "you do what you have to do" answer and commented that there isn't a lot of sleep involved, and sometimes the only person you can rely on to get something done is yourself. The next question that I remember was about the rumor that they won't be releasing any more full-length albums. Their answer was in line with what I've been thinking/saying all along--that nothing is set in stone, and that even if they decide to do something different with more frequent EPs, it doesn't mean they'll never do another full-length album. They're just not sure what they want their next project to be, and seem to be leaning towards trying something outside of the box. Isaac tried to ask the crowd what we thought about them possibly trying EPs versus albums, and Zac shushed him every step of the way. When Isaac finally got the question out, Zac said "Ugh! Now they're all going to think it's happening for sure!" He was half joking, but I think he really did want us to understand that nothing is set in stone.

Somewhere in all of this, Taylor told us about how they decide what projects to take on and tried to use the variable "X" to explain a hypothetical situation. To paraphrase, he said something like "One of us will say 'I think we should try this new idea'." Only what he actually said was "I think we should try X." Now I knew he meant X as a variable, but my brain is always looking for a joke, and boy did it find one in this particular wording. I'm about as straight-laced as they come--no drug or alcohol use here. But leave me to be the only fan to burst out laughing because all I can think of is that Taylor just inadvertently endorsed the use of Ecstasy to come up with new ideas for their music. An awkwardly silent second or two later, more fans started giggling as they caught on, and Taylor finally stopped to laugh and say that he was NOT talking about trying Ecstasy. I was still laughing too hard to really catch what he said, though.

ETA: A youtube video just reminded me that Isaac left the stage twice during the story. Naturally, when he came back, Zac asked if he had to go number two. Classic Zac.

The Show

The show itself was fantastic. Meiko was a great mix of this socially awkward facade with killer "F you" song writing skills. Word to the wise--don't make her mad. She just might write this catchy insulting song about you and look all adorable and naive while singing it, so you really can't be mad. I'm looking forward to seeing Charlie Mars at my other shows, but I'm a little sad that I won't be seeing any more of Meiko this tour.

Hanson's set had me from the beginning because it was mostly songs from Underneath, but the other wild cards they threw in went together really well. The only song that didn't really seem to fit to me was "Carry You There," but I like it well enough to let it go. Perhaps something from "The Walk" would have been better. "Thinking of You" and "Madeline" were some nice surprises, and I'm always open to watching Zac headbang like a crazy person during "Rock 'n' Roll Razorblade."

"Broken Angel" was this really personal moment during the show for both me and Beth. For me, it represents the whole reason I was there, the whole reason I've been anywhere for Hanson in the last four years. It's the song that I stumbled onto on youtube five years ago when I rediscovered Hanson, the one that gave me my first taste of wanting more. Hearing it live for the first time felt really special to me, and I know I stood there for at least half of the song with my eyes closed, just soaking it in and remembering that very first time. I'm not a very emotional person, but I started to feel that prickly tearful sensation that I've only ever felt one other time at a show.

...and then the girl behind me screamed as loud as she could and I turned around and gave her the best death glare I could come up with. She didn't scream again, but it was a complete buzz kill.

If you follow the Hanson world at all, you'll know that the big climax of the show happened when Hanson brought Meiko out on stage and covered "Superfreak." She did a great job giving the song this funky acoustic makeover, and then Isaac rapped a verse of "Can't Touch This" and everybody lost it. I've never been happier to be in the front row in front of Isaac than when that happened. He kept making these hilariously fitting facial expressions, and again I'm convinced he could do some kind of cartoon or puppet character if singing ever fell through.

Not my video, but whoever took it filmed Isaac at all the right moments:

The show ended with this ridiculous display of all three Hansons doing those clapping pushups. I'm impressed, guys, I really am. Because after a killer 23 song setlist (one ending in "Rock 'n' Roll Razorblade," nonetheless), I was ready to fall over and pass out of exhaustion. And then Taylor starts doing pushups with claps like he's still good to go. Has anyone considered the fact that they might be vampires? Because between that display of energy, their ability to "dazzle" just about anybody in the same building, and the fact that they don't seem to sleep, it's enough to have me convinced.

The night ended with a good-humored homeless man shaking a cup at us and doing a little jig while singing "If you're Hanson and you know it, spare some change!" I truthfully told him that all of my spare change had already gone to Hanson.

And We Won't Go Down (Chicago, pt 1, 9/27)

9/27

The first night was good. Beth and I managed to stand in a great spot in the balcony behind a roped off set of reserved seats, that, luckily enough, nobody ever showed up to claim. We got in place just in time to really watch Meiko's last song, "You and Onions Make Me Cry." I stood around for a few minutes after the set was over, then decided it was a good time for a bathroom break. By some phenomenon I've never experienced, Hanson was on stage before I got back to my spot. I suppose I'm used to standing and waiting for what feels like (and often is) hours , so this was just completely weird to me. We had a good view and plenty of room to dance, though I suspect anyone that could see us thought we were nuts during "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'."

A definite highlight of the show was when Isaac announced that they were going to play a song they had never played live before and dedicated it to his wife. I spent the entirety of the song feeling a mixture of enjoyment and confusion because I had no idea what the song was and whether it was a new Hanson song or some cover I wasn't familiar with. It had a bit of a country vibe to it, so we suspected cover. After it was over, Isaac explained that it was from a band called "Unamerican," which still didn't ring any bells (we found out later the song was called "Tonight's the First Night"). He nailed it, of course. Maybe it's due to the fact that his anniversary was so soon and his wife was there (as Taylor let slip before the song), but Isaac was really in his element for these shows.

"In the City" was another highlight. I've never cared much for the album version of this song, but give me a reason to jump and I'm all yours. Speaking of jumping...this song provided the single most terrifying moment I've ever experienced in my life. A few songs prior, a man with a cane had pushed into the reserved area in front of us and sat down. We weren't exactly happy, but security told him he could stay and it was near the end, so we moved over a little so Beth could still see and focused back on the show. We paid him little attention, but it's hard to completely forget the person suddenly blocking your view. All that I noticed was that he didn't visibly react to the music at all, simply sat there without moving while Beth and I put all of our remaining energy into keeping up with Taylor's jumping. And just at the climax of the song, at the very end when we finally stopped to catch our breath, I watched the weirdest thing happen. This guy leans over the balcony in front of him (which was at least a foot wide, like sitting at a bar), puts both his hands and head over, struggles to lift his left leg over, and simply lets go.

Watching this happen was absolutely terrifying. That final second of seeing his feet go over was awful, and I had no doubt in my mind at the time that he was committing suicide. I'm sure this was an overreaction in a tense moment, but I still can't think of much else that would send someone head first out of a balcony willingly without regard to the people below. I won't waste your time with speculations of why, and I think anyone that claims to know why is wasting your time too--this is simply what I saw and how my mind reacted to the scene in front of me. I had a split-second thought of trying to grab his feet and save him, but thankfully my mind managed to register that I would probably go over with him if I tried, so I stayed put.

While all this is happening, I'm getting tackled by a security guard trying to stop him. Maybe "tackled" is too strong of a word since I somehow stayed on my feet, but I definitely took a sharp elbow to the head and ended up with hair all in my face and crooked glasses from the blow. The guard took out the short section of rope in front of us and missed grabbing his feet by seconds. Then we all stood there completely flabbergasted with hands clasped over our open mouths and vaguely registered that Hanson was talking about it from the stage.

It was an awkward ending, and Hanson didn't come back out. I was so upset that people were chanting for an encore, but I suppose most had no clue what had happened and just wanted another song. I know from talking to others that night and the next day that no one had any serious injuries, which is a miracle. But I swear, every time I say I've seen the most epic thing possible at a show, something trumps it. If I ever see anything crazier than this, I'm out. Game over. It was fun while it lasted.

Chicago 10/11-10/12/09

This trip is probably the craziest thing I've ever attempted. These shows fell on my fall break and I had a lot of friends going, so it only seemed right to tag along. It gets complicated, though, because I'm from South Carolina and it's a LONG drive to Chicago. I drove 6 hrs to Knoxville to meet up with some friends to carpool. We left Sat. night to pick up another friend in the St. Louis area, which was about 7 hrs from Knoxville. From St. Louis, it was another 5 hrs to Chicago. After driving through the night and taking a bit longer than anticipated, we decided we desperately needed a shower but were not going to make it to Chicago in time to do it at our hotel. Instead, we experienced our first truck stop showers at a Love's on the way. It was $9 and they provided towels. All in all, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I always pictured a sort of high school gym shower setup for truckstops, but no, there are individual shower rooms with showers, toilets, mirrors, and sinks inside--very private. I can't say the idea of drying off with a towel that has been used by truckers was exactly appealing, but hey, you do what you have to do.

 We somehow managed to arrive in Chicago right at 10 min. before the walk, which was pretty much a miracle. I stuck around the back of the walk because that's just what I do, and though I rarely see a Hanson on the walks, for some reason Taylor was overly watchful this time. We kept catching all the red lights at the back, so Taylor kept running back to stop traffic with his megaphone, then sprinting back up closer to the front. No lie, he did it like 6 times. I felt like I had a personal trainer egging me on! It was nice in theory, but he kept standing in the way of oncoming traffic to "help" us cross the road in situations where we were really fine. I don't really know how to describe exactly what he was doing without a picture, so maybe this will help. Just notice us all safely herded in the crosswalk while Taylor haphazardly stands with his back to oncoming traffic.
At this point when I passed him, I called out "You know you're in more danger than we are right now, don't you?" And he responded through the megaphone "Yeah, I am....but I'm the loudest." Thankfully no traffic decided to challenge his lame claim to safety due to a measly megaphone.

My friends and I didn't really bother to get a good spot in line and just headed over a little before doors. We ended up with a pretty good spot where we could all stand together and see. I've got to say, writing this in retrospect after having seen 7 shows on this tour, I think the first Chicago show was the best. Maybe it was just being with a lot of high energy friends, but it was amazing. I heard A Song to Sing for the first time which was really exciting, and I don't even know how to describe how I felt when the guys from Cheap Trick came out and Hanson covered I Want You to Want me. Hands down best concert surprise ever! I think that's the only time I have ever let out an involuntary scream.

The next day most of my friends and I walked to the walk, which was 2 miles away at a college campus. It was actually pretty fun with about 8 of us walking around seeing the city, and it really wasn't as cold as I expected. The walk was good, though it didn't seem like a lot of the students on campus were interested. I did get to explain what we were doing to 2 or 3 people though, so it was good that people were voicing their curiosity at least. As we left the walk we took the best jumping picture ever; I'm still pretty excited about it (I'm in the pink).We decided to get in line immediately when we got back (after a group trip to a 7-11 for some Chicago style hotdogs), and though the walk stamps didn't seem to mean anything the day before, they actually let people with walk stamps into the pass the line line. They seem to really appreciate the effort people put into going to walks that aren't at the venue rather than sitting at the venue to save a spot in line, and we were rewarded for it. Most of us ended up with the same spot we were in the night before, which was exactly what we wanted, though a couple decided to brave 2ndish row. It was a lot of fun, and though it was probably my 14th time or so hearing MMMBop, it was the best time because we all danced and had a blast, and we made a five person "too much rock for one hand" symbol at the end. I don't think Hanson saw it, but it was a great idea nonetheless. I was a little surprised that the setlist was a little less amazing than the night before, but I had an awesome time anyway. There's something really special about seeing a show with good friends who enjoy the music in the same way you do.

The drive home was absolutely insane. We left around 5-6 AM, but we dawdled a lot. One of the things that slowed us down was a trip into Metropolis, IL. As a HUGE Smallville fan, I felt like an idiot to discover that Metropolis is, in fact, a REAL city. I had no idea. Of course we stopped to take pictures with the huge superman, and had a little Hanson nerdery (think "that's supa!") while we were there too.

Somehow we didn't end up in Knoxville until 2 AM the next morning, where I crashed and slept until 4 AM at a friend's house (thank you, friend! Seriously, I think you saved my life), then dragged myself back to my car for the 6 more hrs back to school. I parked my car at 10:45, which was lovely since I had a class at 11. I literally ran from my parking garage to my room to grab my books and then ran to class just in time. I hadn't slept or showered in over a day, but I made it. Sometimes you just need a little crazy in your life, and I definitely got my fair share this fall break.