RGB Tour: Raleigh

Before

Confession: Raleigh was always a little bit of a "throwaway" show in my mind when I started making tour plans. There's no way I was going to miss it when it's the closest show to home, but it wasn't part of a multi-show trip and I didn't make plans to go with friends. I drove up Wednesday and drove back Thursday morning, and I knew in advance that there was no way I was going home feeling fulfilled with such a small dose of Hanson and an even smaller dose of friends. Thankfully, Raleigh was up to the challenge of proving me wrong.

Despite going alone, Raleigh is arguably "home turf" for me (or as home as I can get when Hanson hasn't played in my state in 13 years), so I knew I'd run into a lot of familiar faces from past southeast shows. I knew one person in line ahead of me and quickly made new friends with the rest. Everyone was so friendly and polite, and it was an overall great experience leading up to the show--the venue staff even brought us popsicles! Shoutout to every single one of you. Nobody ahead of me left for longer than a bathroom break or tried to squeeze in any latecoming friends. I'm going to need to copy and paste this line experience to all future shows, thanks.

When we finally got inside with the members line, I wound up front row almost directly in front of Isaac. John Calvin Abney was opening again, sans guitar malfunctions this time, but things went a little bit sideways in my part of the crowd right after he finished his set. I’m going to spare you some of the specifics, but the shorter version is I experienced a Hanson concert first in Raleigh that night: the person next to me in the front row threw up, and then it happened again as she was facing me trying to get out of the crowd, and I swear my life flashed before my eyes.

I came out mostly unscathed, but my involuntary reaction was to throw my hands over my face, turn my body, and bend over as far as I could to bury my face in the safety of the strangers behind me, some of whom seemed understandably concerned that I had turned to vomit on them myself. There was kind of a sitcom funny/not funny moment where I found myself shouting “I’m not a sympathetic vomiter!” trying to reassure them that my crazy movements had just been an involuntary reaction to get out of the way, not an indication that I was going down next. Thankfully there was no horrifying chain reaction (Problem Child 2, anyone?), and I have never been happier to be wearing a mask.

So what do you do when your hard-earned front row spot has just been compromised by vomit? We immediately called over security for help and were told that due to the location and the construction of the barricade, they wouldn’t be able to clean it up until after the show (the metal floor of the barricade was a grid of hollow metal squares raised an inch or two off of the wooden floor below if you want the mental image). They ended up throwing some of that industrial powdered cleaning stuff over the side of the barricade to take care of it the best that they could, but as they were walking away, we quickly realized a second issue. To put it as politely as I can, the inside of the barricade needed to be cleaned from the top to the bottom, not just the floor. We asked if they could please come back with wipes or something to keep us from being pushed into that spot of the barricade. Do you need this level of detail? No. But the venue’s response was too comically pathetic to leave out.

A different staff member finally came back wearing gloves and carrying—I kid you not—a single napkin. ONE NAPKIN. She reached her arm over to our side and cleaned what she could reach, but the barricade from about waist down still needed to be cleaned. We begged her to come back with more cleaning supplies, but her response was “I’m sorry, this is all I have.” I won't name names, but a brave soul in the 2nd row took one for the team and finally convinced the staff member to give up one of her gloves and the wimpy napkin so we could finish the job. Someone around us volunteered the rest of their water, and we did what had to be done (I say "we" in solidarity of the few of us in that bubble, but I deserve zero credit here). You are the true MVP and you earned front row more than any of the rest of us did that day. Thank you!

I do want to make it really clear that I have ZERO hard feelings for the person who got sick. She was super sweet, was not drunk, and did nothing wrong; I think the heat just got the best of her. The relative that got her out of the crowd and didn’t pressure her to stay or make her leave the crowd alone did exactly what you should do when someone you’re responsible for needs help. I’ve seen my share of selfish parents/guardians when it comes to a choice of taking care of your kid or losing out on your own good time. I’m glad to report I’ve heard that she is feeling better and both were still able to enjoy the show from elsewhere in the crowd. 

During

I don't know what it was about Raleigh in particular, but I really felt like the crowd had more energy than the other two shows I attended. Everyone around me was jumping and clapping and having a great time, and I know sometimes that comes with the territory of being in the front row and you simply don't have a view of the people around the room that are standing still, but even Nashville didn't seem this pumped from a comparable spot. Taylor commented on it too at one point, maybe before he killed us with a semi-acapella rendition of "Save Me." I could write it off as lip service, but I didn't hear a similar comment at Nashville or Atlanta, so I'm going to go with the band was feeling it too.

Raleigh was the first time I heard Taylor attempt this crowd sing-a-long version of Save Me, and while I vaguely heard something about it happening the night before in Birmingham, I didn't really understand until it was happening in front of me. He started the song standing at the front of the stage with just a microphone and a smile and invited us to join in, and then he had us carry the song without him for a bit. There were several shouts that took away from what the moment could have been, but I was pretty impressed with the crowd's ability to fill in the blanks of a song that was never actually a single and hit its prime in 2000. 

Zac switched up his solo and played "Good Days" from the 2020 members EP, and Isaac surprised me by scrapping song voting for that night and played "Deeper" instead. At one point in the show when Taylor gives his speech about how you could be anywhere else in the world tonight, but you chose to be here with your significant other, your friends, your family, etc., that night he chose to add in "stranger friends," which is a term I've never heard him use before but was perfectly fitting for my circumstances. I've made so many "stranger friends" at Hanson shows, and I'm thankful for them all, whether they last for a night or stick around for a decade and just become stranger and stranger. 😉

The encore got back a little bit of the "oomph" missing at my previous two shows, though I'm not sure "Get The Girl Back" is really encore material. It's upbeat and works well enough as part one of a two-part encore, though, so I was pleased. "Fired Up" as the final song left me really happy but also really missing my usual travel partner who understands the assignment of when to jump with me during the chorus. Apparently I can do the TBS dance without her, but jumping solo during "Fired Up" just felt too wrong. Turns out not jumping during it feels just as wrong to me, though, so we'll see what happens next time. Obviously the solution is just to bring her to everything, which she's usually on board with most of the time.

After

After the show was a super weird bus experience because it is the only time in my entire life that I have heard security ask people to leave and every last person actually listened on the first attempt. It was absolutely bizarre. There have been times when I've seen multiple police officers ask fans to move only to have an entire crowd play dumb and not budge an inch. Yet somehow, this one security guy at The Ritz calmly suggests it's time to go home once, and everyone's polite southerner gene kicks into high gear and sends them off with a smile and a wave. I was absolutely floored, annoyed that I had to give up my good spot at the barricade because I was not about to be the only person refusing to move, and determined enough to step back but not leave entirely. As soon as enough "new" people exited the building who hadn't heard the original warning to leave, people began going to the barricade again and I rejoined the crowd. This time Isaac and Zac came out and the same security guy was all smiles that we were there. Naturally. I think the best part was when Zac picked up a scooter to put it back on the bus and someone shouted "Do a trick!" He pressed a button that made it collapse into itself into a packable size and shouted back "There's your trick!" Before walking onto the bus.

Once Isaac and Zac were done greeting everyone, security started to tell us to leave again, and once again, every last person cleared the barricade immediately. I backed away thinking "Have we learned nothing here?" Security was a little more adamant this time, though, so most people actually left for good. I'm sure most were pleased to have gotten 2/3 of the band if not the whole trifecta, but the whole reason I was waiting was to get Taylor to sign my Ryman poster after Zac and Isaac had already signed in Atlanta, and this was my final opportunity to complete it without having to figure out how to pack it on a plane. I spent a few minutes talking to fans in the parking lot, and finally Taylor came out and met a very small group of maybe 20 of us. I got a quick conversation, a photo, and a signed poster, and no, I didn't feel all that bad for making the staff member who ghosted us during vomitgate stay a little bit longer into her night.

Takeaways:

1. When in Raleigh, it's important to have a Costco membership or a friend with a Costco membership.
2. Canned water is an abomination.
3. If Isaac takes mild offense to your suggestion that his solo voting system is rigged, understand that you may not be aware that your friend accused him of the exact same thing the night before.
4. Open-toed sandals in front row are risky footwear. 2/2 front rows this tour will agree that mistakes were made. If you see me in rain boots on a sunny day at a show in the future, mind ya business.
5. You're never truly alone at a Hanson show. ❤💚💙

MOE Tour: Raleigh

The MOE Tour did a decent job of breaking my new tradition of crying every time I hear "With You In Your Dreams." Most nights, I didn't. There's definitely some desensitization that comes from being exposed to the same song night after night, and I guess it was bound to happen naturally over time anyway. It makes me a different kind of sad to think that I might be getting over the effects of WYIYD, but rest assured, it hit me as hard as ever in Raleigh.

This is probably an overshare and hopefully not too sad for anyone reading, but it's what I'll remember when I look back on this show whether I write about it or not. I rarely have bad dreams. Crazy, illogical, saga-length WTF dreams? Absolutely. Regularly, even. But bad dreams? Almost never. I woke up from one of the few nightmares I've had in my life in the middle of the night before the Raleigh show. In the dream, my dad was back and everyone around me was acting like everything was fine and normal, but deep down, dream me knew it wasn't really him. I spent the whole dream being so frustrated that I was the only person that knew the truth, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make anyone understand that it wasn't really my dad. I woke up angry and upset that I couldn't even have a moment back with him in a dream, even for just a minute of fake happiness.

As you can imagine, when they played "With You In Your Dreams" later that night, I lost it. I spent the whole song sobbing in the front row in front of Isaac with my head tucked down into the barricade a lot of the time. I was glad to have my friends next to me, even if one of them was crying too and my poor other friend was stuck in the middle trying to console us both. It wasn't a pretty moment, but it serves as a decent testament to the power of music. Thank God for tissues, friends, and the restorative power of a good drum beat during "I Was Born" a few minutes later. Life goes on, and thankfully so do setlists.

Despite that moment, I really did enjoy the show. Raleigh had one of the higher energy crowds from that string of shows in my opinion, and every fan I encountered all day long was really nice and excited to be there. It was a good crowd with no pushing and plenty of jumping and clapping--all the right chemistry for a great night. Thanks, Raleigh show fans. You guys were awesome. Let's do it again some time.

It got even better when we went outside after the show to wait for the afterparty and found a taco truck parked right there in the parking lot. I threw caution to the wind and ignored the relatively shady appearance of the fading hand-painted letters and the man riding a giant angry jalapeño in favor of filling my empty stomach. Those street tacos were a delicious surprise, and when I ran into Zac later I started excitedly rambling about how they need to hire a taco truck to follow them on tour. Dear Hanson, if you're going to use any more of my suggestions in the future, please make it this one. #tacotrucktour

Raleigh 7/31/10

We arrived around 12:45 PM and I was #44 in line. Since we went all out for Asheville, we decided to take it easy in Raleigh and aim for a good spot in the balcony. I helped with the walk table again, and though the walk looked smaller to begin with, I think we ended up with more cards filled out than in Asheville. I also noticed a good bit of children on the walk, and it was so cute getting to stamp the hands of a pair of brothers who must have been around 4 and 5. I said "Hey, you guys are going to get some stamps. Would you like that?" They nodded shyly, but then shouted "Look, mom!" and showed them off as soon as I was done. So cute! I even stamped the hand of an infant asleep in her mother's arms.

Instead of the blistering heat from the day before, this walk had clouds and a little rain. It still seemed to be shorter than any I remember going on, but I forgot to check my watch this time.

Isaac was one of the first ones back from the walk, (I recall someone shouting "Isaac won!") and he came up to me and complimented me on my dance moves. I joked with him about how those dance moves were pretty nonexistant and told him I was slightly mortified, but he was really nice about it and I thanked him for having me up there anyway.

The line was dramatic again, but I tried not to worry about it since we were headed for the balcony anyway. It was a little nerve wracking because once again, they didn't open the box office or will call tickets until the same time doors opened. One friend had a will call ticket, and one had to purchase one.

Let me say that the Lincoln failed as a venue in my eyes. We were told different things by different people all day long regarding camera policies, the number system, and even box office times. When we got inside and my friend tried to buy a ticket (after waiting in line for ~6 hrs and being told the box office would open with doors), she was told "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure we have any left to sell." Really? How can they not be sure if they have tickets? I got pretty angry though my friend seemed pretty composed. I think I mentioned to the employee that it was completely unacceptable that we had been waiting in line for 6 hrs and had specifically asked about tickets, and no one told us it was sold out. Another employee tried to get her to just sell us the ticket and let us in (since we were clearly mad), but the first employee was adamant that they get permission first. She said something along the lines of "But we've oversold already!" Yikes! In the end, we all went inside without the one friend and saved her a spot. She was able to buy one from someone outside and get in just fine, but I'm beyond disappointed that the Lincoln would open the box office without knowing whether or not they had tickets. Completely incompetent!

We ended up with good spots at the front of the balcony as planned, and the show was great. It was indeed packed, and I'm glad I was upstairs rather than in the crowd. I was so tired at this point that I actually fell asleep sitting on my stool leaning against the railing between Rooney and Hanson's sets. Pitiful, right?

The setlist was great and the energy was great, but I think my tiredness and the epicness from the night before made it seem less amazing than it really was. They played a new cover for the first time called "Roll With It," and once again invited girl on stage to dance--this time with Robert from Rooney.

One song that got me excited that I had no idea would have such an effect on me was "Hey." I guess I got so used to hearing it in 2007/2008 that it turned into a staple, and I didn't realize when it was gone. I definitely noticed its presence, though, and it really stood out to me for some reason. We also got "A Minute Without You," "If Only," and "Lost Without Each Other," the three songs that I could hear over and over and over and be happy. LWEO was made to be an encore song and it always ends a show on the perfect note for me.

Afterwards, we went out to the busses because I wanted to get a picture with Taylor since it was my last show. Somehow, it just seemed right that I get a picture and a chance to talk to him after the whole crazy dancing thing.

It rained and we got split up and I seriously considered giving up and going to the car--especially since my umbrella was inside it. Unfortunately, I realized I gave my keys to friends who had to walk several blocks, so my options were pretty limited after that.

Isaac came out first, and a few friends and I got a group picture with him. He was pretty talkative and extremely nice to all of us. Points for Isaac!

It started raining a little harder and my keys were still MIA, so we all huddled under a tree to keep the rain off a little. I also met a really nice fan who hadn't been to a show in years that shared her umbrella with me. I don't rememer her name or have any way to contact her, but whoever you are, thanks!

Taylor finally came out and announced that Zac wasn't feeling well, but he took the time to sign autographs and take pictures. My friends and I got a group picture and I got an individual picture as well since I didn't have any. We talked a little about the whole dance idea and I asked if it was something he was going to start doing regularly. He grinned and was cryptic and said you could never really tell.

We finally left after he moved on, and as exhausted as we were, we went in search of a hotel. We turned down two due to the price, but finally found one that was pretty cheap. Strangely enough, as we checked in (around 2:30 AM), a few guys standing on the balcony asked us what brought us here. We told them Hanson, and one of the guys told us he was good friends with one of Hanson's good friends (Shannon Curfman), and he said he had been offered the opportunity to play bass for Hanson 9 yrs ago but had declined. He joked about how if he had taken them up on the offer, he wouldn't be staying in a motel like that now. No kidding! Small world, though.

Inside the room was grosser than the streets I've slept on for Hanson, I'm not even kidding. There were scuff marks on the walls, it smelled bad, and the comforter on the bed felt a little damp to touch. We quickly decided we'd be sleeping on top of the beds in our sleeping bags, and joked that we'd rather be back at The Orange Peel.

As tired as I was, I was even dirtier, so I opted to take a quick shower. I took off all my clothes, jumped in, pulled the curtain shut, and promptly screamed and jumped back out. The largest roach I have ever seen in my entire life--and I live in Charleston--was staring down at me from the top of the curtain. I swear it was about half the size of my open hand, and I'm not exaggerating at all.

We packed up all our things and packed them back up, and when I "demanded" a refund, the clerk didn't so much as ask any further questions. She obviously knew how gross it was.

We ended up at a Wyndham for a higher price, but that's probably the best sleep I've ever had in my life and the beds were great. I'll definitely keep that chain in mind for future Hanson trips. :)