The Shows
Welcome Show
The first show opened, as it is tradition now, with ‘Back to the Island’ and carried on with a really fun mix of covers and Hanson songs. Highlights among the covers for me were ‘Island in the Sun’ by Weezer, a Bob Marley ‘Three Little Birds/Stir it Up’ medley and an unexpected appearance of ‘Kokomo’ - finally a Beach Boys cover! The rest was a mix of Hanson classics and oldies, and although I could live perfectly happily forever without watching another performance of ‘Where’s the Love’, old gems like ‘Been There Before’ and ‘Can’t Stop’ amply made up for it. The latter, in particular, has a special place in my heart because it was the opener at the first show in Cancun in 2015. Still a relatively new fan back then, with only the Anthem Tour (2013) behind me, I have this really vivid memory of being there for the first time, my heart suddenly sounding like a pneumatic drill in my ribcage as the guys walked on stage.
Every single time you stop my heart /You're the thing that brings me back…
Second Show
The show opened with ‘Dream Girl’, one of those ‘rare’ songs that fans always hope to hear live. A quick check of Hansonstage shows that this ‘Underneath’ era-song has only been performed live 15 times, including this year and Taylor’s solo set at BTTI 2020. I was there for 2/15 - not bad for fan/geek statistics.
‘Dream Girl’ is one of those songs of which I really like the music, with its U2-like guitar crescendo. I wish the lyrics were updated, as I’m not a teenage boy in love with some ethereal, princess-like creature, and I feel a bit ridiculous singing along to it but it was still really cool to hear it.
The setlist carried on with some rarely played songs and deep cuts, of which my favourite were ‘Somebody That Wants to Love You’ - a song that instantly takes me to Hanson Day 2016, which, again, was my first. Finally we got a full band performance of “Grace Unknown”, which Isaac could not remember playing at previous BTTIs (yes, Isaac, you did, twice, but let’s not count the first time because, let’s not).
A rendition of ‘Broken Angel’ featuring vocals by Isaac and Taylor with Zac at the piano was beautiful, and so was ‘World Goes Around’ - one of Zac’s most underrated gems from the RGB album. The setlist then took a turn for the more familiar, with BTTI classics like “Dance Like You Don’t Care” - at which point I went to find some friends at the back and gatecrashed their party because sometimes, as that Whitney song goes, you just wanna dance with somebody.
Final Show
We found out when Hanson came on stage that the show was going to be a ‘Rock all Night’ theme. ‘Rock’ in Hanson terms is a relative concept and their opening song, ‘Dancing in the Wind’ is not exactly going to make you headbang, but I was very glad to hear it live again (Hansonstage says I’ve only heard it once, at Hanson Day 2019). Other highlights for me were ‘Oh La La’ (another from the Loud/Play golden era) and ‘Rollercoaster Love’ because the ‘Sound of Light’ EP is still my absolute favourite. The entire set was on point though, with ‘Cold As Ice’ performed like Isaac did during the RBG tour, complete with introducing the band and a hilarious jump scare that caught the guitar tech by surprise. The last three songs were performed with AMMM - and although their combined energy is not what I call Hanson energy, most people loved it and the night ended on a high note.
The Solo Sets
Zac
Zac always goes first and this year was no exception. Highlights for me were ‘The Weight of Emotions’, ‘Good Days’ - which apparently he wrote during the pandemic, and my absolute favourite Zac song of recent years, ‘That Place Where You Come From’ from last year’s members EP ‘Ambient’. What’s the opposite of highlights? Whatever you call it, I literally zoned out during ‘Juliet’ and as the next song was already under way, I had to ask my friend to fill me in because I had NO recollection of hearing it. I might have been abducted by aliens for the whole duration of the song, or maybe I have by now heard it so many times that my brain shuts down and takes me to a better place where ‘Angel of Death’ counteracts the effect of yet another ‘Juliet hands wave’ on my poor, old, jaded soul.
The antidote:
Isaac
Despite the earlier and extremely unpopular time of 4 PM for the solo sets, both Isaac and Taylor were late. Isaac was over half an hour late, by which point I was truly wilting under the relentless Jamaican sun. Once Isaac got on stage and opened with ‘Ordinary Words’, however, I was quick to forgive him: damn, that man can be charming. A guitar string snapped within seconds of starting the song, and instead of getting annoyed or flustered, he laughed it off in such an endearing way that I could feel my credit card sprout wings again.
The main highlight for me was ‘Mother of Exiles’ - a song co-written with Stephen Kellogg and news of which I had been chasing since its first mention by SK on Twitter in 2021. Later that year, during a virtual M&G with SK himself, I asked him if we were going to hear that song any time soon. ‘I hope so’, SK said. During the 2022 RGB tour I was Fanclub Reporter, so I asked Isaac, who explained that the song was a Covid-era song, and wasn’t quite ready yet. Fast forward to another year to the Busted/Hanson tour and during a late night ‘waiting by the buses’ chat in Glasgow, Isaac suddenly chose to serenade us with a few bars from that very song. I am embarrassed to admit that I squealed with excitement, which in turn reminded Isaac of the conversation we’d had the year before.
So now you’ll understand why, when I finally got to hear the song in full, despite the blinding sun and a newly found ability to sweat from one's internal organs, the music nerd in me was finally able to find some peace.
‘Mother of Exiles’? Check.
(Video of 'Mother of Exiles' credit to Jill Marsillett)
Taylor
I had a better spot for Taylor’s set, i.e not in direct sunlight, which meant that I was able to enjoy it more instead of worrying about dropping dead from heat exhaustion.
The appearances of an oldie - ‘Wasting Time’ and ‘I am probably never going to play this live’ - ‘Semi Hollow’ will no doubt be most people’s highlights for this set, but for me, it was all about the performance. Taylor introduced ‘With You In Your Dreams’ dedicating it to a friend who had recently lost a child, which made it all the more poignant as many of us knew who he was referring to. By the end of the song, I don’t think there was a single dry eye in the audience. Near the end of the set, he got us to sing along to the subtle chorus of ‘We Belong Together’ - it was beautiful, although it’s a shame that a lot of people in the audience didn’t seem to know the song. The set closed with ‘Every Word I Say’, which is always a winner in my book as it was one of my ‘gateway’ songs to Hanson, shared with me by a friend keen on showing me that there was more to the band than ‘Mmmbop’. I think it’s fair to say that she did a good job.
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