Tour Memories (and occasional musings)

Members Only Show Setlist The Members Only Show set is probably the BTTI ‘theme’ that gets the most votes every year because, well, when else do you get to hear those songs? For 2019, the Members Only set would fall on the final show - a momentous but inevitably bittersweet culmination of the event. I had high expectations: I’d loved the String Theory show and earlier in the day, I’d seen Taylor perform the best solo set I’d seen in five years.   Technical problems crept up two songs into the set. On my phone pad, where I keep a note of the setlist, I’d jotted down ‘sound!!!’ next to “Best of Times” . Shame, because the Isaac lead from the 2013 Sound of Light EP has become a kind of unofficial BTTI anthem and it’s one of those special ‘island moments’ that I always look forward to. Four songs later, the guys came to the front of the stage for “On and On” , one of the most visually striking songs in Hanson’s repertoire, providing a rare opportunity to see the three...

Please note: this post was written before I saw a ‘real’ String Theory show with an orchestra. Click here for the full setlist. If you read my two part review of the String Theory double album , you’ll already know that I am not a huge fan of the recorded project, mostly because of the recycling of old vocals and a sense that the orchestral arrangement didn’t really add much to some of the songs. However, I was very excited about the live experience, so when Hanson announced a String Theory shows at BTTI, I knew I’d be in for a treat. As it was confirmed during the “What is String Theory?” Q&A that afternoon, there would be no orchestra at the show, but instead, the band would play to the instrumental version of the album. It was no big surprise - let’s face it, how feasible would it be to get an orchestra on that small stage on the beach? Sure, it wasn’t going to be the real thing, but it was still going to be an upgraded version of the album, and I was all for th...

Rock All Night  The first BTTI show always kicks off at 10:00 PM to allow enough time for those who fly in on the same day. I like late shows, but that night I was quite tired, after a day of sheltering from the rain under a gazebo. It had been raining relentlessly until early evening so my fingers had pruned up, and my hair was a frizzy mess. But it was a Rock All Night themed show, so I put on a black dress, tried to summon some energy from my soggy, pruned-up self and headed for the main beach. Hanson opened the show with an acapella version of “Back to the Island” , followed by “Fired Up” , which, with its instantly recognisable guitar intro, is a somewhat predictable but very fitting start to a concert with a rockier slant. “I’ve Got Soul” - followed, as it usually does on most Hanson setlists. So far, so rock’n’roll, for Hanson’s standards, anyway: let’s face it, they’re not exactly heavy . Another recognisable guitar riff introduced the I’ll-be-damned-i...