tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78930289469560856682024-02-19T02:59:06.180-08:00Tour Memories (and occasional musings)asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-48504594488113341382024-01-21T09:00:00.000-08:002024-01-21T09:11:58.297-08:00BTTI 2024 Part 3: Highlights and Controversial Opinions<p>I’d booked my 8th BTTI on the wake of the 2023 event, which had been my 7th after a two-year break during the pandemic. 2023 was a really good one, the setlists were great, the band was in top form and I was glad to be back at the Jewel, the resort that had hosted us in 2016 and 2017. Would 2024 be even better?</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Controversial Opinion #1</h3><p>The main difference from 2023 was an overspill of around 80 extra guests in another resort who would be bussed in an hour before the first show of the day. Now, 80 bodies might not seem many, but in a small resort like the Jewel I found it to be really noticeable at show time. In addition to that, the section of beach behind the seated ADA area had been designed as a general seated area, with row upon row of chairs, ‘Isaac side’. That made the standing, ‘GA’ area of the beach a lot narrower. While in previous years you used to be able to rock up to the stage shortly before start time and still get a good view from the sides, that was no longer possible, unless you wanted to sit down for the whole show. On the other side of the beach, also known as ‘Taylor side’, you could barely move for the discarded sun loungers that people had been using to stage sit. What happened to just using good old towels?</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Controversial Opinion #2</h3><p>I found this year’s overall vibe way less chill than in past years. The crowd was also different, with a lot more husbands/boyfriends in the audience, some of whom fit right in. I made friends with a couple of such specimens, who were not only supportive of their wives/girlfriends but also friendly to everybody else in a really cool, nice way. </p><p>However, some of the other guys seemed to have been dragged there by force. I saw many just stand there during the shows, pint-in-hand and a look of existential dread. There was way more drink-fuelled rowdiness than in previous years, especially during Family Feud. The vibe was more sports bar than Hanson event.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ06Sj_OhMnBoINXmRGimQtDyOqX526f1Xb5Xq39c3Q6jbXJ1cp1Lx8xwE_QmyvoW41ftWGJWy08KyRpXcWJjDPa_b7H7rwnDYIyLoY-Yx-6qdXidX6tK9Dc0lXfg4zXioLK2uLeMwY5nEmy4bOgfX-qyXV-dJTKxk28qKnMpaJl6haz1MEgdgVA38aQ/s697/Munch.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ06Sj_OhMnBoINXmRGimQtDyOqX526f1Xb5Xq39c3Q6jbXJ1cp1Lx8xwE_QmyvoW41ftWGJWy08KyRpXcWJjDPa_b7H7rwnDYIyLoY-Yx-6qdXidX6tK9Dc0lXfg4zXioLK2uLeMwY5nEmy4bOgfX-qyXV-dJTKxk28qKnMpaJl6haz1MEgdgVA38aQ/s320/Munch.jpeg" width="248" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Existential dread in 'Anxiety' by Edvard Munch</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Controversial Opinion #3</h3><p>Go and sharpen your pitchforks now, because I am about to reveal to the world that I don’t see the fuss about Allen Mack Myers Moore. Aside from their individual bands, in their current incarnation they’re a very middle-of-the-road, Americana-lite pub band. They certainly rescued the party-less, otherwise damp squid of Night 4 at BTTI 2023 with their impromptu beach bonfire set, but this year’s encore on the first night of the event had lost much of its magic precisely because it was planned and, well, it was not the last night. The main highlight for me was seeing Taylor watch the set from inside the sound tent, and joining the band at one point for a cover of ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’.</p><p>Hanson fans (of which, admittedly, I am one) are a strange breed, and when they latch on to a Hanson-adjacent act, they do not let go - ever. As a result, I fear that BTTI will now become a ‘Hanson and AMMM’ event for good. Personally, I’d much rather have another Hanson show - maybe an acoustic set, or a capella - anything but another band of white dudes playing the equivalent of a Spotify “Americana on the beach” playlist. And if we really must have another act on the island, why not have a local Jamaican band or artist - something that happened the one time I was not there, during the Covid-era BTTI 2022?</p><p><i>Taylor joining MMM for 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody'</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xFptyD04Je8" width="320" youtube-src-id="xFptyD04Je8"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Highlights</h3><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Wildlife</h4><p>My friend P. and I spent a delightful couple of hours watching a hermit crab reorganise his den. Or maybe we could say that he was watching us watching him? Either way, Kermit, as we had named him, is my favourite memory of this BTTI. </p><p>Observed a new (to me) species? Check.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iUDXoVlDYDk" width="320" youtube-src-id="iUDXoVlDYDk"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The M&G</h4><p>My colour scheme for this year was gold, and gold was the dress I’d chosen for my picture with the band.</p><p>‘I like your dress’ Isaac said, after the picture was taken.</p><p>‘Thank you’, I said. ‘My husband said I look like C-3PO’.</p><p>Isaac burst into laughter.</p><p>“I hope that’s a compliment?” Either Isaac or Zac asked.</p><p>“Not really”, I said. “He hates Star Wars”.</p><p>Assorted Hanson brothers laughed again.</p><p>Making a Hanson laugh? Check.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPI3aCUjb2pzR9tQs5QiaeSKXr8S0yFyt4HrLnZt58py0AclJ26DphlWHbCzzGxejBUiq4qTivpSpRvQ7B0hzpmCUX35vJCV_l2wOw8hCaXebxjxvhi34m8jg3ZwNgkfinzSQCWo2zduyV2EVxvUUp8B0-xYmuA2kxt1IU5m1hehGmiIBSAKC7FPRB22A/s970/EDB196B5-2831-4451-AFD4-AFE88BAC1435.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="970" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPI3aCUjb2pzR9tQs5QiaeSKXr8S0yFyt4HrLnZt58py0AclJ26DphlWHbCzzGxejBUiq4qTivpSpRvQ7B0hzpmCUX35vJCV_l2wOw8hCaXebxjxvhi34m8jg3ZwNgkfinzSQCWo2zduyV2EVxvUUp8B0-xYmuA2kxt1IU5m1hehGmiIBSAKC7FPRB22A/s320/EDB196B5-2831-4451-AFD4-AFE88BAC1435.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unofficial Picture<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxaM6MSUHronwOo-fPBw9Vq4sarm9xd46yyAZLJ15gNE9EFi-bgz_P1rWZMNJDsWziW5TFRPifSVCwm2dO5zg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The one where I made Isaac laugh</div><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Friends</h4><p>This is a predictable one but BTTI is half about Hanson and half about seeing the friends I’ve made over the years and this year was no exception. What made it even extra special this time was to reconnect with some of the Jamaican staff that I had got to know last year: Evette, Witney, Teeka and Sophia, all of whom hugged me and made me feel like an old friend. Like in previous years, I really enjoyed chatting with the staff, from the breakfast staff to the coffee kiosk. I’m an incorrigible extrovert and I can extract a conversation from a mineral if I set my mind to it, and by the end, even the surly girl at the smoothie bar had defrosted. Making some human connections and hopefully making the world a better, friendlier place? Check.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Conclusions</h4><p>The shows were 10/10, the resort was fine, I was there with good friends. So why did BTTI 2024 feel a bit lacklustre compared to other years? Maybe it’s because it had started so badly for me: it’s bad enough to have to travel on New Year’s Day, but when your body is itching all over, the last thing you want to do is fly to Jamaica. The noticeably less intimate vibe had also something to do with it: the bigger crowd at show times created what my friend C. defined as a ‘tour energy’. Most likely, it was a combination of all of the above, and just the fact that, after eight times, things are feeling decidedly samey. </p><p>Don’t get me wrong, I will go Back to the Island again. But I think that Year 9 bathrobe will have to wait until 2026. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2hdAyjCydhUqCmL7TFtKe5_XX7Rh77es5W8vHjycXMEB9u2RfFdC66Tv3LE7AVztgTxPhovJTjmmGAbgjozMW2G88MmgFm1STy1cKM4AdLpzxUBXCTYgzFcrKZZkSGNlP9yBf5FGZI4HXb7Yv75Zy8aLqccrFa_T6iQo7w2qxqdVr7-HGR5yc1Izn3A/s5712/IMG_7202.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5712" data-original-width="4284" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2hdAyjCydhUqCmL7TFtKe5_XX7Rh77es5W8vHjycXMEB9u2RfFdC66Tv3LE7AVztgTxPhovJTjmmGAbgjozMW2G88MmgFm1STy1cKM4AdLpzxUBXCTYgzFcrKZZkSGNlP9yBf5FGZI4HXb7Yv75Zy8aLqccrFa_T6iQo7w2qxqdVr7-HGR5yc1Izn3A/s320/IMG_7202.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year 8 Merch</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Back to the Island is an event run by <a href="https://hanson.net/home">Hanson</a> and <a href="https://www.islandgigs.com/">Island Gigs</a>.</p>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-72854086334276284722024-01-21T08:34:00.000-08:002024-01-22T00:53:00.421-08:00BTTI 2024: The Shows<h2 style="text-align: left;">The Shows</h2><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETHDhZACVf1Lz5P-2mYMyi2Fh27yU_KXygHfcfKUnaixtsf1gfCsjmeajbW8MwtbwA4EwpMYtddUYZMpmWOOI18_8_o0JRFZON407wyzHKaIrsA9KWOCWDAGRxk9gzPdnildxGLquWwxOUAdjzvmIhh-eT9pL57w7_L8AIk-sxBlVnQrZ-Lf7VH1SX5c/s4032/IMG_6767.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETHDhZACVf1Lz5P-2mYMyi2Fh27yU_KXygHfcfKUnaixtsf1gfCsjmeajbW8MwtbwA4EwpMYtddUYZMpmWOOI18_8_o0JRFZON407wyzHKaIrsA9KWOCWDAGRxk9gzPdnildxGLquWwxOUAdjzvmIhh-eT9pL57w7_L8AIk-sxBlVnQrZ-Lf7VH1SX5c/w400-h300/IMG_6767.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Welcome Show</h3><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid037FRgPUVGDBaHbKDpEiHYRhZmjG7D4ueRNJinBdY5X8ckJydyUohSHLkGoLRwHRZRl" target="_blank">Setlist</a></div><p>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.</p><p><i>Every single time you stop my heart /You're the thing that brings me back…</i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Second Show</h3><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid0z5fVX97RLcntua6kZNc6y1mL1RYB8YAjSfzduwRegeP4SXd1vvHUEZprkPuYKpaFl" target="_blank">Setlist</a></div><p>The show opened with ‘Dream Girl’, one of those ‘rare’ songs that fans always hope to hear live. A quick check of <a href="https://www.hansonstage.com/lyrics/lyrics.php?song_id=216" target="_blank">Hansonstage</a> 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.</p><p>‘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. </p><p>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 <a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-solo-sets.html ">let’s not count the first time </a>because, let’s not).</p><p>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, <i>you just wanna dance with somebody</i>.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Final Show</h3><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid02ATANWkKYfUq5UDidThjXQfiys3Qh6n26gs4hxuxu95F2APpLhtFVaPRQcGDfiLbl" target="_blank">Setlist</a></div><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Solo Sets</h2><h3 style="text-align: left;">Zac</h3><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid0H8fwfitc5rJfeqHkpqB8STnFzb6i1D2nJ8mG15moERYKSmg6VbohB6nkDgBYxVWHl" target="_blank">Setlist</a></div><p>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.</p><p>The antidote:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9VebUUenm_Y" width="320" youtube-src-id="9VebUUenm_Y"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Isaac </h3><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid0GMTbBpRujzvYrVMogE6oikXQMQ8Kua9JnLAwmxhxx7itSKoKUbvosS1osCbxZ4Fzl" target="_blank">Setlist</a></div><p>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. </p><p>The main highlight for me was ‘Mother of Exiles’ - a song co-written with <a href="https://www.stephenkellogg.com/">Stephen Kellogg</a> 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. </p><p>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. </p><p>‘Mother of Exiles’? Check.</p><p><i>(Video of 'Mother of Exiles' credit to Jill Marsillett)</i><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/prZRxaJPtjc" width="320" youtube-src-id="prZRxaJPtjc"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Taylor</h3><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid02W9y7g9jmFuXgxCArbQJhVFUeegQFbZcdLNB9JhinoGbdBku9j7GmZpPyKkPFCyprl" target="_blank">Setlist</a></div><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphenmyx_mklnQVFRv-3pN7ad1z9sFZuRpInVdIc1ovvc9z-ZslRIGX6jgiEnDDxWJxjP9Rqsb6wiBcZeUpTadqjOMLZtD12wzWo1bulskkTmKucmpSRNraGTJsBrunbVgxikr9fS_TqMTSHqByvgEfkRAOQgOWbhmq3fGXn7bGIQ6xn8LUkkRt_xTRMfRY/s3520/IMG_7026.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3520" data-original-width="1980" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphenmyx_mklnQVFRv-3pN7ad1z9sFZuRpInVdIc1ovvc9z-ZslRIGX6jgiEnDDxWJxjP9Rqsb6wiBcZeUpTadqjOMLZtD12wzWo1bulskkTmKucmpSRNraGTJsBrunbVgxikr9fS_TqMTSHqByvgEfkRAOQgOWbhmq3fGXn7bGIQ6xn8LUkkRt_xTRMfRY/s320/IMG_7026.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2024/01/btti-2024-part-3-highlights-and.html">Click here for Part 3</a></i></h4><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-64273205818274553012024-01-21T08:13:00.000-08:002024-01-21T09:46:59.155-08:00The One Where I Nearly Didn’t Get On The Plane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTe7SdhglKIudFvkK9w-DU7SHHzvICl4C61Wm2AIHXSnCTTpiBSmKGh0juG1Ue7I0fTtilroJLV0r-vFsAB1-4qjLOm8SwygiP2y6QAmNc5R6h6s8XT4qP7Lu3QeI4V1dNx34Y6bcd7Bs68I6Ov8ENoqQJv156IUSVd-pH7Ac4QeDsDFdNjv0_4n9ezYg/s5712/IMG_6722.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4284" data-original-width="5712" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTe7SdhglKIudFvkK9w-DU7SHHzvICl4C61Wm2AIHXSnCTTpiBSmKGh0juG1Ue7I0fTtilroJLV0r-vFsAB1-4qjLOm8SwygiP2y6QAmNc5R6h6s8XT4qP7Lu3QeI4V1dNx34Y6bcd7Bs68I6Ov8ENoqQJv156IUSVd-pH7Ac4QeDsDFdNjv0_4n9ezYg/w400-h300/IMG_6722.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>It was the afternoon before I was due to fly to London Heathrow, where I had a hotel booked near Terminal 3 so that I could catch my 8:00 AM Virgin Atlantic flight to Montego Bay the next morning. I was finishing my packing when I noticed that my neck was itching. By dinner time I had fully broken out in hives.</p><p>It got progressively worse through the night. By the time I got up at 6:00 AM, I was shaking all over from the heat on my skin against the cold of the morning.</p><p>Despite dosing up on all the antihistamine tablets I could find, by the time I was at the Premier Inn at T3 I was not only feeling terrible, but panic was setting in. That night I phoned my husband, who pleaded with me not to go. Meanwhile, my sister was kicking herself because on my last visit to Italy only a couple of weeks before, she had given me a supply of essential medicines, including antibiotics to take to Jamaica, but no cortisone tablets, which she had in the house and which would have almost certainly cleared the hives very quickly.</p><p>I considered my options, which were pretty grim on a New Year’s Eve Sunday evening, when the only chance to see a doctor would have been a trip to A&E. Should I call my travel insurance and see if I should start a claim? By that point the hives were clearing on one part of my body only to move to the next available bit of real estate. I was itching like hell and freaking out because Jamaica is the last place you want to find yourself in if you need medical care.</p><p>It was almost 11 PM when my friend H, who was flying with me the next day, phoned me. In her other-wordly calm, reassuring voice, she talked me off the proverbial ledge. She said she just knew that I would be ok, but she would pack some extra long sleeve clothing for me so that I could cover up. ‘But I’m three times the size of you’, I protested. ‘They’re stretchy’, H said.</p><p>And so I got on the plane the next day. Let me tell you, a 10-hour flight is torture when the inside of your feet and ankles itch like hell. Unsurprisingly, I got very little sleep - and I’m the kind of person who is out the moment they fasten the seat belt. </p><p>I landed in Jamaica still itching and with a basic plan of going to see the resort nurse the next morning. But miracles do happen and by the next morning, I had a feeling that the worst had passed, and, as H. had predicted, the hives gradually cleared, leaving me with large purple bruises on my shins. ‘You can cover those up with make-up’, H said, exultantly. </p><p>No make-up was needed in the end - by Pictures Day my legs looked almost normal. </p><p>I learnt a few lessons from the experience:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Always keep a supply of cortisone tablets.</li><li>Never again travel over New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day.</li><li>Travel with a friend like H.</li></ol><p></p><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRNlTB_u_da4__D1gnr49OYcj_7ULaM0u668UYmyI40Z0fi2cYm9aDsR1R1urWPR2HZvjqmjLm8UouH7W6_kOtarXI76nUwoLn7N-HCPCBieGZRjQhCeTnWGePBmCD3u0cs_e3czNDv_PyXorueYZ-wdZEE02uugq_UsgmR-7EPXHI-rLbAcAmKd-oiE/s3840/A242194F-B858-47FF-A263-EFE0834591BE.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="2160" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRNlTB_u_da4__D1gnr49OYcj_7ULaM0u668UYmyI40Z0fi2cYm9aDsR1R1urWPR2HZvjqmjLm8UouH7W6_kOtarXI76nUwoLn7N-HCPCBieGZRjQhCeTnWGePBmCD3u0cs_e3czNDv_PyXorueYZ-wdZEE02uugq_UsgmR-7EPXHI-rLbAcAmKd-oiE/w113-h200/A242194F-B858-47FF-A263-EFE0834591BE.jpg" width="113" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Before flying to London</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhTUor2in0Qufs9WWTe1nRpArxV-NM3FMRbXYVVHpzDzmSHyzfG0fI1GrqKuMETaROzq-K_mi9N5uKpjqwWswf9BMaIsDii9oATsl5yEn6iyWddv2L2KxmK-wKgByF78gZLbh8iHIw3IOgtQ2AaFiHxkvS3EcNCNF2XNtc_bNRbAfJM1iI2gMTWGK5qQ/s4032/IMG_6656.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhTUor2in0Qufs9WWTe1nRpArxV-NM3FMRbXYVVHpzDzmSHyzfG0fI1GrqKuMETaROzq-K_mi9N5uKpjqwWswf9BMaIsDii9oATsl5yEn6iyWddv2L2KxmK-wKgByF78gZLbh8iHIw3IOgtQ2AaFiHxkvS3EcNCNF2XNtc_bNRbAfJM1iI2gMTWGK5qQ/w150-h200/IMG_6656.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The night before Jamaica</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeo_uywHurVbhgtNpWqxeijWYN-M90uFiV6SKpzNisC53JD26z3sOJMpGE6cMxx2SyUuQ3vePC4OapFODu4v09q_Wi4AHWcNSzebedTar6N-gJHKmRsBsLOESWW5-DAGZXA2K1733CtLeEAUlKfFG4f4-OHl4cT8mJTd6XsB1ZFPanR_2P8t-jlY7Mgs/s4032/IMG_6683.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeo_uywHurVbhgtNpWqxeijWYN-M90uFiV6SKpzNisC53JD26z3sOJMpGE6cMxx2SyUuQ3vePC4OapFODu4v09q_Wi4AHWcNSzebedTar6N-gJHKmRsBsLOESWW5-DAGZXA2K1733CtLeEAUlKfFG4f4-OHl4cT8mJTd6XsB1ZFPanR_2P8t-jlY7Mgs/w150-h200/IMG_6683.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">On the mend</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2024/01/btti-2024-shows.html">Click here for Part 2 - The Shows</a></i></b></div>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-18969608179775762862023-01-27T07:53:00.016-08:002023-01-27T11:08:02.371-08:00Sound Like Joy: Back to the Island 2023<div style="text-align: left;">I Got to Go Back to the Island</div><p>I was last on the island in 2020 - it was my sixth stint as an ‘islander’ and my fifth time in Jamaica. You can see where this is going: a few weeks after we got home, the Covid pandemic hit and travelling became a distant dream. </p><p>Before Covid was even a thing, though, I was all set for skipping 2021: as I wrote in <a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-post-i-almost-didnt-post-btti-2020.html" target="_blank">this blog post</a>, BTTI 2020 had left me a little cold. I found the resort run down, the activities uninspiring and the concerts phoned-in. Little did I know that in less than a month, the whole world was going to shut down for a long, long time.</p><p>Even when things began to reopen and BTTI 2022 was announced, I still found travel too daunting, and seeing pictures of people wearing masks at the resort stopped any possible FOMO in its tracks.</p><p>I let the presale for 2023 come and go and focused instead on planning for Hanson’s extensive UK tour that summer. It was there, whilst doing what Hanson fans do best, i.e. sitting outside a venue, that I found out that a friend from Germany, Sophia, had a spot available on her booking. </p><p>You know when stars align? </p><div style="text-align: left;">Goodbye, money, hello, Jamaica.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1Y1i_nuOUT7UcqSTQIsP3jFG8MRzbXjE8Rbm4lqgvZ-O4R3iZfKNsZ7u-y6H8ss1J1mKWpfX7ECRGqAfnA4q246OPyvofrHfw03DFX12-kqjOHhU0AXQILKu4vSkyPtA1s23xv591kh5a8W37s3B29cQc0ZTEe-6aLVQ2vfHEbvSycOdx77QZGSQ/s2138/3880F48C-DB35-47A2-B5F5-92ECA86C5488.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2054" data-original-width="2138" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1Y1i_nuOUT7UcqSTQIsP3jFG8MRzbXjE8Rbm4lqgvZ-O4R3iZfKNsZ7u-y6H8ss1J1mKWpfX7ECRGqAfnA4q246OPyvofrHfw03DFX12-kqjOHhU0AXQILKu4vSkyPtA1s23xv591kh5a8W37s3B29cQc0ZTEe-6aLVQ2vfHEbvSycOdx77QZGSQ/w320-h307/3880F48C-DB35-47A2-B5F5-92ECA86C5488.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sitting at home over the friendly skies</b></span></p><div>Unfortunately, after three years of being more or less grounded within the confines of the British Isles, I had lost my travel mojo. Once the master of complicated itineraries and packing spreadsheets, I now suffered from a major mental block that extended to searching ‘Montego Bay’ on Kayak. </div><div><br /></div><div>Enter Andie, aka 'the Golden Cougar': a fan from Yorkshire and admin of the Facebook group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/686491485247261" target="_blank">Hanson Love</a>. When I found out that she had booked flights, I asked her if she could share her itinerary. Copy and paste, et voila - I was on the same flight. What did I say about stars aligning? </div><div><br /></div><div>It was a cold and grey New Year’s Day when I boarded a BA flight from Glasgow, with a hastily assembled beach wardrobe of Amazon’s finest and a migraine. Andie emerged from T5 Arrivals soon after, and after exchanging Happy New Year wishes, the conversation quickly turned to our travel plans: our Virgin Atlantic flight to Jamaica was at 8:00 AM the next morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I think we might need to get to Terminal 3 before 6:00 tomorrow,” I said hesitantly. My military campaign travel style is not for everyone and I had no idea how my new travel buddy would feel about getting up at the crack of dawn.</div><div>“Oh I was thinking of getting there at least by 5:00!” Andie said. </div><div><br /></div><div>Relief. I was not travelling with a last-minute type of person.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy12br3Dn7aQbfiPKbhpySjFZlXxXSwK4pK0CWjjHGL6cvrPiXKUgD_beIuB68eKbj5GX-Trf7ySGIgB8UH_c7i40CH7rxciuh_7SLizSDLP-qLsQzClFH8sM_w3BkY-4KKcVuWV993QVWD3kwOLSAPxrfDsn-N7CiEQb0vtvC94Bq2jS7y-lytsSV/s2208/IMG_0123.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2208" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy12br3Dn7aQbfiPKbhpySjFZlXxXSwK4pK0CWjjHGL6cvrPiXKUgD_beIuB68eKbj5GX-Trf7ySGIgB8UH_c7i40CH7rxciuh_7SLizSDLP-qLsQzClFH8sM_w3BkY-4KKcVuWV993QVWD3kwOLSAPxrfDsn-N7CiEQb0vtvC94Bq2jS7y-lytsSV/s320/IMG_0123.JPG" width="174" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Year's Day at a Heathrow Hotel</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Been There Before</b></p><div>Every Back to the Island is a sort of time capsule: arriving at the resort, you are assaulted by this overwhelming sense of deja-vu and yet you can't help noticing how the characters of the Hanson Truman Show have changed since last time you were there. </div><div><br /></div><div>I had not been to the Jewel since 2017 but everything was still the same - the faux colonial style, the now-even-more-dated décor, the buffet’s harsh, greenish lighting that suffused the place with an ambience reminiscent of a Soviet-era internment camp for political dissidents.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t get me wrong: I don’t need luxury at BTTI. I want to hang out with friends without having to walk miles from one end of the resort to the other (check). I want swim-up bars that are actually open (check), showers that produce hot water (check) and staff who don’t resent me (check). To those bemoaning the lack of extreme luxury - let me tell you, BTTI is not the right fit for you (or you are not the right fit for the event).</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWmDGL6dwI1KwuzzWra-f3cSHmQw9E7oM0GLiaWZl-xv3rlqsaYZx17zXK6rA0o2eERKyhjRppJy-7LevqBeYvdrL_gAVDShcVHOV22Cz_qvprPxUuK7T0MlXxSyZnCQLF5RfbEPkj4KPgAS4969SAY1d3U_AzCaABuhsU2TMQuXpTf0MZfJwaqZK/s3024/IMG_0194.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWmDGL6dwI1KwuzzWra-f3cSHmQw9E7oM0GLiaWZl-xv3rlqsaYZx17zXK6rA0o2eERKyhjRppJy-7LevqBeYvdrL_gAVDShcVHOV22Cz_qvprPxUuK7T0MlXxSyZnCQLF5RfbEPkj4KPgAS4969SAY1d3U_AzCaABuhsU2TMQuXpTf0MZfJwaqZK/w320-h320/IMG_0194.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Hoping that the sand meets the sky"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Trying to Capture Each Moment Like a Picture in my Head</h4><div>Finally, after many of us suggested it year after year, photos with Hanson were split in two sessions. We lined up under cover, which meant no fan got sunstroke in the making of their photo with the band. It could be my impression but I found the whole process a lot less rushed than in past years, and I was able to have a quick chat with the guys. I’m sure they still dread Pictures Day, and who could blame them? I was on the second session and by then, all three brothers were wearing sunglasses, so we will never know if instead of looking right into Trevor’s camera, Hanson were vacantly staring into space or scanning the skies for the beam of an alien spaceship sent to abduct them.</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyidUhVg2LL8TAYoljqBYrpFNkoL3TmRY1YPjzZRkgzFsDDCJjn0VleDwnZ253fkSSSOx9UrfwIb0f1x4ZVUY0yIXD6w-96o7_0VWuVsqYBLKFi_VIW9WCPfWyUQ2uM9frywnP0rM3B5REywN0hx0A9ft_Ba3d_15GEVNJKJ8vtJk9WGhaxVMh50ci/s1110/Hugs.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyidUhVg2LL8TAYoljqBYrpFNkoL3TmRY1YPjzZRkgzFsDDCJjn0VleDwnZ253fkSSSOx9UrfwIb0f1x4ZVUY0yIXD6w-96o7_0VWuVsqYBLKFi_VIW9WCPfWyUQ2uM9frywnP0rM3B5REywN0hx0A9ft_Ba3d_15GEVNJKJ8vtJk9WGhaxVMh50ci/s320/Hugs.png" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I: "Oh noes, she's gone for hugs"<br />Z: "Kill me now"<br />T: "I'm having an out-of-body experience right now"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;">What's Your Name?</h4><div>Games this year consisted of two Family Feud sessions, hosted by Zac and Isaac. Unlike previous years, teams had to be submitted earlier in the day - again, an improvement from my last BTTI, when they just pulled badge numbers at random. When I heard that the key to getting picked was an interesting team name, I knew instantly what we would be called: <i>“Hanson is a cult and Zac is our Leader”</i> - a reference to a question I had asked the band at my Fanclub Reporter interview last summer. Did it work? Yes - we were the first team to be called up on stage that night. Did Zac and Isaac remember the convo? I think so, as you can see in the video below.</div><div>How did we do? Alas, we totally sucked. </div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxIlz1R6nLzzDSaI1tB7Dv2WNarGUSO_XFpzQlBv2JB6gc3AZbwBJS5QWvT_NGN-g5-wY7XApvY5lgXwdqQpw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div>(Video: credit to Jade D.)</div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Dance Like You Don’t Care</h4><div>A pool party! I’d been asking for a pool party for <i>years</i>. Moving the party from a makeshift dancefloor to the pool added a touch of much-needed decadence to something a little too Disney and wholesome such as Hanson dance parties tend to be. Mental note for next year? Save the outfit money and bring a beach ball and a waterproof phone case. I still don’t know how I didn’t drop my phone in the pool that night: the next morning I woke up with bruises all over my body and a badly sprained finger that cost me $35 on a consultation with the resort's nurse. My phone? Absolutely intact and drier than the fried plantain chips served at the after-show buffet.</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpD8tDhMWfgdW3u7-OXAPqfNOE6LOXzcX4j8qaeij85Pr136yMpH9O8GRvdy3RSfF_aIp7eRUmMrmnz7sIVs4OOMKV_MWh2Bvd5Ee4hIor5Mt_cZZzmCHDdjN_4IraegEeFTZ04ak3AfB6qGvFYzqw3i4TOAkTkexZiHo91ZrLbKm5DbyYB2_OudP/s2712/Screenshot%202023-01-23%20at%2018.26.19.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="2712" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpD8tDhMWfgdW3u7-OXAPqfNOE6LOXzcX4j8qaeij85Pr136yMpH9O8GRvdy3RSfF_aIp7eRUmMrmnz7sIVs4OOMKV_MWh2Bvd5Ee4hIor5Mt_cZZzmCHDdjN_4IraegEeFTZ04ak3AfB6qGvFYzqw3i4TOAkTkexZiHo91ZrLbKm5DbyYB2_OudP/w400-h226/Screenshot%202023-01-23%20at%2018.26.19.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 2023 Dance Party: less Disney, more Gatsby</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Worth the Wait </h4><div>If the 2020 edition left me with a sense of déjà vu and disappointment, my return to the Island was perfectly timed to catch a band who seemed to be on top form again. Hanson looked and sounded refreshed, inspired and re-energised. Unlike last time, it seemed that a lot of thought had gone into the setlists, with no repeat songs, no meltdowns, only a few forgotten lyrics here and there (it’s Hanson, after all) and a few technical issues on the first night (it’s Jamaica, after all). I'm not a musician but I have seen this band enough times to notice when things are going well and when they’re falling apart - Taylor’s death stare, usually directed at Isaac, being the earliest warning sign. This time not only Hanson looked like they’d practiced, but even had a plan B for forgotten lyrics, in the way of iPads by their side on stage. </div></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Welcome Show</h4><div><div><b>Highs</b></div><div>For me, it was the reggae medley of ‘Back to the Island’ with two Bob Marley classics, ‘Three Little Birds’ and ‘Stir It Up’. In all my previous times in Jamaica, Hanson had never sung a Bob Marley song so this was on top of my wish list. Check!</div><div><b>Lows</b></div><div>The first show was very short for Hanson standards, ending almost abruptly. A possible reason could be technical issues - at one point we heard a loud, static noise that sounded like equipment frying. Regardless, after 'Rollercoaster Love', the lights went up and in an mmmbop, Hanson were gone. What happened to ‘the show must go on’?</div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid02257ffeTW88jZ7FiwBCqbhcCtnHf2by1toie6KLZPqn8HDmGpFr9F6rvXWby8XTTql" target="_blank">[Click for Setlist]</a></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Second Show</h4><div><div><b>Highs</b></div><div>Highlights for me were “Stop Me in My Tracks”, “Somebody That Wants to Love You”, “Cut Right Through Me” - which I had not heard since the Anthem tour - and “Young and Dumb”. Also worthy of mention was “Nothing Like a Love Song” - the only original track included in 2020’s public release ‘Perennial’. Hate the song, but it was still a notch on my sonic belt to hear it live.</div><div><b>Lows</b></div><div>I can’t think of any, other than I wish the show could have gone on for another two hours. Or indeed, forever.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid0wZtHzs8bTqc98RZcPRiimys4CpvP7JU8DidRVhTSBDJQdjgdkudTFQTYcgA4HRqJl" target="_blank">Click for Setlist</a>]</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Final Show</h4><div><div><b>Highs:</b></div><div>'World Goes Around' (finally!), 'Dressed in Brown Eyes' and a cover of Bobby McFerrin's 'Don’t Worry, Be Happy'. Disclosure: I actually don't care much for the original, but hearing that song on a Jamaican beach, layered with Hanson’s harmonies, the stage lit up in the colours of the Jamaican flag - well, let me tell you, it was absolutely magical. </div><div><b>Lows:</b></div><div>“More than Anything”. Will we ever get to hear Isaac play a different song on the piano?</div></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid02e1AzbdLuswbMpdMbgX9CS9c68KjJAqDYvBRAgfvNkASSfShs3Zmn1mcrWuiNBqd1l" target="_blank">Click for Setlist</a>]</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mwqbl_Ch57I" width="320" youtube-src-id="mwqbl_Ch57I"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Or Just Shake it Off Going Solo</h4><div><b>Zac Highs:</b></div><div><div>Zac started the set at the piano and the moment I recognised the opening notes of “I Am” - my absolute favourite Zac song - I was ready to hand him my soul on a silver plate. (Hashtag: Cult Leader).</div><div><b>Zac Lows:</b></div><div>Zac’s voice was a little croaky, which is incredibly rare for him, and I have to admit that I actually kind of liked it. So not really a low, but I had to write something.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid0RbNQZq9Qb2Mt6gbrKNdvFQoG4RMiMes1YBQFNDxuJa5YoxnXAf45YNYqn7MN7vbPl" target="_blank">[Click for Setlist</a>]</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Isaac Lows:</b></div><div>When Isaac finally came on stage twenty minutes late and after having skipped his soundcheck I worried that we were about to get a repeat of <a href="http://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-solo-sets.html" target="_blank">his shambolic set from 2016</a>. </div><div><b>Isaac Highs:</b></div><div>But after opening with ‘So Lovely’, Isaac carried on with a good setlist that included classic singalongs like ‘Lonely Again’ and rarities like ‘What’s Your Name’. He closed with a medley of 'Halleluiah/Amazing Grace' which he had first performed at BTTI 2017. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid0rh2oQReWfhBZCGDtYfJPpVE4MRCFr9poDxVRprMCAyAhr23N7o76hPAcJP6qM6Yjl" target="_blank">Click for Setlist</a>]</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Taylor Lows:</b></div><div>Taylor’s solo was set for an hour earlier than the usual start time of 5:00 PM. It was still very sunny and hot at that point, which meant that standing on the beach was absolute torture. To make things worse, the sun was right behind the stage, making it very hard to see. If I ruled the Island, I’d ban all music activities until 5:00 PM.</div><div><b>Taylor Highs:</b></div><div>He came, he conquered and gave us sunstroke, but not before treating us to some absolute gems: ‘Climb’, ‘Sound like Joy’ and the hitherto String Theory exclusive, ‘Reaching for the Sky’. I took that as a possible sign that String Theory is not dead and buried but might indeed make a comeback at some point, for a few one-off shows? </div></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/pfbid0MQbWbJNQpj5HkExac2jeD3FknvhfYyJC6c9B6pF9SZhRFfX2yq9h1rRfMGaxNcn6l" target="_blank">Click for Setlist</a>]</div></div><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Singing Along to Feeling Alright</h4><div><br /></div><div>Allow me a moment of reflection. There were moments, back in 2020, when I believed that some things had gone forever - that the consequences of the pandemic would make it impossible for me to get on a plane and fly across the ocean just to see a band and hang out with old friends. Three years on, we seem to have conveniently forgotten the silent streets and planeless skies of 2020, the Zoom hangouts, the sometimes absurdly arbitrary social distancing rules. </div><div><br /></div><div>I can't help thinking back to 2020, when Hanson livestreamed a series of seated, socially distanced shows from Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom. Spotting my friends in the sparse audience, I felt like a ghost watching the living from behind the veil - invisible and unheard, but unwilling to let go.</div><div><br /></div><div>If there is one thing we all must have learnt from 2020, it’s that everything - including toilet paper - can be taken away in the blink of an eye; for a musician, that includes touring. Some artists, like Stephen Kellogg, managed to quickly adapt and turn a physical tour into a virtual experience. Fortunately Hanson could bank on a solid US fan base who would still travel to Tulsa, undeterred by aviation restrictions and ready to fight for a handful of steeply priced front row tables. </div><div><br /></div><div>But it must have been scary for artists to deal with the uncertainty of a future with no crowds or spontaneity, to face the serious possibility that concerts would turn into airport security-style ordeals. I can’t help but wonder if Hanson, three deeply religious men, had Job:1:21 buzzing in their ears - <i>“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away”</i>. Did they consider the possibility that their lifestyle, the touring, even their enduring success - could all be gone, forever?</div><div><br /></div><div>So maybe that’s why Isaac, Taylor and Zac looked genuinely happy to be there this time. They were back there with their fans, on a Jamaican beach, ten years into a winter recurrence that at one point had become impossible to keep. And maybe that’s why we too - the fans - all felt so relaxed and grateful to be there again: no masks, no compulsory tests, no endless forms to fill in before flying. We were back in our happy place, back to comparing our concerts tally and scrutinising our M&G pictures, back to planning the next adventure while the current one was still underway. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>We're never gonna lose the sound</i></div><div><i>We're never gonna forget the beat</i></div><div><i>Cuz I'm addicted to the melody</i></div><div><i>I've got rhythm in my feet</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>But when I've lost the plot</i></div><div><i>And I've forgotten every part</i></div><div><i>I know you'll be right here waiting</i></div><div><i>If I go right back to the start</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>We should be dancing in the street</i></div><div><i>Find a melody we can repeat</i></div><div><i>There would be a song from every girl and boy</i></div><div><i>It'll sound like joy</i></div></div><div><br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CeD8zOPlc7m/" target="_blank">Taylor Hanson - Sound Like Joy </a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tFtm62YJV3c" width="320" youtube-src-id="tFtm62YJV3c"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span><i>Back to the Island is a yearly event hosted by <a href="http://Hanson.net" target="_blank">Hanson</a> and <a href="https://www.islandgigs.com/" target="_blank">Island Gigs</a>. </i></span><div><span>Follow us - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage" target="_blank">Hanson Italian Fanpage on Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hansonitalianfanpage/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Hanson_ITA" target="_blank">Twitter</a><br /></span><div><span>If you enjoyed reading this post, please share it!</span></div><div><i><br /></i></div></div>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-25155313416042264022022-06-22T14:58:00.001-07:002022-06-22T14:58:27.699-07:00Against The World or: The Post That I Nearly Finished back in 2021<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Note from June 2022:</b>
A year has passed since the release of the first song from Against the World. To say that I’m late to the party is an understatement. Does anyone still care? RGB - the new album - is out, and Hanson are touring Europe. I’ve decided to post this review anyway, who knows, it might rekindle my Hanson-themed blogging.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-30b5447f-7fff-cfb5-6ef0-34a0b174710a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYUiF_I8wMC4RUWC0vR8XTCelgoMerxtE7IPGcrhOlkURJWnHPJ44QXxd8P-bhmtp4It2rJxqe_uEfQZ6w8bayT7PrNssb8IJS0YJsdSuRkzPYrYdO0fn7k7kwU_1N4vT-YIndiGmQ0_uaO5Z61FEhAvHyKbx2pz3mKNW2gW5rnbJpViyJpvq_C5E/s884/Against%20The%20World.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="872" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYUiF_I8wMC4RUWC0vR8XTCelgoMerxtE7IPGcrhOlkURJWnHPJ44QXxd8P-bhmtp4It2rJxqe_uEfQZ6w8bayT7PrNssb8IJS0YJsdSuRkzPYrYdO0fn7k7kwU_1N4vT-YIndiGmQ0_uaO5Z61FEhAvHyKbx2pz3mKNW2gW5rnbJpViyJpvq_C5E/s320/Against%20The%20World.png" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>"Annalie"</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I first heard "Annalie" during Zac’s solo at BTTI 2020 I was left unimpressed. Here’s another Zac song named after a girl, and what about that chorus, is it catchy or irritating?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fast forward mid- 2021 and not only we had, by that point, lived in a pandemic for over a year, but Hanson had just announced that the new album was going to be made up of 7 songs, to be released one at a time every month. Starting with "Annalie".</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Annalie”’ came out in May 2020, complete with a music video and ‘making of’ clips on YouTube. The studio version was very different from the stripped-down, Zac pounding on the piano version I’d heard in Jamaica, and it featured a really cool, catchy-as-hell guitar hook that sounded a lot like Simon & Garfunkel. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I still wasn’t keen on the song, especially the chorus, which employed Zac’s higher range. Zac has the most flawless voice of the trio, and to me his mid-range has the most depth, but in recent years he seems to prefer singing really high, when he doesn’t go totally falsetto. But that guitar hook got stuck in my head and inevitably, "Annalie" gradually grew on me. But still, what was it about? In the ‘making of’ the video, Zac talked about going to Memphis, and finding that Grace of making music together. I’m not sure that really comes across in the song, but lyrics sometimes work in obscure ways, and although to me and the average person, the idea that the song is about the brothers finding the joy of music again doesn’t quite work, there is definitely a sense of joy and travel poking out from those notes. By the time "Annalie" had hit my inbox (the modern way of music delivery) in May 2021, I was totally ready for both. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>“Don’t Ever Change”</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If ATW was a full length album - one containing more than seven songs - I would relegate this Taylor lead to the category of ‘deep cut’. But as ATW is barely more than an EP, I am forced to expand. DEC is a rather unremarkable, vaguely-heard-before-Members EP-level off-cut, sounding like much of Hanson’s recent Members-only fare. It’s like several Taylor leads from the past 3 Members EPs put together - but don’t ask me which ones, because they all mingle into one. If you really want comparisons, think back to Anthem. DEC is like a weaker version of “Cut Right Through Me” but without the bite. I predict that it will be played live even less frequently than the former.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>“Only Love”</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ahhh, finally. At long last, a powerful, punchy, solid Isaac lead that isn’t a ballad or a derivative old-style rock’n’roll song. Right from the guitar opening, "Only Love" is full of promises - which it then more than amply delivers in the kind of heartfelt, heart-on-your- sleeve chorus that showcases Isaac’s voice at its best. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a really good song. Scratch that, this is a terrific song. Nobody will ever get to hear it, because Hanson chose to lead the album’s release with "Annalie", but I can tell you from empirical evidence that this is the kind of song that will appeal to non-fans as well. We’re only three songs into this review but I’m going to drop a spoiler: "Only Love" is the best song of the album.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Against the World</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Title tracks carry a lot of responsibility. They are important songs in an album, but rarely get picked as the first single. In the case of ATW-the album, every song was a single anyway, and ATW was the fourth one. It’s a trademark Hanson’s mid-tempo affair, with a catchy chorus, strategically placed harmonies, a U2-like guitar riff and Bono-like vocals in the bridge. Taylor and Isaac share the lead vocals - always a very popular choice among the fan base. If, once again, we go back to Anthem, ATW is to this album what Already Home was to its last studio predecessor. So what’s wrong with it? Not much, other than a sense of deja-vu, especially with lyrics that once again place the narrator/Hanson as underdogs fighting against the rest of the world. It’s a tired theme by now - for how much longer can Hanson re-has their David vs Goliath battle against Def Jam? Can Hanson - three wealthy musicians who, thanks to a hardcore loyal fan base, will never find themselves in need of a day job - really still sell that story? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But all said and done, ATW is a good album song and one that I would like to hear live - something that didn’t even happen at the last BTTI. Will it ever happen? Your guess is as good as mine. *</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Update: at the time of posting this, in June 2022, ATW has been played at several shows of the European tour!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Stronger</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another Taylor lead, the fifth track in the album is a poignant piano ballad that starts sombre and then soars in a chorus laced with Hanson’s trademark harmonies. Am I wrong in saying that “Stronger” would have been a great fit for String Theory? We will never know, but it’s certainly the kind of song that would crown a show in that kind of epic, "Show Must Go On"- era Queen style, complete with guitar solo halfway through. I like it, although in terms of production, it’s a little too much for me, too big a sound, too rich on the toppings. But I bet this would sound amazing as a solo.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>One</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The one that sounds a little like “What Are We Fighting For”. Well it doesn’t quite sound like it but you know what I mean - it’s that kind of song. Unlike most recent Zac leads, it’s a little bit more complex than the usual fare of mostly piano/mostly guitar, and finally we get a falsetto-free Zac lead. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This song was written before Hanson’s recent controversy, and as such, the lyrics have been dismissed as irrelevant in terms of a peace offering. But the very fact that ‘One’ was included in the album is very telling, and if you have been a fan of this band for a while you will know that Hanson tend to communicate obliquely. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and choose to believe that.</span></p><br /><b><br /></b><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Fearless</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right from the opening bar, the strings in Fearless remind me of ‘Siren Call’. There are stomps and claps adding to that ominous sound, then a sort of marching drum kicks in. It’s another Zac lead, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Zac leads mostly fall into two categories recently: the ‘song about a girl’ and the ‘haunting existential theme song’. Fearless belongs to the latter category. Like its predecessors in this category, this is most definitely an album track - not a bad thing in itself, but that means that “Fearless” is unlikely to ever get played live. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Conclusions</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A year after the release of the first song from ATW, it’s as if the 7-song-album-not-an-album never even happened, and that’s sad. Granted, 2021 was no ordinary year: the pandemic was still going, bands weren’t touring, nobody really had any certainty. However, some bands released albums (a case in point - NEEDTOBREATHE). So why did Hanson practically give up on ATW? Why did the band even call it an album - why not market it as some kind of EP, or in between projects? Why try to sell it as an album and then immediately act as if it never happened?</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have been a Hanson fan for a while you will know that answers, when it comes to this band, are never forthcoming. You can wonder and speculate but you’ll never get a satisfying explanation - only some blink-and-you-miss-it vague allusion buried in a podcast episode or ‘making of’ video, that only the most eagle-eyed fan will catch. It makes you wonder if that’s a deliberate ploy, a way of keeping you hooked, leaving you hanging and wanting more - or if it’s just one of those things - Hanson do things, get bored of things and move on, with no great criminal masterplan behind. Either way, after eleven years of playing this game, I have stopped trying to understand them.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-84006984139826783262020-04-21T16:39:00.000-07:002020-04-22T04:02:05.067-07:00A Post I Almost Didn't Post: BTTI 2020<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I wonder how much these flip flops have actually cost me, </i>I thought as I looked through my merch pack from the Island Gigs desk on a hot January morning. It was hard to believe that 2020 was my sixth stint on the island and my fifth visit to Jamaica. The last couple of months had been rough to say the least, and I was looking forward to seeing some good friends, splash around in the ocean and drink cocktails by the pool, not to mention the main attraction: four days of Hanson shows. With no setlist voting this year, I was optimistic, trusting that the band would surprise us with something different.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out those very expensive flip-flops</td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Friday - Welcome Show</b></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2782272461833087?">Setlist</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In keeping with the last couple of years, the event kicked off to the calypso rhythm of <i>“Back to the Island”</i> - the song that lends its name to the event. I was happy to hear <i>“Already Home”</i> - it’s one of my favourite Hanson songs and one that sadly seems to have been dropped from heavy rotation in recent years. What followed, however, was a fairly predictable setlist that sounded straight out of 2017’s <i>Middle of Everywhere</i> tour.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were a few highlights, like <i>“Great Divide”</i> and <i>“Watch Over Me”</i> - incidentally both tracks from what many fans consider to be Hanson’s most inspired album - <i>The Walk</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hanson were in good form, and played a solid set that sounded as flawless as it gets for island standards. However, it all felt very much like the singles-themed night of past years, another stop of the MOE tour. The crowd seemed to love it, but I left the beach that night with a distinct feeling of déjà vu.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Been there before? Yes.</td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Saturday - Mellow Songs</b></span></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2784262671634066?">Setlist</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When the band introduced the second show as a whole set of ballads, my heart sank. I like a slow song - or two - but a whole set? Three songs in, I felt my energy levels dip so low that - in a totally unprecedented move since I’ve been a Hanson fan - I decided to leave my relatively good spot on Isaac’s side of the stage and carry on watching the show from the back. A couple of songs later, I’d claimed a sun lounger, which made it a lot more tolerable to sit through songs like <i>“Save Me”, </i>one of my regular ‘skips’, and the omnipresent <i>“More Than Anything”</i>, which Isaac plays at every single BTTI.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Comfortably horizontal but sonically unchallenged, I struggled to stay interested. Tiredness and possibly some residual jet-lag had got the better of me, compounded by a setlist that was more Kumbaya around the fire than Caribbean beach party. More than once I felt myself going under and wished I’d remembered to pack some caffeine tablets.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mercifully, Hanson picked up the tempo in the finale and treated us to a rare performance of <i>“Carry You There”</i> - one of my favourite songs and one that I had yet to hear live. Overall though, I found the ballads set excruciatingly dull, and ninety minutes straight of ballads made me want to listen to a<i> </i>Dead Kennedys<i> </i>playlist on repeat.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from a lounger</td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Monday - The Final Show</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2789946051065728?">Setlist</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By that point, many of us had assumed that the final show would be a much awaited Members/Rares set. It <i>had to</i> be, right? But no. The last concert on the island was nothing of that sort, with a setlist largely featuring popular album tracks, with a few BTTI staples like <i>“Best of Times”</i> and <i>“I Don’t Want to Go Home”</i> here and there. Undoubtedly, Hanson’s choice of songs had its advantages: a tried and tested setlist made for a tight performance that bore no resemblance to 2019’s shambolic final concert. But the show held no surprises, no 'ahh' moments, and once again I felt that I was watching a regular tour stop rather than something special. Where were the rare songs and the deep cuts, where were all those EP vaulted into oblivion after one single live airing at Hanson Day? Where was <i>“Compromise”</i>, arguably the best song from the 2019 Members EP?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I walked away from the beach after the final bows thinking “well, that’s it” - it's over. Hanson had left me wanting more, but certainly not more of the same.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2783868555006811?">Setlist</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first of the three solo sets, Zac’s solo show was at least rich in new and seldom played material. The setlist included three new songs, two songs from the last members EP and no album tracks - if we exclude <i>“Lulabelle”</i>, technically a hidden track (remember those?). I was happy to hear <i>“Call Out My Name”</i> - another favourite from <i>“Sound of Light”</i> and a song that works very well as a solo performance. Overall, I found the energy of the set a bit lacking compared to the previous year, but I know the Zac fans will probably disagree.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zac</td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2787023904691276?">Setlist</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Possibly having listened to fans feedback, Isaac stepped up his game for his 2020 solo set and came on stage <i>prepared</i>. That meant that we got to hear rarely played songs in their entirety, with no aborted attempts or forgotten lyrics. My friend Kasey finally got her wish granted with <i>“I Don’t Know”</i> and there was even a new song, <i>“Your Eyes”. </i>The latter sounded a lot like all of Isaac’s recent sappy songs, but at least it wasn’t <i>“More Than Anything”</i> (which, alas, I would still have to suffer at least once during the event).<br /><br />At one point Hanson’s younger brother Mac joined Isaac onstage, accompanying him on the keyboard for <i>“Grace Unknown”</i> - a song that had only been performed live twice thus far. It was certainly a better rendition than what Isaac had attempted at BTTI 2016 - although in my opinion it needs a full band to do it justice. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My verdict? 2020 was without a doubt Isaac’s best solo set since Cancun 2015.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isaac</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2789945004399166?">Setlist</a></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think most people will agree with me that the highlight of Taylor’s 2020 solo set was <i>"Dream Girl"</i> which, according to <a href="https://lyrics.hansonstage.com/performedlive.php?song_id=216">Hansonstage,</a> had only been played a total of 12 times thus far. It's that kind of rare performance that entices a lot of fans to shell out for the event. </span></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Equally special was a performance of <i>“Get Out of My Heart”</i> as a duet with MILCK - who had played a terrific guest set the night before. When I heard the first notes of <i>"These Walls"</i> I decided that Taylor had won the battle of the solo sets 2020.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor</td></tr>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There’s definitely some truth in the Law of Diminishing Returns and as BTTI has become more expensive every year, it has also become a little less special. Although this year’s event ran more smoothly than ever, and the night-time activities made it possible to actually have some beach time during the day, something had changed. </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Compared to past years, it's plainly obvious that Hanson are more than ever before keeping their distance from fans. It could be because their families are there, or simply because the guys don't want to be at the centre of another selfie-fest. Maybe they're just kind of <i>over it</i>. I don't know. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the spontaneity of past years has gone, and with that, the surprise factor of maybe bumping into Isaac at the bar, or Zac stopping by to chat with fans on the beach after the show.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Something else really bothered me.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During one of the main shows, a guy in the audience shouted something like ‘I love you, man!’. What ensued was something I have now witnessed at Hanson shows several times before: Taylor joking about the fact that, of course, it had to be a bro type of love. I’m paraphrasing here, but the banter went on for a good couple of minutes, all along the lines of the ‘we’re all manly men here, of course’. Taylor joked about grunting. It was all reminiscent of when it was common for a certain type of straight men to say ‘no homo’ after any statement that potentially carried ‘gay’ undertones. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I get it: Hanson are straight men and in all likelihood, the guy in the audience was an equally straight fan, someone’s husband or boyfriend yelling out his appreciation after one Red Stripe too many. But what if - please suspend your disbelief with me for a moment - what if the fan in question had been a male LGBTQ person? What if he had meant the “I love you” in the same way as those female fans who regularly yell and catcall Hanson at every single show? Hanson’s reaction would have instantly invalidated that fan’s perspective, and to what benefit? Does acknowledging “I love you” from a male fan make you gay?</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ve seen Hanson react that way a lot - on stage, on social media, in interviews, and it’s been getting worse. It’s as if they are making a conscious effort to assert their masculinity at every opportunity, reassuring the fans from the platform of social media that their favourite band members are wholesome straight men who run in mud, ride motorcycles and throw axes in their spare time. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then there was Family Feud. A short while into the game, Mac joined Isaac to co-host. Armed with a microphone, the youngest Hanson sibling put on a very camp voice and switched into the made-up persona of a crazy German scientist.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ll give it to him - the youngest Hanson brother is obviously good at impersonations and has an innate sense of comedic timing. For a minute, maybe, it was even funny. But it went on, and on, <i>and on</i>. There were innuendos and double entendres involving “sausage”. All around me, fans howled with laughter. Feeling that I couldn't leave as I had agreed to join a team for the games, I sat there feeling this massive disconnect from both the audience and the man performing: </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was I really watching a straight man put on a foreign accent and a camp voice to entertain a crowd of largely straight, white women? And what was so funny about his shtick - was it the German accent - <i>a</i></span><i style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">ren’t foreigners hilarious! - </i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or the camp voice: </span><i style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">aren’t those gays a hoot!</i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I most definitely wasn’t laughing - especially knowing that I was ultimately paying for that sorry spectacle. If I'd wanted to suffer through outdated and not-so-subtly homophobic comedy sketches, I would have stayed at home and watched old comedy re-runs on <i>UK Gold</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are worse places to spend five days in January and, like every year, I enjoyed my time in Jamaica. I saw friends from faraway places, swam in the ocean, dressed up like an extra from an '80s movie - something I never got to do back in 1985. I had some great conversations with some wonderful Jamaican people, some of whom I knew from past years. Mercifully, and unlike my poor roommate, I didn’t get salmonella.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As organising guru Marie Kondo says, when something doesn’t spark joy, it’s time to let it go, and if I have to be really honest with myself, BTTI 2020 didn’t really spark joy for me. Instead, it highlighted a sense of dissatisfaction with the band I'd been experiencing for a while. </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While we have all been waiting for 'that new album', I found joy in other artists and bands. Online, I’ve been avoiding fan groups and forums, frustrated by the prevailing attitude that Hanson can do no wrong. But more than anything else, I can’t keep justifying spending thousands of dollars on a four-day event that no longer offers anything new. I think the time has come for me to hang my flip-flops and take a break. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos, however, have been consistently getting better<br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Post Scriptum: Notes from the Age of Coronavirus</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s April 2020 as I am finally getting round to posting this. The world has changed beyond recognition since February and it feels like the days of watching a Hanson show on a Jamaican beach belong to a different lifetime. </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My country of birth, Italy, has been absolutely ravaged by the virus, with <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/italy/">a death toll so far of almost 25,000</a>. People all over the world have lost their jobs, families have been split, borders have been closed, planes have been grounded. 'Social distancing' has become a common phrase. One by one, artists had to cancel shows and entire tours. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the earlier stages of the pandemic, before the US media grasped the gravity of the situation, Zac made a very insensitive Instagram post, in which he joked about "</span><i style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">people acting all #coronavirus crazy"</i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. The post was accompanied by a hand painted sign that read </span><i style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Live your life and don’t lick doorknobs’ - </i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a reference to an idiotic social media challenge. A lot of fans, including myself, commented on the post, pointing out that Zac’s statement was in really poor taste. Zac was unapologetic, reacting with sarcasm and even deleting some of the most critical comments. It was not the first time Zac had handled controversy with the maturity of a thirteen year-old boy, but that was the first time that it was over something so serious. Soon Isaac and Taylor embarked on a damage limitation mission, with heartfelt messages and impromptu Instagram livestreams. They looked sincere, but to date there’s still been no apology from Zac, who instead replied to another fan's comment just recently, pretty much accusing her of having no sense of humour. I can’t help wondering if Zac would have showed a sense of humour to a post poking fun at 9/11.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since then, it’s only gone downhill. A ‘Quarantstream’ t-shirt appeared on sale on the HNET store, cashing in on Isaac’s solo livestreams. The justification I heard for this spectacular case of poor taste is that fans had been asking for merch. But who is in charge here, the band or the fans? Do Hanson have to agree to every request for new merch, however ridiculous or inappropriate that maybe be? As to whether any of the profits would be devolved to a good cause, well, there’s no mention of that on the shirt's listing.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, when you think it couldn’t get much worse, Hanson decided to announce the sale of BTTI 2021. As the whole world spirals down towards the deepest recession since records began, and some of the biggest airlines are on the brink of collapse - as New York City turns into a real-life set of <i>The Walking Dead</i> and people worldwide are wondering where their next pay cheque will come from, Hanson decide to sell a luxury holiday in the Caribbean. I won’t go into the ensuing arguments that, of course, immediately erupted within the fan base: if you’re reading this, you probably already know where to find them, who to ask, who will have screenshots of the juiciest bits. I am not going to try and change anyone’s minds. I am just disappointed in a band who appears to have become permanently tone deaf and out of touch.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seeing through these dark times is all matters to me right now: following a band around the world can wait. As the Queen said:</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“...<i>better days will return. We will be with our friends again. We will be with our families again. We will meet again.” </i></span></span></div>
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asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-45660710644253018932019-06-30T07:27:00.003-07:002019-06-30T08:02:48.219-07:00Is this In Real Life? A review of Hanson's 2019 Fan Club EP<style type="text/css">
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I was in my hotel room in Tulsa when I first listened to the EP. I’d ferried my trusted seven year old MacBook Air all across the Atlantic, complete with an equally old and battered external CD drive, with the sole purpose of ripping that CD the moment it was in my hands and listening to it in religious contemplation.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://lyrics.hansonstage.com/lyrics.php?song_id=531">Compromise</a></span></h4>
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<span class="s1">The first song in the EP, <i>"Compromise"</i> starts with a piano and guitar intro, and instantly puts me in a state of acoustic bliss that reaches its nirvana as Isaac’s voice comes on some twenty seconds later. Before you can scream ‘Isaac lead’, </span>Zac takes over vocals on the second verse, <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">with the final part going to Taylor. After my initial split second of disappointment, it made complete sense: it’s a song about compromise, shared among the three brothers and layered with their trademark harmonies in between each verse. What is that if not a perfect example of musical compromise?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Thematically, my first thought was that the lyrics referred to the struggle of being brothers working together as a band, something that Hanson have hinted at many times. But at a closer look, <i>“Compromise”</i> can also be referring to the times we live in - accepting a compromise in the hope that things will change, but ultimately feeling dissatisfied. Hanson are not known for making a direct political commentary but I can’t help feeling that this song could hint at their true feelings about what happened to the U.S. since the last presidential elections. As ever when Hanson put some serious effort into their lyrics, the result is ambiguous, but that works, because pretty much everybody can relate to the song. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>“Fighting for the last word, all you end up feeling is compromised.”</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Doesn’t that sum up social media fights in one simple sentence?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Verdict</span></h4>
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<span class="s1">Musically, Hanson are at their very best when they keep things simple: that's when their unique alchemy of guitars, piano and harmonies produces gems like this song. Musically along the lines of <i>“On the Road”</i> and <i>“On and On”</i>, <i>“Compromise”</i> is one of the best songs to come out of 3CG in the last 10 years.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">[You can watch the f<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQft_7B_mS8">ull music video of </a><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQft_7B_mS8">“Compromise”</a> </i>and watch the<i> </i></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guxjihbdq04">Real-to-Reel 'making of' video</a> on Hanson’s YouTube channel.]</span><br />
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://lyrics.hansonstage.com/lyrics.php?song_id=530">Worth the Wait</a></span></h4>
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<span class="s1">Full disclosure: I really hated this song on my first listen. Musically it’s the exact opposite of what I like - a sonic anti <i>“Compromise”.</i> A closer look at the lyrics, however, made me listen to it in a different way: <i>“Worth the Wait”</i> is clearly a celebration of Hanson’s faith and despite the fact that I’m not religious myself, I find that such a song is long overdue from a band who has never taken advantage of its position to evangelise. The EP is called <i>In Real Life</i> and whether a fan likes it or not, faith is a big part Hanson’s real, personal life. So if for once they want to shout it out and celebrate it with a song, I’m all for it.</span></div>
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Verdict</span></h4>
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<span class="s1">A ‘play’ or ‘skip’ depending on my current mood, but when I do play it, I see a video of this song with Hanson in shiny purple robes, leading a church choir at Sunday service like James Brown in <i>The Blues Brothers</i>. </span><br />
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<span class="s1">[For further insight on the song, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fOf7xXUhWw">check out the Real-to-Reel video </a>on Hanson’s YouTube channel.]</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://lyrics.hansonstage.com/lyrics.php?song_id=505">The Ballad of Seymour Better Times</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">A song that had already been showcased at the past two BTTIs, <i>Seymour</i> is a Zac-on-guitar lead, a much needed change after the many sound-a-like piano songs of recent years. It’s a fun little song that tells the story of Seymour, a hapless character who gets into trouble with married women, the law and his creditors, to then undergo some kind of road-to-Damascus conversion. Musically, it’s borderline crazy-Zac-song material, complete with kazoos, a junior Hanson’s vocals, handclaps and some interesting choices of vocabulary, with the insertion of words of U.K. provenance like ‘coppers’ and ‘lass’ - the latter rarely even used south of the Scottish border. It might not be to everyone’s taste but for me “Seymour” manages to stay on the right side of quirky without becoming irritating. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Verdict </span></h4>
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You got me at <i>‘no money money money money’</i>. Play!</span><br />
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<span class="s1"></span>[Clip of Zac's performance at BTTI 2019]<br />
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<span class="s1">Another BTTI preview that I remember enjoying back in Jamaica, this song’s quiet intro doesn’t really do justice. What follows is actually a mid-tempo ballad that has been getting stuck in my head since that first spin in Tulsa. The chorus, with its harmonies and Beach Boys-style <i>ooh-oohs </i>is catchy as hell, and makes up for the admittedly predictable Zac style lyrics about obsessive love. So although the slow verse is somewhat unremarkable, every time the chorus comes on I’m sucked back in, and I find myself wanting to hear this song live again. After a couple of years of average Zac leads that all sounded the same, I’m glad to hear something that sounds a little more elaborate, and that employs Zac’s voice at its best, offering opportunities for belting it out as well as moments of subtlety. </span></div>
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Play it again, Zac - and bonus points for Isaac on the cello.</span><br />
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[Clip of Zac's performance at BTTI 2019]<br />
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<span class="s1"><i>“You and me/we’re gonna make it together”</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Right from the intro, we’re entering “Fame!” territory - and by the time the chorus kicks in, I’m envisioning Hanson breaking into dance and running into Main Street, swiftly joined by all their staff from 3CGs and people from neighbouring cafes and businesses - all singing ‘<i>Better days! Better days are coming!’</i> as Taylor bashes on the keyboard of a piano that has magically appeared in the middle of the street. In those days we didn’t call such scenes ‘flash mobs’, but <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfb_I1JbofA">if you are old enough to remember the old “Fame!” television series</a>, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I shouldn’t really like this song - it’s a bit too 1980’s and sort of bombastic, but there’s something about it that stops me from hitting the ‘skip’ button. It also sounded pretty damn good live, although I suspect that it will end up buried in the vaults like a lot of EP songs and only come out at fan club events - again, another one that I hope to hear at next year’s BTTI.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Verdict</span></h4>
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<span class="s1">I wanna live forever! No, wait, wrong song. Never mind - play!</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: purple;"><u>The Final Verdict</u></span></span></h4>
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Compared to last year’s <i>Animal Instincts,</i> <i>In Real Life</i> feels like a better and bigger effort from the band, with at least three songs - <i>"Compromise"</i>, <i>"Seymour"</i> and <i>"Reading Your Mind"</i> - that could easily be album material. Regardless of personal taste, none of the five songs sounds phoned in - there’s no Zac-by-numbers <i>"Goldminer/Ghost Writer/Sophia"</i> and no fun-but-nonsense Isaac-does Chuck-Berry lead. It feels like Hanson have woken up from the torpor of the last couple of years and rediscovered some fire, and although In Real Life is still eclectic in style and ultimately aimed at the hardcore fan base, it’s telling how Hanson are trying to push it to the ‘outside world’ by sharing some of the songs and ‘making of’ videos on YouTube, as if the band are particularly proud of this EP, six years after their last proper studio album, <i>Anthem</i>. It’s almost as if String Theory recharged Hanson’s creative batteries and now the guys are back in the game, ready to fight on, as the title of the next album, <i>Against the World</i> certainly appears to indicate. With two full albums allegedly already in the works, it really does look like better days are coming - better days than before. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hanson's new members EP "In Real Life" is available as part of the fan club membership. All information on <a href="http://hanson.net/">Hanson.net</a>.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
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</style>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-12760054206219255142019-06-10T10:52:00.001-07:002019-06-10T15:07:47.180-07:00Hanson Day 2019: a Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Registration</b></div>
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<span class="s1">To everyone’s surprise, registration opened before the event had even officially started, on Wednesday afternoon. I don’t know if that was planned, or if it was a last minute decision, but it was a good idea regardless. It’s obvious that more and more people are arriving to Tulsa earlier in the week, so it makes sense to try and register as many attendees as possible, as soon as possible. So by late afternoon on Wednesday I had my bracelet, my tickets and, most importantly, my EP. I’d lugged my trusted old MacBook Air and an external CD drive all the way across the Atlantic with the sole purpose of being able to listen to that EP straightaway so I headed back to my hotel room for a very exclusive Listening Party. (<i>Check out this blog again soon for a full review of the EP</i>.)</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Storytellers</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2274059599321045?">Setlist</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">This year’s Storytellers was effectively an acoustic show, centred around the <i>Underneath </i>album. It’s a golden combination for me, as I discovered the band through that particular album, and I love it when Hanson go acoustic - so much so that I that I keep voting for ‘acoustic’ as a BTTI theme, albeit with pitiful results. But give me the Hanson brothers with an acoustic guitar in their hands and I’m the happiest fan in the audience.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">My only slight criticism of the show is that there was very little storytelling. I would have liked to hear how those songs had been created, but on the other hand, as my friend Kasey pointed out, Hanson tend to mumble when they tell their stories, and unless you’re right at the front and adept at lip-reading, it’s often hard to make out what they’re actually saying. So maybe it was for the best and anyway, Hanson amply made up for it with a surprise performance of Isaac on the cello, the instrument that he has been learning for a while. That first public performance of “Underneath” on the cello will no doubt go down in fan history. Watch the clip below if you don’t believe me.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>The Store</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">I got there at 9:00 AM, thinking that, as I had already registered and the queues wouldn’t have had a chance to build up, I’d be done in a couple of hours.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Four-and-a-half hours later and questioning all my recent life choices, I was finally setting foot in the store. Despite the fact that a preview of the new merch had been put up on the website, enabling people to choose whilst still in line, it had taken hours to get in, possibly through a combination of not enough staff picking orders at the back and fans not leaving the store quickly enough. Whatever the reasons, I felt that only through highly sophisticated brainwashing, a person of reasonable intelligence would give up almost five hours of vacation time to roast on a pavement in order to give Hanson more of her hard-earned cash. Make no mistake: the store visit is nothing but a Hanson tithe.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The Hanson Day ticket sale chaos back in February meant that I hadn’t managed to get a ticket for karaoke, but thanks to a friend on the lookout, a couple of tickets were found. I took the tickets with immense gratitude because missing karaoke would have meant being excluded from the first night of Hanson Day partying. I didn’t fancy prospect of ending up outside, possibly - shudder - stone sober, my face pressed against the Vanguard doors like a snotty-nosed orphan outside a bakery.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Compared to 2017, Karaoke offered precious little Isaac hosting time. The best bit was a performance of <i>“A Minute Without You”</i> by a group of Australian fans, who were joined onstage by the Old Man himself (check out the clip below). Overall though, I felt that the night was a little flat and by the halfway point, a lot of people appeared to have left. A suggestion? Get Isaac to actually host the whole thing (hey Isaac: we know you’re backstage imbibing mid-price nightclub-level bourbon, so why not just come out and be drunk on stage?), and find a bigger venue so that everybody can attend.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The Hanson Day group picture always goes quicker than lightning, making the BTTI picture feel like a 15-minute long Meet & Greet in comparison. The line moved quickly - it’s a Hanson Fan Dogma that the only fast-moving line at Hanson Day is the line for Pictures - but as we were finally getting through the door, something went wrong and our group got merged with the one in front of us. Next thing I knew, my friend Kasey, who is not known for being a shrinking violet, was kicking off at Hanson, Hanson’s staff and the whole world, yelling ‘that is not our group!’. Unsure as to what to do, I stood there looking in turn at Kasey, who refused to budge, and Hanson, who were already lined up against the wall like convicts facing a firing squad, their faces barely disguising their increasing exasperation and waning patience.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>Well</i>, I thought to myself, amused and horrified in equal measure, <i>we certainly managed to draw attention to ourselves.</i> Eventually the impasse was broken and we joined the group. I didn’t fare too badly, standing next to a friend from my group, Pei-Yi, who was in turn standing next to Isaac. As Hanson's photographer Trevor lifted three fingers up in countdown, I felt a hand on my back, and realised it was Isaac’s, who had his arm over Pei-Yi and me. It’s a small detail, but very telling about these guys: even if group photos must be a pretty tedious affair, they still try to make the person at the far end of the group feel like they’re in a picture with Hanson and not with just a random group of people.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A group photo, minus Hanson</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Since my last time in Tulsa, the Gallery is now housed inside an exhibition space at the back of Chimera. Despite having to line up in a dumpster-lined back alley, I liked the new gallery’s smaller, edgier feel - a much more appropriate setting for the works of an emerging artist.</span><span class="s2"><br />
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<span class="s1">That said, I wasn’t blown away by this year’s material: Zac is beginning to take the pop-art, mass produced thing a bit too far, as his paintings all look like they’ve been traced from photographs and then given the Zac treatment. The resulting pieces are nice to look at but I miss Zac’s original work of past years - like the one with the three knights from 2015, a signed print of which I have in my study. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Panic in the Streets" by Zac Hanson (signed print on canvas)</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The most interesting insight into the artist’s mind was provided by three individual portraits of the brothers. Isaac appears pensive, as if the weight of the world is resting on his shoulders. Taylor looks older than his age, in an over-exaggerated version of his current bearded look. In his own self-portrait, however, Zac, looks very much like himself: clean shaven, sporting a headband and aviator sunglasses and with a knowing smirk on his lips - the smirk of the artist who has deliberately made himself look prettier than his brothers. </span><span class="s2"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit to @iamhansonguy <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx0noEgHxHi/">https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx0noEgHxHi/</a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">This year’s photo prints selection was also somewhat disappointing, with most of the photos representing random subjects and landscapes rather than the brothers themselves. I see the reasoning behind it, as the photos were taken by Taylor and therefore he only featured in a couple of mirror shots; but, let’s face it: do you really want to pay $50 for the photo of a dentist’s surgery door, just because Taylor Hanson took it, when there are better much photographers out there?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">I still managed to drop $100 for a photo of Isaac (to complete my mostly-Isaac-centred wall in my study) and a self-portrait of Taylor for a friend, and as I loaded my currency card for the umpteenth time that week, I thought ruefully at how skilled Hanson have become in extracting money out of me.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The best part of visiting the gallery was the VR ‘experience’. I had to get into another endless line that felt like a million years, but it was worth it. I sat on a revolving stool on an elevated platform while a member of staff handed me a set of VR goggles (which my friend and I disinfected with her surgical grade anti-bacterial wipes: you really don’t want the sweat of dozens of people all over your face). After pressing play on the remote control, you were suddenly transported to the 3CG studio. The band started to play “Compromise”, the first track from the new EP, as, I, the virtual viewer, sat in the middle: Isaac to my left, Taylor right in front of me and Zac to my right. Swivelling to the left or to the right, I could see exactly what Isaac and Zac were doing, and right in front of me there was Taylor, who would often look right into the camera - giving me the illusion that he was singing right at me. But what I found even more bizarre was being in the studio, which, after years of watching Livestreams and ‘making of’ videos, by now feels like a really familiar place. Then, some thirty seconds before the end of the song, the goggles’ battery died on me. Oh well - it was fun while it lasted.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Edible Digital Pants</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I was - literally - late to the (listening) party due to how long it had taken to get to the VR experience at the Gallery, so I missed the first two or three songs, but I still got my lunchbox with a CD, some candy and a rubber doughnut. The only really notable moment was the end when a vo-coded Bugs Bunny voice said something like, ‘the party is over, please leave now’. In a nutshell, Hanson’s feelings by the end of Hanson Day-week.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>String Theory</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">I was looking forward to seeing the show from the Mezzanine, as I’d been in the front and first few rows at the String Theory shows in Europe. Once I got over the terrifyingly steep descent to my seats - the Mezzanine at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center is high, high up - I enjoyed the infinitely superior sound and finally being able to see the whole orchestra even if the tradeoff is the emotional connection that you get from being closer.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">If I had to find one point of criticism, it would be the lack of an a capella encore, which I had almost taken for granted as Hanson were playing in their hometown, to their families gathered in the front few rows. At first, the orchestra stayed put and it looked as if something was going to happen, but then the lights went up. My theory is that Taylor’s voice, which sounded a little strained at times during the concert, needed resting, and that perhaps an encore had been planned but had to be aborted last-minute.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">String Theory, from the dizzy heights of the mezzanine</td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Oh, Snap! The Dance Party</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Since my last Hanson Day in 2017, the dance party had been moved to Cain’s Ballroom, so a lot more people were able to attend and there was a lot more room to move around. When we arrived, two of Taylor’s kids were handing out Mardi Gras-style strings of beads and cardboard cutouts of Hanson’s heads. Of course, I picked an Isaac. Inside, there were photo booths to have your pictures and videos taken to be then shown on the multiple screens by the side of Taylor’s DJ booth. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">In terms of a Hanson ‘afterparty’, it was pretty standard, but the gimmicks were fun and I enjoyed photobombing people’s selfies with my “Isaac”. The playlist was a combination of Taylor’s usual choices and some fan choices and on that note, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sight - watched from the safety of the bleachers - of hundreds of Hanson fans doing the Cupid Shuffle. <i>I’m nowhere near drunk enough for this, </i>I thought a<i>s</i> I watched in mesmerised horror.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAUKhzjtHssO0oVpZUQS-g_ARj3b_fx6YcUew9rPlanVneuJubLfwATIppZEmeDgDC1byVUxBKdv3NgLFD3qdPTGRq0cH17_oyP3QePmj0WHXcNiGp1EoRdHXpeY_cv347TEiEDio8pE/s1600/7BD238B1-89F5-4BFC-B19D-4F32E6BB87EC.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAUKhzjtHssO0oVpZUQS-g_ARj3b_fx6YcUew9rPlanVneuJubLfwATIppZEmeDgDC1byVUxBKdv3NgLFD3qdPTGRq0cH17_oyP3QePmj0WHXcNiGp1EoRdHXpeY_cv347TEiEDio8pE/s320/7BD238B1-89F5-4BFC-B19D-4F32E6BB87EC.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mardi Gras Isaac</td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>State of the Band</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2275642169162788?">Bullet points</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />
By now, everybody will know what was announced at State of The Band - <a href="https://mailchi.mp/hanson/hanson-a-week-of-hosting-the-world?e=3b28286cfd">you can read the official news in one of the last newsletters</a>. But the bottom line is, Hanson promised not one, but two albums. There must be a good stash of ready to publish songs if Hanson feel confident enough to make such a bold announcement, so I am feeling cautiously optimistic. And the nerd in me is very, very excited about the news that the HNET website will finally be redesigned. They’d better not lose my pins in the process.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>The Members Only Concert</b></span><span class="s2"><br />
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<span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2276492725744399?">Setlist</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I think most people will agree that this MOE show was the most polished in a long time. Maybe the band finally realised that they need to rehearse the new songs and it showed, resulting in an overall glitch-free show during which Hanson remembered most of the lyrics. Hurrah! Now let’s see if they can keep that streak going.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">It was a shame that the show was not livestreamed for the fans at home but the big round camera placed at the front of the stage was a telltale sign that they were filming for the upcoming documentary and I guess something had to give. Let’s hope that some footage will be soon shared on HNET, because all members deserve to be part of the experience, in one way or another.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>The Hop Jam</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2277555212304817?">Setlist</a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Not technically part of the Hanson Day events, Hanson’s headlining show at the Hop Jam was effectively the fourth show of the week.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I’m not a festival person and I would rather watch a band with my tribe than with a crowd of randoms. Shoot me but I don’t find the atmosphere at the Hop Jam all that inspiring: partly because by the time the headliners come on, revellers are a bit too drunk and a bit too sunbaked, and partly because a car park in the middle of downtown Tulsa isn’t the most picturesque setting for a concert.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But Hanson played a good show, with a predictable but upbeat setlist that pleased everybody. The best moment was the finale when all the other acts got on stage for a rendition of Kiss’s <i>“Rock and Roll All Nite”</i>. In all seriousness, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Taylor rocking it out <i>quite like that</i> before: maybe it was because his brother Mackenzie was onstage, or maybe because his buddies Phantom Planets were also there, but whatever the reason, he really, really rocked.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">(Video by Kristin Moore)</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Summing Up</b></span></div>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">My third time at Hanson Day confirmed the feeling, obvious even from afar, that Hanson Day is getting bigger every year, with more events and more people attending. It’s better organised and events run more smoothly than in past years and other than the lines for the store, everything felt better managed. In terms of the actual events, four consecutive shows were an absolute treat and something that might not happen again at Hanson Day soon. What I didn’t like so much - but that’s something totally outside of Hanson’s control - is Mayfest’s move into the Brady District: this year there was a different vibe on the streets from Friday night and although I never really felt unsafe, I missed that ‘Hanson Camp’ feel of past years. I guess I’ve got so used to BTTI that now having ‘outsiders’ encroaching a Hanson event feels like an outright invasion.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Would I go back in 2020? I certainly would, if money was no object. But I’m already booked for BTTI 2020 and increasingly I am finding that BTTI wins over Hanson Day purely through the event’s size: 400 vs 1,000? It’s a no-brainer. And if Hanson meant it when they said there will be a World Tour in 2020, then that money would be better spent seeing a string of shows over here.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But whether it’s next year or 2021 or whenever, I know that I’ll be back in Tulsa at some point. There’s something really special about that city, something that transcends its status of Hanson Graceland: it’s the warmth of its people, it’s that feel of a small town that has made itself comfortable in the middle of a big city. It’s the only airport in the world where Taylor Hanson's voice welcomes you through the loudspeakers when you arrive, and where the friendliest, most approachable security wave you through as you leave. Can I blame the scores of Hanson fans who have chosen to make a home there? Not one bit.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">So long Tulsa, I’ll be back, Hanson-soon.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhda6bEOrPWU7NVi9XZzoUmh2Luf2TTRtbVPf754liw5tz7HoBkpWbBxodi66Kp0bwx3Qc07urRk4WsluZ9LglR6dnNq6uqUIpSRgwW3QYXp_XDBL2bU4YPa56PHtca_6yBmzZAiV92nzE/s1600/65674B89-045E-42E9-851D-17BD4DA836AE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhda6bEOrPWU7NVi9XZzoUmh2Luf2TTRtbVPf754liw5tz7HoBkpWbBxodi66Kp0bwx3Qc07urRk4WsluZ9LglR6dnNq6uqUIpSRgwW3QYXp_XDBL2bU4YPa56PHtca_6yBmzZAiV92nzE/s320/65674B89-045E-42E9-851D-17BD4DA836AE.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peek-a-Boo! - channelling my inner Isaac</td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>You can already RSVP for Hanson Day 2020 on <a href="https://hanson.net/tours-events">Hanson.net</a></i></span></span></div>
<br />asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-83578986435001295152019-05-05T08:09:00.001-07:002019-05-05T10:31:24.347-07:00Hanson in Europe: a belated review of the European String Theory Tour<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1"><b>String Theory</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">As readers of this blog already know, I had my reservations about the String Theory album, which had left me pretty underwhelmed. I figured that String Theory was a project designed to be appreciated as a live concert, with a full orchestra and the kind of acoustics that only a symphony hall can offer - not something cobbled together from mostly old recordings with the orchestral parts emailed over from Eastern Europe. A lot of my US friends had been to shows during the US leg of the tour and said the same: <i>you have to see it live</i>.<i> </i>I’d set out to avoid most spoilers - watching only a few seconds of clips here and there, just to get a sense of what to expect. I had to lift my self-imposed embargo for the String Theory show at BTTI, but aside from that, I made it to February with an open mind and my expectations still untainted. And so, on a cold Sunday afternoon, five days after returning from Jamaica and dragging a suitcase that was bursting at the seams, I boarded a train to Birmingham.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Following Hanson on a Whistle-Stop Tour of Europe’s Symphony Halls</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Birmingham</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">The orchestra steps onto the stage, the musicians take their seats, followed by the audible rustling of sheet music pages. Right from the start, the live experience of String Theory is very different from the album. As my first proper String Theory show, I was dazzled and swept away by the music to a point that I can’t really remember much, save for the audience and that was all for the wrong reasons. Drunken women yelled and catcalled the band throughout the performance - something that doesn’t usually happen at U.K. shows. To make things worse, towards the end a lot of those people rushed to the stage, taking selfies as they pouted, Kardashian-style, turning their back to the band, showing no respect to the very artists they had come to see. It was embarrassing, and the sad thing is that Hanson are probably used to it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeH5uXNck6rN1eKLZpS-IZmiU-iThY-wacAInld6njDaTpMPkebFf9DCXUz9Hi6_B7uFpvgIlkUHllgR9gkY41CylvpVJepLdISPda8kxctJFsmHUTi_lTRRm2MoLpB6z9gZhEVfbPgoE/s1600/P1040721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeH5uXNck6rN1eKLZpS-IZmiU-iThY-wacAInld6njDaTpMPkebFf9DCXUz9Hi6_B7uFpvgIlkUHllgR9gkY41CylvpVJepLdISPda8kxctJFsmHUTi_lTRRm2MoLpB6z9gZhEVfbPgoE/s320/P1040721.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birmingham, symphony style</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Manchester</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Manchester was my ‘home’ show - the closest one to home and also the one for which we had the best seats: I don’t even know how that happened but somehow I ended up sitting right in front of Isaac. If you haven’t experienced ‘seated front row’ at a Hanson show, let me tell you: it’s a very, very different experience from standing against the barrier. Maybe it’s the height disparity between artist and audience, combined with the fact that, at least for that particular show, the guys tend to stay put on their spot, but there were times when I really didn’t know where to look. But I digress: overall, Manchester had an even better energy than Birmingham, especially after the intermission, when the band - and Isaac in particular - came back bouncing around as if they’d just downed six espressos. The crowd was better behaved too, and I was glad to see security stop a repeat of the ‘selfies against the stage’ scene from the night before. You can’t pick your audience, but you can surely hire good security.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhragQlzhJ9pgbXz__R3rRciHwJPKVrO0FTNMs9LrI-Zrf9Gp87o5_VJhyANh_fivVf3ALREPqfOFhxu3iT2hssCOct-4Xhyphenhyphen35mREmdPE3v7EzHIKTKhbpgisj5Kfkz4lRcI60MpoRcZgk/s1600/P1040857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhragQlzhJ9pgbXz__R3rRciHwJPKVrO0FTNMs9LrI-Zrf9Gp87o5_VJhyANh_fivVf3ALREPqfOFhxu3iT2hssCOct-4Xhyphenhyphen35mREmdPE3v7EzHIKTKhbpgisj5Kfkz4lRcI60MpoRcZgk/s320/P1040857.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isaac in his trademark 'priest pose' in Manchester</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Nottingham</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2135170089876664">Setlist</a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Nottingham was a ‘rock’ show - i.e. a regular Hanson show without the orchestra, held at the legendary Rock City, the kind of place I would have seen bands in my twenties - dark, uninviting and located in a none too salubrious part of town. Inside, it was so cold that I kept my jacket on until well into the second support act.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I had prepared myself for a solid but predictable “MOE Tour” setlist and a “MOE Tour” -style experience to match: a lot of singles played one after another, with very little talking in between songs and the band somewhat on autopilot. But I was wrong. Hanson had put together a setlist that was more classics than greatest hits, and delivered it with so much energy and passion that I can honestly say it was one of the best Hanson shows I’ve seen to date.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBy3gR-OUMA64_BTLutSs6UyuKZlYsZT6qosLCH0NVh-4y6PEQytdAE6Hb70GinhFTRCAgR7JgouRBHNEHqZlDmHNLcXCZwOjX0fOtLoS_Pxj2ww1uaIq9aAuAeRIeYbpC2eHgbU8Gbg/s1600/IMG_1993.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBy3gR-OUMA64_BTLutSs6UyuKZlYsZT6qosLCH0NVh-4y6PEQytdAE6Hb70GinhFTRCAgR7JgouRBHNEHqZlDmHNLcXCZwOjX0fOtLoS_Pxj2ww1uaIq9aAuAeRIeYbpC2eHgbU8Gbg/s320/IMG_1993.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No jackets required in Nottingham</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>London</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The Royal Festival Hall show in London was sold out and you could tell that Hanson were feeding off that buzz. It should have been perfect - with a great performance, a packed venue and the band in top form, had it not been for the acoustics: sitting on seventh row, Zac side, the volume was too loud and and at times I could feel the bass rattling my bones. Like in Birmingham, there were, again, a lot of drunk people who danced on the aisles right from the start and who rushed up to the stage way before “No Rest for the Weary”, which is the third to last song in the setlist and the point at which Hanson get the audience to stand up. I had hoped that in a venue like the Royal Festival Hall people would know how to conduct themselves but obviously that was not the case. To make things worse, security seemed to be more interested in telling people to stop filming than to control the crowd.<br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">In terms of Hanson’s performance though, London had the best energy out of all three String Theory shows I had seen that week.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4SSaNZfUlHQabAXxma-smiETISdjDod5l-Fc4X8oAHk5nNcFbkyOrpessbwPfILKSIYs5m9OqNI-M0uv6nbTID3O4o5cUgH6SvIBD_gUyueogJ663JqPtvZo5GfJGmugNwqa9SC4W_Q/s1600/P1050190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4SSaNZfUlHQabAXxma-smiETISdjDod5l-Fc4X8oAHk5nNcFbkyOrpessbwPfILKSIYs5m9OqNI-M0uv6nbTID3O4o5cUgH6SvIBD_gUyueogJ663JqPtvZo5GfJGmugNwqa9SC4W_Q/s320/P1050190.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On stage at the Royal Festival Hall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Glasgow</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If I had to rate these shows by venue, Glasgow would definitely come last. The inside of the Royal Concert Hall certainly matched the outside in terms of its severe, utilitarian style, with a so-called bar that looked more like the cafeteria of my Sussex University department’s common room in the mid 90s than something fit for a symphony hall. However, by that point the chemistry between the band and the orchestra was absolutely perfect and finely tuned after three shows. Shame that Glasgow was the last U.K. show and that the orchestra would change in Utrecht.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruXBs8FK_T8RFpkEbJWKVZqwbg0fQyhac0A3FEQR9Fu8_JQdjzrUgUACt74c1JdBnTB_X_jvbJpA1sD9vkNC1TRSZVWptDiEwp2DwXWlNnCUaEWQpB9YnflHm457ReavXXpeAx_etI2Y/s1600/P1050248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruXBs8FK_T8RFpkEbJWKVZqwbg0fQyhac0A3FEQR9Fu8_JQdjzrUgUACt74c1JdBnTB_X_jvbJpA1sD9vkNC1TRSZVWptDiEwp2DwXWlNnCUaEWQpB9YnflHm457ReavXXpeAx_etI2Y/s320/P1050248.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
Glasgow, Scotland - but no kilt in sight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Utrecht</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If Glasgow was the worst venue, Utrecht was my favourite. The Tivoli is a truly beautiful theatre, with the stage located ‘in the round’, and despite a large overall capacity, the venue has a very intimate vibe. My Facebook status from that night confirms my memories of Utrecht being the best show of the whole tour - best venue, best atmosphere, an utterly flawless performance by the band, not to mention the best crowd made up by the most respectful Hanson fans I’d come across in a long time. It’s always hard to pinpoint what makes a show better than another: to use the title of a famous Queen song, ‘it’s a kind of magic’, of the type that Hanson can do so well when they want to. If they could turn it into a product, bottle it and sell it, the world would certainly be a better place.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvVpdkvG8yFUN5zWAnLh1ynpzI2LhjxRAStjNfWgP66KU1YxltStZP539jVqB55Q7_XmclNvONpsxbKdYETVtkok1yNHFNUamdm-Bu5CwWbsKUCvDLsEOfaKa6StYTUfFdDGhiEyDUCA/s1600/IMG_2371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvVpdkvG8yFUN5zWAnLh1ynpzI2LhjxRAStjNfWgP66KU1YxltStZP539jVqB55Q7_XmclNvONpsxbKdYETVtkok1yNHFNUamdm-Bu5CwWbsKUCvDLsEOfaKa6StYTUfFdDGhiEyDUCA/s320/IMG_2371.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A perfect show at the Tivoli</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Brussels</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The last show always carries a certain bittersweet quality and Brussels was no exception. As the opening notes of String Theory began to fill the theatre, I knew that it was the last time I’d hear an orchestra play Hanson songs for a long time. My everlasting memory of the final show of the tour, unfortunately, is the moment something went majorly wrong at the beginning of “Siren Call”: from where I was looking, it looked as if the orchestra had messed up - possibly having started too soon. Taylor turned to look at the conductor with a “WTF” expression, and from a video that a friend showed me recently, you can clearly see Zac also doing the same. They eventually rescued it, but it’s a shame that it happened in the first place. I guess that’s the risk the band took when they decided to play with orchestras they’d only met for the first time at soundcheck.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PD9-h9MMUHPj9j_aSDyUohkD8u6GK_FKYZrRMzBzLwV5m_69bKmWubwravwj7PHQWH2jjPRpJNY99X5QflATmSYGjZ1k-VsRVXl3l7xl_jNyTewfb-ArpKqUsJ-I1ASzbNAMKzlh4Wc/s1600/Screenshot+2019-05-05+at+15.58.56.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PD9-h9MMUHPj9j_aSDyUohkD8u6GK_FKYZrRMzBzLwV5m_69bKmWubwravwj7PHQWH2jjPRpJNY99X5QflATmSYGjZ1k-VsRVXl3l7xl_jNyTewfb-ArpKqUsJ-I1ASzbNAMKzlh4Wc/s320/Screenshot+2019-05-05+at+15.58.56.png" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After "No Rest" in Brussels</td></tr>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>The Overall Verdict</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>String Theory: Album vs Live</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">You can’t compare the two: with a real, live orchestra, String Theory fully comes to life, and the gimmicky nature of the recorded project is instantly forgotten, replaced by the rare auditory and visual treat of seeing a rock band play with a classical music slant. Trust me: seeing Hanson perform with the backing of a symphony orchestra is really a sight to behold and I challenge even the coldest hearted member of the audience not to get goosebumps.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWCtEkyXllp1uzO5rYbhyphenhyphenWm2xvMKj2LNtP42qi88HYPxKeHOPSql8sfYYDaIeDyXJwoCC3gxsuKbPqBmefnu_yVOf_fEAmuFzNnN7bjszpAh0OZz__5BXCzQMLevwlNl7JVW-5AGZJqo/s1600/P1050235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWCtEkyXllp1uzO5rYbhyphenhyphenWm2xvMKj2LNtP42qi88HYPxKeHOPSql8sfYYDaIeDyXJwoCC3gxsuKbPqBmefnu_yVOf_fEAmuFzNnN7bjszpAh0OZz__5BXCzQMLevwlNl7JVW-5AGZJqo/s320/P1050235.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The U.K. orchestra was rock'n'roll</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<b><span class="s1"></span><br /></b></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>The Repetition Factor</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">People have asked me if it doesn’t get boring to see several shows with the same identical setlist. My answer was no: <i>not yet</i> anyway. It might get repetitive after a while, but with six shows, I had the chance to see the stage from different angles, getting a slightly different experience in terms of visuals and acoustics the opportunity to focus on different songs and catch nuances I had missed before. Would I feel the same if I saw the show ten, fifteen, twenty times? Probably not, but I would certainly see the show again if Hanson brought it back as a one-off, something they clearly hinted at on several occasions. Now that String Theory has been tried and tested on the road, all that Hanson need to do is to find a venue and an orchestra, get on stage and play. Come to think of it, String Theory is like cake mix: you keep a box of Betty Crocker in the pantry, knowing that all you need is a couple of eggs to whip up a cake at a moment’s notice.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>A Non-Story</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br />
The one element of String Theory that didn’t really work for me was the through story with the boy as the protagonist. Aside from the frankly unoriginal theme, I found the connection between the narrative and the songs tenuous at most. Want some String Theory Sparknotes? Act I: Struggling! - Act II: Fighting Back! There: that’s all you need to know to pass the test.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>The Audience</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br />
Hanson wanted to make String Theory a special experience for fans: seated shows and music to listen to and enjoy in a different way from the usual GA show. They even say that at the introduction of every concert: I don’t have an exact transcript but the gist of it is, ‘sit down and be quiet until we tell you to stand up, three songs from the end’. Unfortunately, a lot of fans are unable to adapt to a different concert setting, and think it’s perfectly okay to stand up and block somebody’s view when everybody else is sitting down. Some people also think it’s perfectly acceptable to catcall the band members, ‘Zac, I love you!’, ‘Taylor, you’re so hot!’ - in the middle of a song. And it’s a depressing sign of the times when it becomes more important to have a photo of yourself with the band in the background, than to show respect to them as they are playing a show.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Unfortunately, this is the state of things and all you can do in those situations is grin and bear it, and maybe hope that security will do their job. You can’t argue with inconsiderate people and to make matters worse, we live in a Kardashianised, Instagram-obsessed world. But I can’t help wondering what Hanson are really thinking when they see their audience treat their life long dream symphony project like a bachelorette party.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Conclusions</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It’s clear that Hanson love String Theory: their passion for the project clearly came across at every single one of the performances I saw. Would I see it again? Of course: and I hope Hanson will bring it back, maybe as a one-off show here and there, maybe in between regular concerts - in a reversal of this year’s UK tour with the show in Nottingham. String Theory was more than just a series of shows - it was a whole different experience, and I loved the fact that we could dress up and rock up to our seats fifteen minutes before a show, without having to queue for hours. We don’t often get seated shows in Europe and that was definitely part of the fun. But I’m looking forward to having the ‘real’ Hanson experience again too and Nottingham certainly whet my appetite in that respect. So let’s hope a new album is in the making because, for all the bells and whistles, you really can’t beat the alchemy of Hanson, Andrew and Dimitrius and a bunch of new songs - live on stage playing to a packed standing crowd. Didn’t I tell you? It’s a kind of magic.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCwbLUoKrQDFuQLJMsLB73DnPo17kFbq_YEtTnVK_vbUJpbTCN0fh8RqC9htoJ3sbVRpqVztszczy8nk94gR3aA9s9RMrvJKqAHaXmOxTxkLYNsCpgJdJHbyUwrXwk2SEGkkECv1L2sM/s1600/IMG_3396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCwbLUoKrQDFuQLJMsLB73DnPo17kFbq_YEtTnVK_vbUJpbTCN0fh8RqC9htoJ3sbVRpqVztszczy8nk94gR3aA9s9RMrvJKqAHaXmOxTxkLYNsCpgJdJHbyUwrXwk2SEGkkECv1L2sM/s320/IMG_3396.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
Hanson will be performing String Theory in Tulsa on 17th May 2019 (sold out).</i></span>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-28155136120553483242019-03-04T10:03:00.005-08:002019-03-04T10:21:14.918-08:00BTTI 2019: An Executive Summary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It started badly, with a repeat of last year’s weather that was more <i>Back to the Quagmire</i> than <i>Back to the Island</i>, and as a result, our first day was spent between huddling under the Level gazebo and swimming in the rain. It definitely felt like a lost day, although at least the rain had stopped in time for the show to take place on the beach rather than in the dreaded “Greenhouse”.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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<span class="s1">This year, there were no official daytime activities other than a Q&A on String Theory, which was interesting enough until I found myself zoning out at the umpteenth “I come from a village in Brazil” mention. The lack of activities meant that we had more time to spend by the pool - something many of us welcomed. But on the last day we found out that the Dunn’s River excursion, which for this year had strangely been included in the price, had featured a surprise appearance from Taylor. My friends and I had been to Dunn’s River before and as a result, we had chosen to skip the excursion: needless to say, we were disappointed to have missed out. Apparently some people had been given hints from IG staff that it would be 'worth' going on the excursion; but that information had not reached us. So a Hanson surprise turned into a missed opportunity for anyone who had stayed at the resort, not to mention for fans with mobility problems, for whom a climb up that treacherous waterfall was out of the question anyway.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Aside from the Dunn’s River fiasco though, this year’s BTTI was the most fun for me. I had a great group of friends, I splashed around in the pool, I did yoga on the beach and made the most out of the free time that this year’s activity-free schedule afforded us. It was great to see a couple of members of staff again - Christina at the buffet and Juliet at the Level Grill (and yes, she remembered <a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2018/01/catching-hanson-bug-on-pictures-day.html">rescuing me from the helicopter-like bug on Pictures Day</a> the previous year).</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I loved sitting by the bonfire late at night, catching up with with friends I’ve known online for a while but never properly got to hang out with before. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; text-align: center;">For the first time, I fully embraced the party vibe of Taylor’s DJ set, dancing with my roommate like we <i>really</i> didn’t care. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; text-align: center;">I stayed up until ridiculous o’clock every night, got very little sleep and <i>je ne regrette </i></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; text-align: center;"><i>rien</i></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; text-align: center;">. I can’t help it: the </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; text-align: center;">nighthawk </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; text-align: center;">in me likes nothing better than those late night, liquor-fuelled conversations that just happen in that twilight zone between the end of a party and closing time, when the lure of an empty barstool and the unmistakable scent of sanity will cause the strangest, whackiest Bukowskian characters to latch on to you in a determined, but ultimately futile attempt to gatecrash your party.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a reason why Hopper's "Nighthawks" is my favourite painting</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">And inevitably I felt nothing but utter despair the next morning, when, after three hours’ sleep, I found myself having to pack a suitcase in record time - a record I however managed to beat, with no hair straighteners left behind.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Almost two days later and I was home, looking tired and bedraggled and sporting the kind of greasy skin you get after three flights and a diet of airline food. I unzipped my suitcase to be greeted by a ton of laundry, a beach towel I will never bring myself to use and a bank of awesome memories that will see me through the rest of the year.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This year, however, there’d be no time for the usual post BTTI blues to set in: less than a week later I would be packing my suitcase once again, albeit for way less exotic destinations: String Theory was coming to Europe. So goodbye Jamaica, hello Birmingham: but that’s for another post altogether.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">Back to the Island is an event run by Island Gigs on behalf of Hanson. All information for the 2020 event can be found <a href="https://hanson.net/btti2020">here</a>.</span></i></div>
<br />asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-17677953553699897102019-03-03T10:04:00.000-08:002019-03-04T10:32:17.110-08:00Pick a Favourite Hanson Brother: the battle of the solo sets<i>(Trigger warning: this post contains references to the loss of a parent.)</i><br />
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<b>Zac: A Coming of Age</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2114600638600276?__tn__=-R">Setlist</a><br />
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If you read <a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2018/01/day-2-when-hanson-set-world-on-fire-in.html">my blog posts on last year’s BTTI</a>, you might recall that I’d been very unimpressed by Zac’s solo set. Well, this year Zac amply made up for it: first, I loved the setlist, which included two new songs, <i>“Reading Your Mind”</i> and <i>“The Ballad of Seymour Better Times”</i> (the latter had first been performed at the 2018 solo set). I will never tire of <i>“Musical Ride”</i> which sums up the life of a Hanson fan, and I’ll forgive Zac for messing up the beginning of <i>“Fire on the Mountain”</i>. Predictably, <i>“Bittersweet”</i>- by now a regular staple of these solo sets - made an appearance, and the rarely played <i>“Use Me Up”</i> also got some airtime, preceded by a funny introduction in which Zac recalled how that song had caused concern among some fans about his mental well-being.<br />
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I first saw Zac perform a solo set in 2015, and back then he performed song after song without much talking. Without his brothers on stage, Zac seemed a little uncomfortable, too focused his performance to interact with the audience. Fast forward to 2019 and it’s impossible not to notice how the youngest Hanson has come out of his shell - how relaxed he now looks on stage on his own, joking, introducing songs, making fun of his mistakes. It was without a doubt the best Zac solo set I’d seen so far, and afterwards, I found myself contemplating the possibility of switching to Team Zac. There, I’ve said it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YOU! Join my team, now!</td></tr>
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<b>Isaac: Give A Little Déjà Vu</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2116836745043332?__tn__=-R">Setlist</a><br />
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I could have sworn that Isaac had played <i>“Too Much”</i> - a David Garza cover- last year, but a quick check through past setlists proved me wrong: he’d last played it in 2017. Similarly, <i>“More than Anything”</i>, which Isaac had not included in last year’s solo set, had still, however, made an appearance in the 2018 Members Only setlist.<br />
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There were still some repeats from 2018: <i>“Smile”</i>, the now ever-present <i>“A Life Without You”</i>, <i>“River”</i> and <i>“Being Me”</i>, and a few returners from 2017 - my Hanson-imprinting-song, <i>“Deeper”</i> and the universally loved Isaac lead <i>“Watch Over Me”</i>, which was interesting to hear as a solo. We also got treated to a performance of <i>“Bad for Me”</i> from last year’s <i>Animal Instincts</i> EP (you know, The One With Two Isaac Leads?).<br />
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It was a good, solid set and I enjoyed it, but I would have liked to hear at least a couple of never played - or rarely played - songs, like <i>“I Don’t Know”</i> (which my friend Kasey has been requesting at every available opportunity) or the still elusive <i>“Grace Unknown”</i>, which Isaac attempted, and unfortunately messed up, in 2016. Maybe next year. As it stands, my favourite Isaac Solo Set remains Cancun 2015 when he totally brought down the house, with even people from neighbouring hotels cheering from their windows.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I need to hang on to my team...but how?</td></tr>
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<b>Taylor: Ocean’s Eleven</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.hansonstage.com/setlist.php?show_id=1265">Setlist</a><br />
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One can’t help wonder how many people handed over their credit cards to Island Gigs for BTTI 2019 on the strength of Taylor’s ‘swim in the ocean’ the previous year. I’m telling you, that man knows how to get his hands on your hard-earned cash. This year, however, there were no stampedes into the ocean, just a succession of songs that made the set feel unusually long. Taylor’s solo sets tend to be short and on point: he comes, he plays, he conquers, and in an mmmbop, he’s gone. I was convinced that this year’s set had run longer, but a quick check of last year’s setlist proved that I just imagined things (that’s the Taylor Hanson effect for you) - both 2018 and 2019 sets included 11 songs.<br />
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Among those eleven, he played <i>“Lost Without You”</i>, which rarely gets the full band treatment, and <i>“This is Criminal”</i> - a song from Fools Banquet which most fans seem to really like, but that left me largely indifferent.<br />
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I was left anything but indifferent, however, a couple of songs later when Taylor played <i>“Never Let Go”</i>. I’d heard that song live plenty of times by now but that day something felt different; maybe it was the setting, the ‘other’ show that was doing its thing in the background, palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze, the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Whatever the reasons, this time that song really got to me, and I was taken back to a hot day in June 2016, to a hospice room next door to the one where my father, too, had spent his last days, eight months earlier. In a room that was named after a classical composer, I waited all day for my mother to let go. She had already gone, really, sent on her way by a cocktail of drugs administered before we could get there. She had let me and my sister go the night before, when she'd sent us home so that she could watch the Rosary on TV and we could get some rest.<br />
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Sometimes only music or poetry can articulate how you feel, so I’ll let the song do the rest.<br />
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<i>Just lay down, and let your worries sleep</i><br />
<i>Don't think now, the water's dark and deep</i><br />
<i>Cause you know</i><br />
<i>That I love you and never let go</i><br />
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<i>Just lay down, put those worried thoughts to rest</i><br />
<i>So when life pulls you down, on my shoulder rest your head</i><br />
<i>Cause you know</i><br />
<i>That I love you and never let go</i><br />
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Soon I had tears streaming down my face - a first for me, in a lifetime of concert going. As I frantically searched for tissues in my bag, I was also acutely conscious that I was three rows into the crowd, facing the piano at exactly the right angle to be in Taylor’s line of sight. For once, I was really glad that he had kept his sunglasses on, so that I didn’t have to see him see me.<br />
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But you know what? It makes me feel a little better to know that there were a lot of other people in tears during that performance, and I like to believe that there was some collective healing going on at that moment, for all those of us who needed it. <i>Does it move you? Does it soothe you?</i> Sometimes the answer is a very straightforward <i>yes</i>.<br />
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Tears aside, Taylor’s solo set was terrific and even managed to de-throne Zac from my personal BTTI 2019 Solo Set Chart. That presented a new problem though: would I have to switch to Team Taylor?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My team has a waiting list: get in line!</td></tr>
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(Full video of "Never Let Go" at BTTI 2019 - credit to Monica Pereira)<br />
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<a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2019/03/btti-2019-executive-summary.html">Click here for the final post: BTTI: An Executive Summary</a></div>
asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-84199345634735766782019-02-28T15:20:00.002-08:002019-03-04T10:31:45.928-08:00The Members Only Show: "a really bad night" for Hanson?<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1">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.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">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 <i>“Best of Times”</i>. Shame, because the Isaac lead from the 2013 <i>Sound of Light</i> 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 <i>“On and On”</i>, one of the most visually striking songs in Hanson’s repertoire, providing a rare opportunity to see the three brothers play guitar together. Only, this time the only Hanson with a guitar was Zac, as Taylor and Isaac waited, to no avail, for someone to bring them their instruments.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br />Zac started to play and for a few awkward seconds we were reminded that Taylor doesn’t know what to do with himself when he’s not playing an instrument or bouncing around the stage, whacking his thigh with a tambourine. After performing some comedy air guitar, Taylor finally went to fetch a shaker. That solution didn’t keep Taylor happy for very long: he unceremoniously handed over the shaker to Isaac before heading over to the sound tent. The whole situation was frankly bizarre: I don’t know why nobody had brought Isaac and Taylor their guitars - it could be that they were still being tuned, or maybe their tech forgot, although that seems really unlikely as even the Melia’s stray cats would have known that during <i>“On and On”</i> three guitars would be needed - and I’m pretty sure their sound tech could actually stand in for the band by now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.7px;">There was one glitch after another, and at one point - I can’t remember exactly when - Taylor’s keyboard was taken away and replaced with a different one. The show then took a turn for the seriously wrong with </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.7px;">“Stop Me in My Tracks”</i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.7px;"> - my notes say ‘forgot most of the lyrics’. Hanson forgetting lyrics is nothing new, but this time it felt different because the guys weren’t making a joke of it. And then, during </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.7px;">“Dance Like You Don’t Care” </i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.7px;"> - another BTTI staple - the whole thing fell apart: Taylor, seemingly unable to recall more than a few lines of the lyrics, looked panic-stricken, and at one point, as he opened his mouth to sing, no sound was coming out. To me, Taylor looked as if his mind had gone completely blank.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.7px;"> </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Of the three brothers, Taylor is undeniably the perfectionist and a consummate professional who rarely makes mistakes on stage - if anything, he’s the one who shoots his brothers dirty looks when they mess up - with Isaac usually, and more than justifiably, at the receiving end. Seeing Taylor Hanson freeze onstage is something I was not prepared for, and it almost felt wrong as I watched in utter disbelief as the usually unflappable Hanson brother tried, and failed, to get it together. At one point, a couple of us exchanged worried looks; someone said ‘maybe he’s sick?’. Whatever the reasons for the meltdown, I felt really sorry for Taylor in that moment, and I wished I could have told him that everything was going to be okay - that he was playing to his fans, and that we would always have his back. But my telepathic communication skills are somewhat underdeveloped and, when, a couple of songs later, Taylor sat at the drums for <i>“I Don’t Want to Go Home”</i>, he looked utterly dejected.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Hanson still managed to partly rescue the set towards the end, with some classics from their repertoire - <i>“Thinkin’ Bout Something”</i>, <i>“Give a Little” </i>and <i>“If Only”</i> - songs that, by now, the band could probably perform in their sleep. It was a good save, undone, however, by a frankly terrible performance of the ultimate BTTI final set song, the eponymous <i>“Back to the Island”</i> which Hanson and their musical guests usually sing together. Lewis Watson was on the congas, while Jacob Tovar mysteriously refused to join the band on stage; then the song started and as usual, Isaac forgot some of the lyrics. But Isaac forgetting that song’s lyrics is almost expected: there was something else, but as I’m not a musician, all I can say is that, to me, it sounded really, really ‘off’.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least it's over!</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">When it was over, the guys disappeared inside the sound tent and I thought, is that how BTTI 2019 ends? But soon a tech was taping lyrics sheets onto the stage floor, and then the band came out again for a Zac-led cover of Journey’s <i>“Don’t Stop Believing”</i>. I am not exaggerating when I say that Zac saved the day - or the night - with that performance. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that, in many ways, Zac was the real star of BTTI 2019 but I will save that for my final post. Then, still probably trying to make up for a less-than-perfect show, Hanson treated us to a flawless rendition of <i>“Wish That I Was There”</i>. Hanson harmonies are like unicorn dust, and for a couple of minutes, I was under the spell again, endorphins flooding every available space between my nerve cells. <i>“Ahhhh” - </i>I thought<i>, “That’s what it’s supposed to be like. Here’s my credit card, and as you’re there, have one of my kidneys too, oh- and my soul.”</i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When Zac said 'this is my rockstar pose!'</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.7px;">Sadly, the rush from that particular Hanson-hit was short-lived, and as the band took their final bow and left the stage for the last time on the island that year, I stood there and wondered, “what the hell did just happen tonight?”</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last bow</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">And yet, despite the daisychain of errors that had plagued the show, I’d still enjoyed the Members Set, at least in part. The setlist had a good mix of songs from Members Kits and recent EPs and when things were going right, the guys were full of energy. When I was filling the BTTI 2019 feedback form last week, I ranked that almost-disastrous final show higher than the technically successful but somewhat underwhelming Rock All Night set.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Everybody can have a bad night, including Hanson, and the Members Only concert at this year’s BTTI was clearly a case of ‘a really bad night’. There might have been other factors at play; during his solo set, Taylor had openly admitted to being tired, something that an early start for the excursion to Dunn’s River would not have helped. In addition to that, BTTI was taking place on the back of a busy year for Hanson, who were flying to Europe a week after the event for the next leg of the String Theory tour.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">So it doesn’t take a huge leap of the imagination to figure out that maybe Hanson let standards slip a bit this year, possibly through the false sense of security afforded by the success of an event that was now in its seventh year - a magnified case of ‘it’ll be alright on the night’. But one only had to see the look on Taylor’s face to know that <i>he knew</i> that it wasn’t alright: and so, perhaps, that disappointing show was a much-needed wake-up call for Hanson, the motivation they need to raise their game for BTTI 2020, to refresh the setlists and above all, to remember that a lot of things can go wrong even in tropical paradise.</span></div>
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<a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2019/03/pick-favourite-hanson-brother-battle-of.html"><span class="s1"></span>Click here for the next post: The Battle of The Solo Sets</a></div>
<br />asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-31962927989469216582019-02-26T09:27:00.001-08:002019-03-01T09:49:38.093-08:00Symphony on the Beach: Hanson give String Theory the Island Treatment<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1"><i>Please note: this post was written before I saw a ‘real’ String Theory show with an orchestra.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>Click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/2115022725224734">here for the full setlist.</a></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">If you read my <a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2018/12/what-is-string-theory-close-listen-to.html">two part review of the String Theory double album</a>, 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.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">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 that.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">What I was looking forward to the most about the ST show was the opportunity to hear those songs with the orchestral arrangements and the guys’ voices as they sound now, and as the set started, I knew I was not going to be disappointed. Performed live, <i>“Reaching for the Sky”</i> had an ethereal quality that just does not come across on record, and if it sounded beautiful against a backing track, I can only imagine what it will be like with an actual orchestra. <i>“Joyful Noise”</i> was uplifting, and Zac’s voice sounded better than it does on the studio version - especially as he omitted those breathy Michael Jackson-style ‘ahhs’ in between ‘go tell the doctor’ and ‘that it heals your soul’. <i>“Dream It Do It”</i> was inspired and anthemic and Zac’s voice was pitch-perfect on <i>“Chasing Down My Dreams”</i>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Remember when I said in part 1 of my album review that <i>“Siren Call”</i> was the best song in the album? I’m even more convinced of that now: <i>“Siren Call”</i> is a dark horse that haunts you well after the catchier, better-known songs have faded from memory. <i>“Me Myself and I”</i> has taken on a whole new meaning <a href="http://www.travelingfan.net/2018/11/me-myself-and-i.html">since I’ve read Holly’s theory on the lyrics</a> - on how the whole meaning of the song changed when an ‘it’ became ‘we’. Holly’s alternative take on the song casts a darker, sombre shadow on our perception of the band, and I couldn’t help thinking of something Zac had said during the Q&A - a hint at the difficulties of being a band after so many years, when your interests and priorities are changing. I am paraphrasing, of course, but that was definitely the gist of what he was saying, and it doesn’t come as a big surprise after all, especially about the much-hyped ‘near split’ of 2012. On a happier note though, I love the fact that, in String Theory “<i>Me Myself and I”</i> Isaac gets to sing a verse, so as far as I’m concerned, this version is actually superior to the original.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">After a symbolic intermission of less than a minute, the show continued with <i>“Battle Cry”</i> - one of my favourite songs in the album. As I had hoped, <i>“Battle Cry” </i> sounded absolutely epic live and Zac slayed it. That’s one song I am dying to hear with the full orchestra. And I felt the same after a poignant performance of <i>“Breaktown”</i>- which gains a whole new level of depth now that it’s being sung by a man in his thirties. I can’t help thinking that the best thing about the String Theory project is that songs like <i>“Broken Angel”</i> and <i>“Breaktown”</i> are now in heavy rotation, together with EP tracks like <i>“Joyful Noise”</i> and “<i>No Rest for the Weary” </i>that would otherwise only ever get aired at members only events. I don’t know if Hanson are particularly interested in reaching the general public these days, but I’m glad that they’re putting these songs out there; they showcase a band that has done a lot more than writing a hit song in the 90s.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">After getting the crowd to pump their fists in the air with <i>“I Was Born” </i>and an equally charged <i>“Sound of Light”</i>, the show ended with “Tonight” - another song seldom played before String Theory. Once the band left the stage and the lights were out, I felt that I’d just been present to something really special that will probably never happen again. String Theory “BTTI Edition” may not have been the real thing, and there were a few occasions when the live instruments drowned out the backing track, but that was a price worth paying to get the symphony experience on a beach, in the middle of the Caribbean and under a sky so packed with stars that it felt like being under the vault of a planetarium.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Do the stars shine brighter there?</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">As a 5th year islander, it’s fair to say that ‘I’ve been there before’, but without a doubt, String Theory on the beach was a show I will never forget.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><b><a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-members-only-show-really-bad-night.html">Click here for Part 3!</a></b></i></span></div>
<br />asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-25607147202712051232019-02-25T16:22:00.000-08:002019-03-04T10:25:39.304-08:00BTTI 2019 Part I : Rocking All Night with Hanson<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1">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 <i>Rock All Night</i> 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.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Hanson opened the show with an acapella version of <i>“Back to the Island”</i>, followed by <i>“Fired Up”</i> , which, with its instantly recognisable guitar intro, is a somewhat predictable but very fitting start to a concert with a rockier slant. <i>“I’ve Got Soul”</i> - 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 <i>heavy</i>. Another recognisable guitar riff introduced the <i>I’ll-be-damned-if-that’s-not-autobiographical</i> <i>“Heartbreaker”</i> - a Taylor lead from the 2012’s EP <i>“No Sleep for Banditos”</i> and a song I always enjoy hearing live way more than on the recording, partly because of the guitar solo that gives Isaac an opportunity to show off. Next, it was Zac’s turn to sing lead next with <i>“And I Waited”</i> - another staple of Hanson’s rockier repertoire, although not a favourite of mine, followed by <i>“You Never Know”</i>.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Things took a surprising turn with <i>“This Time Around”</i>: the Hanson classic is part of the String Theory setlist, so I wasn’t expecting to hear it. Don’t get me wrong: I like that song a lot, but why use up a spot for something that would feature in tomorrow’s show? Afterwards, we were back to the Anthem-era with <i>“Get The Girl Back” </i>- a song whose only saving grace is that grapevine routine Taylor and Isaac often do onstage mid-song. When I heard <i>“Thinking of You”</i> next I thought, ‘please play something I actually want to hear?’.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Mercifully, the setlist gods listened to my prayers, and we got “Hand in Hand”, a classic Isaac lead that is also affectionately referred to by fans as <i>“Segabuy”</i>. My rating for a live performance of <i>“Hand in Hand” </i>is firmly based on the state of Isaac’s hair: if his usually slicked-back locks collapse on his face in a rebellious corkscrew curl, it’s a 10/10. Yes, I demand total hair destruction for “<i>Segabuy”</i>. Unfortunately, whatever hair spray Isaac used that night before he took to the stage was just too strong: the locks stayed put and as a result, my rating was a measly 7/10.</span><br />
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When <i>“Look At You”</i> followed, my suspicions were confirmed: that was a setlist aimed squarely at first timers. I have no hard data to prove it, but I get a feeling that a lot of new islanders are also new members, who got back into Hanson through the MOE album and tour of 2017 and who are mostly familiar with the old material. That’s my theory anyway: it makes sense, and I’m sticking to it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>“Great Divide” </i>came to the rescue: it’s a song that always showcases Hanson at their very best, with its passionate message and uplifting vibe. I couldn’t say the same for <i>‘Hey’</i>, whose inclusion in this particular setlist made zero sense to me. I found <i>“Make it Out Alive”</i> was another peculiar choice because none of the <i>Shout it Out</i> songs are very rock’n’roll (incidentally, I keep voting for SIO as a BTTI theme, with zero chances).</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Another setlist spot was taken by a String Theory track - the thief in question being <i>“Where’s the Love”</i>. I was not impressed: surely even first timers would have been happy to hear the orchestral version of the same song on the following day? That’s when Hanson Logic defeats me. And yes, I did the finger dance anyway because there are times in every Hanson fan’s life when principles need to be put aside for the greater good, and that was one of such times.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">But things weren’t getting any better for me with <i>“Tearing it Down” </i>and even less so with <i>“Man from Milwaukee”</i>: rock all night, <i>what</i>? I was relieved to hear <i>“Lost Without Each Other”</i> - one of my favourite tracks from <i>Underneath</i> - not exactly rock but it would do. <i>“A Minute Without You”</i> has a great guitar riff so it got a pass (and it’s an Isaac lead), only to be followed by <i>“Voice in the Chorus”</i> - another one from my Least Favourite Top 10. I was beginning to despair when I heard the opening chords of <i>“The Ugly Truth”</i> - finally we were rocking again. Then Hanson cranked it up few notches with <i>“Rollercoaster Love”</i>, a great choice, despite a couple of moments when Taylor didn’t look too certain about the lyrics. The show had just picked up when - alas - it was over. Or not quite, because, of course, Hanson had an encore for us: what better way to end a <i>Rock All Night</i> set<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>than with <i>“In the City”</i>? <i>Do you love MAY</i>? Hell yes.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">There was no doubt that the first show of BTTI 2019 had ended on a high note, and I was grateful to the Universe and all the weather-connected gods that we’d had a show on the beach rather than in the dreaded “Greenhouse”. But it certainly wasn’t the best opening show I’d experienced in five years of BTTI, and not only due to song choices. There were some technical problems at the beginning, and I couldn’t hear Taylor’s voice at all during the first part of <i>“Fired Up”</i>, to the point that I’d wondered why he was letting fans sing in his place. It was an okay show, and if I’m being critical, it’s because, well, that’s the whole point of a review: you tell the truth, or at least, <i>your truth</i>. But trust me when I say that, despite the not-very-rock setlist, seeing a Hanson show on a Jamaican beach is still a pretty damn special experience, and that night, I wouldn’t have swapped that beach for anywhere else in the world.</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2019/02/symphony-on-beach-hanson-give-string.html">Click here for Part II: String Theory </a></span></i></div>
<span style="color: black;"><i><a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-members-only-show-really-bad-night.html">Click here for Part III: Members Only</a></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2019/03/pick-favourite-hanson-brother-battle-of.html">Click here for Part IV: The Solo Sets</a></span><br />
<a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2019/03/btti-2019-executive-summary.html">Click here for Part V: An Executive Summary</a>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-88698471265052811512019-01-23T04:03:00.001-08:002019-01-23T08:50:55.731-08:00Ten Things to Know Before You Hit The Island<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re heading to Jamaica for the first time next week, you might be feeling a little apprehensive about this much-talked about Hanson event, which is now in its seventh year. So, as a semi-veteran (I have attended four BTTIs so far, 2015-18), I thought I’d share my Top 10 tips for a smooth and fun vacation at what some of us refer to as Hanson Summer Camp.</span><br />
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<b>#1</b><br />
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Give yourself a chance to acclimatise to the Caribbean sun: wear plenty of sunscreen and take some breaks in the shade. Looking like a lobster for the rest of the event sucks, and looking like a lobster in your picture with the band sucks even more. Don’t forget that sunscreen even if the sky is overcast: last year I ended up with sunburn one side of my body just from sitting at the swim-up bar drinking shots to keep warm in the dreadful weather.<br />
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<b>#2</b><br />
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It’s easy to get carried away when you first get to the all-inclusive but take it from me and pace yourself with the drinking: you don’t want to spend the evening semi-comatose in your room when everybody else is out socialising. And on no account ever drink two shots of <strike>neat gin</strike> battery acid at a Jamaican resort, even if it was brought to you by a friend to celebrate some great news you’d just received* (I’m looking at you, Kaitlin).<br />
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<b>#3</b><br />
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Be chill (1). If you want to camp out from the crack of dawn to get a front row spot, by all means, camp out, but leave the Regular Hanson Show Combat Mode at home: the Island is not the place for line drama, hand numbers and scowling at other fans if they’re getting half an inch closer.<br />
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Be chill (2). Stampeding towards the guys the moment they appear on the horizon will only make them want to leg it as fast as possible. Act normal and they might actually stop and chat to you. [I know that this will fall on deaf ears, but I had to say it anyway].<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talking to Zac in 2016</td></tr>
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<b>#5</b></div>
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<b><br /></b>Be prepared for unwelcome changes to your digestive system. All those sugary cocktails can play havoc with your gut and you might find yourself using the bathroom too much - or not enough. Pack some Imodium and a few sachets of Fybogel just in case. You don’t want to get to Pictures day looking like you’ve swallowed a watermelon - and yes, I speak from experience - I learnt my lesson in 2015.<br />
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<b>#6</b></div>
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<b><br /></b>Roll with it. Plans go awry on the Island - nothing quite goes the way expect it, for some reason, so just go with the flow and take the opportunity to meet new people, go to dinner with someone you don’t know very well, talk to staff, explore the resort. Sitting on the sand for hours on end to preserve your spot is not going to be the kind of memory you’ll cherish for months on end when you get home. Again, I speak from experience: I missed out on the banquet under the stars in 2016 to save my spot and no, it wasn’t worth it.<br />
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Decide on a ‘go-to’ drink that can be made quickly so that you won’t have to wait for ages for a Piña Colada as the show is about to start. Mine is Appleton and Coke, and ordering it with a dollar bill in your hand gets you swift service from the overworked bartender who will spot the golden combination of an easily made drink + tip.<br />
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<b>#8</b><br />
Due to an unknown universal law, Pictures Day at BTTI will always fall on the sunniest, hottest day of the entire event, even if you had monsoon weather until the day before. Therefore, dress accordingly and bring a hat for when you’re lining up in the sun. If you’re planning to wear Spanx under your dress, you have been warned. On the plus side, shapewear will make you sweat so much that afterwards you’ll feel like you’ve just had one of those slimming body wraps.<br />
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<b>#9</b><br />
If there’s a song you’d really like to hear and you get a chance to speak to one of the guys, do ask them if they could play it: they may well accommodate your request. (However, yelling your request during a set is mightily annoying).<br />
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<b>#10</b><br />
Share the love: tip the staff, but have a chat with them too. Find out about someone’s life, make a connection. Over the years, I’ve had some great conversations with the bartenders at the swim-up bars, Sophia, the beauty therapist at the spa, Uriah, the groundskeeper I saw every morning on my way to breakfast as he tended to the gardens. I’ll never forget chatting with our waiter Rogelio at the buffet in Cancun, despite the fact that he didn’t speak English and my understanding of Spanish is non-existent. On the last day, we hugged and took photos together. I looked like crap, so I won’t post it, but that brief connection with someone from a different part of the world, with a very different life to mine, will be something I’ll never forget.<br />
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These are just my top ten tips but everybody has their own - everybody experiences BTTI differently and there is no right or wrong way to do it: it’s your vacation. Just remember why we are all there: to hear some great music under the stars, in the company of friends and people from all over the world. If you’re like me, those memories will keep you going for the rest of the year and when you’re back on the daily grind, looking at those BTTI pictures on your commute to work will be guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.<br />
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So go and pack that bag now, hit that Bob Marley playlist and get ready for an unforgettable time in crazy, beautiful Jamaica.<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Back to the Island is an event hosted for <a href="https://hanson.net/btti2019">Hanson</a> by <a href="https://www.islandgigs.com/">Island Gigs</a></i></span></div>
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asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-8734353561042217632019-01-21T17:31:00.000-08:002019-01-22T02:49:36.101-08:00What is String Theory? Flipping the record for Side 2<b><br /></b>
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<b>Reaching for the Sky Pt.2</b><br />
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The story continues: <br />
As the boy grew to a man<br />
He built tall ladders to ascend<br />
And those around him said with spite<br />
Risk of failure isn't worth the fight.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lyrics.hansonstage.com/lyrics.php?song_id=522">[Full lyrics on Hansonstage]</a><br />
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The song picks up from where Part 1 left off and tells us more about the boy, who is now striving against difficulties and fighting against all odds.<br />
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<b>This Time Around</b><br />
<br />
The general consensus is that the vocals were re-recorded for TTA - possibly due to the publishing rights still being owned by Def Jam. Isaac, in particular, sounds very much as ‘current’ Isaac as he belts out his verse.<br />
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But vocals aside, I keep forgetting that there’s an orchestra playing - it’s very subtle in the intro and my brain just tunes out all the new stuff and fixates on the familiar: i.e. a track I’ve listened to a million times. As the orchestra kicks in properly halfway through, so does the horns section, and it sounds like everything was thrown in indiscriminately, favouring noise over subtlety. All that is missing is a chorus line and pyrotechnics.<br />
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<b>Something Going Round</b><br />
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This revisiting of a fan favourite from <i>The Walk </i>album is introduced by some seriously dramatic sounding strings which set the tone for the rest of the song. Although the vocals are clearly from the existing recording, SGR is one of the few tracks in the album that sounds different enough for my mind not to instantly default to the original version.<br />
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<b>Battle Cry</b><br />
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Ahhh, Battle Cry….where to start? Thanks to my self-imposed String Theory embargo, I didn’t know anything about this song, so I went in with an unbiased mind, noticing, before anything else, that the guitar intro is totally ‘old school’ U2 - think <i>Unforgettable Fire</i>-era U2. Then the singing starts and…. what's going on? I can usually tell what brother is singing but this time the similarities between the two younger Hanson's voices is uncanny and for the first time in years I got Zac and Taylor mixed up, at least right up until around 0:33 In my defence, I think that’s also because in recent years, Zac seems to be favouring singing in a high key and falsetto over his deep, rich natural singing timbre - which he uses in this song.<br />
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At around the point at which Zac starts to sound like Zac, <i>Battle Cry</i> really starts to sound like something familiar, until the the chorus erupts and it all becomes clear: this is golden era, first-three-albums-era Killers, complete with Brandon Flowers-style histrionics, rousing chorus, insistent drums and sweeping strings. Possibly because of its distinctive retro sound, this song was love at first play for me - until I found out that it’s not a new song at all. It turns out that <i>Battle Cry</i> is a product Fools Banquet 2010, and was co-written by Zac and Carrick Moore Gerety, and later published by Carrick’s then band, Everybody Else.<br />
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I can’t pretend not to be at least a little disappointed that the best song in the album is not new material. Of course, that doesn't diminish the quality of the song itself, but I was all set for proclaiming to the world ‘See? See? Hanson can still write great songs’ - until I found out that it had been written 8 years ago, way before Anthem, the band’s last proper studio album, was released.<br />
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However, <i>Battle Cry</i> suits the orchestral treatment so well that it could almost pass as having been written specifically for this project. And Zac’s voice is a return to form: clean, powerful, free of all the ironic nods and winks of glam rock/Darkness influence of recent years. Especially when it comes to Hanson, earnestness always wins over knowing irony.<br />
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(If you fancy checking out the original - here it is. Carrick’s voice can’t compete with Zac Hanson’s but it’s a pretty good version nonetheless).<br />
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<b>You Can’t Stop Us</b><br />
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An intro precedes the opening guitar of this Anthem-era track, followed by string arrangements that underscore the drums throughout the rest of the song. It just doesn’t work: the orchestra treatment really doesn’t suit this <i>We Will Rock You</i> homage - maybe it’s the annoying horns at 1:08, or the string intermission before the bridge at 1:49, which doesn’t add anything but succeeds in diluting the kickass vibe of the song.<br />
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<b>Broken Angel</b><br />
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I had such high hopes for this song, which I never cared much for until Hanson started to perform it regularly in 2015 and suddenly, with Zac’s adult voice, it took a whole new dimension. And that’s where the problem lies for me, because, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Hanson have kept the old vocals from <i>Underneath</i>, which would have been recorded when Zac was about 18. Of course he had a good voice back then - for an 18 year old boy. Now he’s a grown man and his voice has so much more depth and richness and arguably the strongest pair of lungs of the three. So why did Zac not re-record the vocals?<br />
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Vocals aside, the orchestra doesn’t really seem to add much to the song - I expected more for a song that maybe most of all should have encapsulated the spirit of String Theory - the boy flying too high to reach for the sky.<br />
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Ultimately, <i>Broken Angel</i> is a missed opportunity of criminally huge proportions, and every time I listen to it I feel a wave of frustration for what it could have been and isn’t. And sadly, it sums up my feelings on the whole album, but for that you’ll have to wait for the conclusion - I’ll see you at the finale.<br />
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<b>What Are We Fighting For</b><br />
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This little known song, from the 2015 <i>Inside the Box</i> Members EP, is an interesting inclusion to the album, but considering the theme, I can see how it fits. While I’d found the arrangements on the original version disappointing compared to the raw, ‘in progress’ demo from the ‘making of’ stream, I think the orchestral treatment actually improves this version. It’s one of those ‘good to hear as part of something else’ types of songs; it doesn’t really go anywhere, it doesn’t strike any particular chords but at the same time, it’s part of the journey - like the sound of the windscreen wipers on a long car ride on a rainy day.<br />
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<b>Breaktown</b><br />
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You know when I said that ‘Broken Angel’ was a missed opportunity of criminally huge proportions? Actually, I was lying. That award goes to “Breaktown” - a song fans have been begging Hanson to release in an official version for years. We were treated to an incredibly live performance of it at BTTI 2017, and it was stunning. But once again, just like with Broken Angel, Hanson have recycled the old vocals from the demo that was part of the audio CD that came with the SETB documentary. It’s a crying shame, and one more reason to see this project in its live form.<br />
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[The clip below shows how Taylor sings it these days. Video credit to Emily Fuller].<br />
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<b>No Rest For The Weary</b><br />
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One of the best songs from <i>Loud</i>, NRFTW has always stood out for Taylor’s great vocals and singalong chorus. But there is nothing in this version that particularly stands out to me, and the added orchestral sections feel tacked-on, replicating the existing tune without adding anything spectacularly different.<br />
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<b>I Was Born</b><br />
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I like the first part of this version of the 2017 single a lot - until the chorus starts: then, whatever the orchestra is doing is actually weirdly grating. I wish I had a sufficient command of musical terminology to articulate what the orchestration of the chorus sounds to me - but in a nutshell, it sounds to me as if a deranged monkey with cymbals is going TA-DA! every few seconds. Know what I mean?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.giphy.com/media/l0HFi0AAv3EpxsGME/giphy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="480" height="178" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/l0HFi0AAv3EpxsGME/giphy.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TA-DA!!!</td></tr>
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<b>Sound of Light</b><br />
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My least favourite song from the <i>Sound of Light</i> EP doesn’t sound radically different in this version and I am barely noticing the orchestra. I can't find anything else to say other than the EP version is far superior.<br />
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<b>Tonight</b><br />
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The elusive ‘Tonight’ - one of Hanson’s most emblematic songs of recent times, and yet one that they hardly ever perform, thus belonging to the category of ‘Hanson Mysteries’. Much like the song that precedes it, the orchestra doesn’t add much to this new version - just a little bit of background strings here and there. Have I already used the phrase ‘missed opportunity’ at all in this review?<br />
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<b>The Verdict</b><br />
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<br />
As I am finally getting round to posting this second part of my review, String Theory is already been out for three months and my impression is that it has left a lot of fans underwhelmed.<br />
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The problems start with the so called ‘storyline’: a boy striving for more, getting knocked down, finding himself on the brink of despair and finally rising again. It’s an uplifting story, for sure, but one that we have heard before in the <i>Strong Enough to Break</i> documentary and that is a big theme in <i>Underneath</i>. Although Hanson will not admit that the story is autobiographical, it clearly is, and leads to the question, how many times can they get away with recycling this ‘Hanson against all odds’ narrative?<br />
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But if I could get past the predictable concept, what has been harder to swallow is the re-hashing of old vocals, which, in the case of <i>Broken Angel</i> and <i>Breaktown</i> actually misrepresent the band. To a casual listener, Zac sounds like a teenager, and Taylor like an angst-ridden 20-something with a nose cold. Why could Hanson not re-record those songs? How difficult would it be to organise it, especially as Hanson own their own studio?<br />
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Finally, the orchestra. I listen to classical music and although I am certainly no expert in the subject, to me a lot of the orchestral arrangements in this album sound very obvious, as if someone had just played around with the main tune and added instruments with Garage Band. Maybe David Campbell had used up all his better ideas on his last project?<br />
<br />
Adding to the overall sense of disappointment was learning that the orchestral parts weren’t recorded live, ‘off the floor’, when a local orchestra would have been the obvious choice. The only possible explanations for this are cost and time, and I can’t help coming to the conclusion that cost and time have been determining factors in how the entire project eventually turned out. String Theory could have been terrific, but instead of going all the way and doing it properly, with new vocals and a more creative treatment of the songs, Hanson chose to make a sort of musical Frankenstein, tacking new onto old and hoping for the best.<br />
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Hence, as an album, <i>String Theory</i> is rather underwhelming: it should be reaching for the sky, but instead it stops halfway up the ladder and has a cup of tea.<br />
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I wanted to really love this album but all I can say is that it’s okay. Luckily, I will soon get a chance to see the live version on stage and I have no doubt that it will be an amazing experience, with the band performing alongside a real orchestra, bringing the songs to life with their adult voices - the way it should have been. Roll on, February.<br />
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<i>String Theory is available from <a href="https://hanson.net/store/cds-dvds-and-amp-mp3s">Hanson.net</a> as well as all the main digital stores and streaming outlets. All details of the forthcoming European shows and tickets information also on <a href="https://hanson.net/tours-events">Hanson.net</a></i><br />
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asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-28955327322624135672018-12-15T08:24:00.001-08:002018-12-15T10:11:52.697-08:00What is String Theory? A close listen to Hanson’s orchestral album - Side 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was early 2018 when Hanson began to share cryptic messages asking ‘What is String Theory?’ through their official Twitter account. But the rumour of an orchestra project had been floating around a for a while - I had first heard about in Tulsa at Hanson Day 2017, when the band had dropped the information in front of a couple of fans with the calculated timing of a Soviet-style, well-oiled propaganda machine. It was clear that Hanson were preparing their fans for The Next Thing.<br />
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String Theory is now here, in the form of a double album and an orchestral tour that has taken Hanson to several North American cities and that will reach Europe and Australia in early 2019. I haven’t been to a String Theory show yet, and prior to the album release, I had tried not to listen to too many clips from the US tour, so as not to totally spoil my enjoyment for the tour and to let the album’s new orchestral arrangements surprise me. Now that I’ve had this double album on heavy rotation for a few weeks, I feel that I can at least express my judgement on the recorded project.<br />
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These are the opinions of a self-confessed music geek: if you are the kind of fan who will unquestioningly praise anything the band does, look away now. Music nerds, follow me: it’s time to geek out.<br />
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<b>A Short Note on the Story</b><br />
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String Theory, as the 2018 Playbill explains, tells the story of a boy who ‘was never satisfied with seeing the stars through a spyglass’. In part one, <i>Reaching for the Sky</i>, ‘with each rung he climbs up the ladder of life he is faced with unforeseen challenges, tragedy, betrayal and the loss of innocence’. In part two, <i>Battle Cry</i>, ‘the boy returns to hope, and celebrates the obstacles within each extraordinary journey as a necessary part of seeking his purpose’.<br />
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Hanson chose songs to ‘fit’ these storyline and <b><i><a href="https://hansontourmemories.blogspot.com/2018/12/guest-post-meaning-of-string-theory.html">you can read Robyn Kessler’s excellent analysis of how each song tells a bit of the story on his guest post to this blog.</a></i></b><br />
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<b>Side One</b><br />
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<b>Reaching for the Sky</b><br />
<br />
The album’s opening song introduces the boy, the protagonist of String Theory.<br />
<br />
There’s a boy I used to know<br />
He was always searching high and low<br />
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(<a href="http://lyrics.hansonstage.com/lyrics.php?song_id=521">Read the full lyrics on Hansonstage</a>)<br />
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I am torn. <i>RFTS</i> is undeniably a good song, with a delicate, almost lullaby-like melody. It certainly sounds as if it was written with an orchestra in mind, with the strings arrangements beautifully complementing Taylor’s voice. It’s been a while since we’ve had this kind of vocal performance from him and this song showcases his voice at its best, with perfectly measured emotion and that a little bit of grit that keeps the delivery firmly on the right side of soul with only a small nod to Broadway.<br />
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The lyrics are what let this song down: they are not very original or particularly imaginative, and neither is the whole story around which ST is built. That’s one of my issues with <i>String Theory</i> as a project, but I'm afraid you’ll have to wait until my conclusions at the end of Part 2 to know more.<br />
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<b>Joyful Noise</b><br />
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The String Theory version of <i>Joyful Noise</i> is, like many other songs in this album, structured around the original recording, with the orchestra arrangements added to the track featured in the 2016 <i>Play</i> EP.<br />
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I’ve always found that the production on the original track lacked something, so I find that the extra orchestral arrangements overall add to the song. I am also pretty sure that there’s been some serious tinkering at the mixing desk because if you listen closely, the audience singing now sounds different. This is especially evident during the ‘dance all night/find your courage’ bit: the new version sounds like a more even balance of male and female voices, and Hanson’s own voices, singing along with the ‘choir’ can be made out. And I am sure, absolutely positive that I can hear Isaac singing along to that chorus now.<br />
<br />
Whatever they did, it was a wise decision that portrays the band as having a healthy mix of male and female fans - a subtle, deliberate gesture to change the generally perception of Hanson as teenyboppers’ idols for screaming girls.<br />
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<b>Where’s the Love</b><br />
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Like all the songs from the Middle of Nowhere era, which would have presented a 2018 listener with baby Hanson voices, <i>Where’s The Love</i> has been re-recorded, with a great a capella intro and new arrangements make a regular staple of Hanson live shows sound a little fresher and new.<br />
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<b>Dream It Do It</b><br />
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<a href="http://lyrics.hansonstage.com/lyrics.php?song_id=523">(Lyrics on Hansonstage) </a><br />
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<i>Dream It Do It</i> is one of three three new, or better, unreleased by Hanson songs on the album.<br />
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Seamlessly following on from <i>Where’s the Love</i> by means of a very Broadway sounding orchestral intro, this is a song with a ‘big’, epic sweeping sound, and falls into the category of one of those uplifting tracks Hanson do so well. Lyrics-wise, dare I say it’s more of the same -<br />
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“If you can dream it/You can do it”<br />
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I have two observations to make on the subject: one, this is not a song for underachievers and two, I fear that it’s only a matter of time before Hanson fans start tattooing <i>Dream It Do It</i> on their already catchphrase-covered bodies. And I bet Hanson know that.<br />
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<b>Mmmbop</b><br />
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I’m going to come out and say it: <i>Mmmbop</i> is one of the best songs in the whole album. The orchestra arrangements, especially after the first minute and a half, bring a new dimension to it, with the strings underscoring the chorus with an insistent but contrasting theme that seems to have divided fans, as half of my friends love it and the remaining half hate it.<br />
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I guess for me, though, what makes String Theory <i>Mmmbop</i> a winner are the newly recorded vocals, as I am not a fan from 1997 (according to the Geneva Conventions that is a crime), and I don’t particularly enjoy the baby Hanson voices, so this is a win-win.<br />
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<b>Chasing Down My Dreams</b><br />
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This rarely played live, relatively unknown song from the 2012 EP <i>No Sleep for Banditos</i> certainly fits, theme-wise, in the String Theory narrative, given its title and its lyrics. But Zac’s vocals were never great on that recording, which came after a series of all night writing sessions. Zac has three leads in the EP and his voice is noticeably strained in all of them, which is fine for a fanclub experiment in nocturnal creativity, but not ideal for a project of such grandiose ambitions. Considering that Zac has arguably the strongest voice of the three, reusing the 2012 recording does nothing to show his singing talent, and for all the added bells and whistles, the String treatment of <i>Chasing Down My Dreams</i> amounts to little more than window-dressing.<br />
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<b>Tragic Symphony</b><br />
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Despite being the most aptly titled track in the album, Tragic Symphony doesn’t sound very different after the String Theory treatment. Once again, the existing vocals from the original recording have been used, and my brain tunes into the familiar, tuning out the orchestra entirely.<br />
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<b>Got a Hold On Me</b><br />
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Although the vocals sound like the original recording from 2007, I do like the new arrangements, especially towards the middle of the track, when the strings come in and bring a sense of dramatic urgency that really adds to the song. Also, is it me or is there a kind of John Barry/James Bond vibe that kind of turns into bossa nova right at the end? No? Well, any excuse for a Martini is fine by me, so pass me the olives and press play for the next song.<br />
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<b>Yearbook</b><br />
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Another song from Hanson’s early days, <i>Yearbook</i> benefits from newly recorded vocals, and that means that, even if the original has never been a favourite of mine, at least now I get to enjoy a version that doesn’t have baby Hanson voices. I can’t say the same for the orchestral arrangements, which disappear in the background without adding anything particularly different to what we know already. However, I have a feeling that <i>Yearbook</i> will sound terrific as a live performance - so I'm making a mental note to listen out for that in February.<br />
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<b>Siren Call</b><br />
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Another deep cut from a Members EP, <i>Siren Call</i> practically <i>screamed</i> for orchestral arrangements. Instead of the electronic sampling found on the original, this haunting melody is underscored by some of the most interesting string accompaniment in the record so far. Also, and at the risk of incurring in the wrath of the Zac girls, I always found that Zac’s vocals were too loud and piercing in the original. Now the orchestra brings balance to the vocals, and the end result is a bigger, richer, more luscious sound that perfectly encapsulates that sense of being lured into something dangerous and beautiful while you’re finding yourself hopelessly adrift on stormy waters. I never thought I’d catch myself saying this but hell yeah: <i>Siren Call</i> is possibly the best song in this album.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNh0__VrEERQ5jXv1cmGGfEJlB5ErcqvxOkoBowWanKqAJ_GPEIB1Xb5HsN4r75x68zxI1Jt_WFWFa3MBvS-z_X3XkwWCfk_49GTphUUsSwuOsCbVKdnPcmPhOTEA6W6oW-FZFforgOEI/s1600/Sirens2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="800" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNh0__VrEERQ5jXv1cmGGfEJlB5ErcqvxOkoBowWanKqAJ_GPEIB1Xb5HsN4r75x68zxI1Jt_WFWFa3MBvS-z_X3XkwWCfk_49GTphUUsSwuOsCbVKdnPcmPhOTEA6W6oW-FZFforgOEI/s320/Sirens2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sirens and Ulysses by William Etty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Me Myself and I</b><br />
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This version of the Shout it Out song contains a very pleasant surprise as Isaac (who has no leads in the album) sings the second verse, appeasing the Isaac Fans just in time to avoid a villagers-with-pitchforks type of situation. Although Zac also sings a verse, you can’t really hear his voice that much because of the layers of harmonies. And that’s an issue with the song in general because the harmonies steal the show, and you forget all about the orchestra that is playing somewhere in the background.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEm0mhDKvNqDcVSMaUYurHJKUn9BkIUXfJHcsb1Oa_SiQxV_AvXPK01FOGZnf4eGTcIa6pgqy6PJzkXIl8JQG5SNFV3MqXj_DQg_YOQCbSzUI1ocfWlNpkb5n4L8J8NT8hxS0-64H3624/s1600/Pitchforks.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="655" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEm0mhDKvNqDcVSMaUYurHJKUn9BkIUXfJHcsb1Oa_SiQxV_AvXPK01FOGZnf4eGTcIa6pgqy6PJzkXIl8JQG5SNFV3MqXj_DQg_YOQCbSzUI1ocfWlNpkb5n4L8J8NT8hxS0-64H3624/s400/Pitchforks.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WE WANT ISAAC! WE WANT ISAAC!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><i>Stay tuned for Part 2 </i></b><br />
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<a href="https://hanson.net/store?product=string-theory-digital-download-13710"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="359" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOswaoY2Qxdibo060v1JLtNZ1KpWdfQ1MgZrLBgsErPcozEmzvOUwLvVasVXyAyUjqGTXT4UCvUN1yOvz1seMkHkO47nuEH75bDT0cpfCpOtd_YuDqYhmF54dls2Ir9YudIsY0HZyC56U/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-12-15+at+15.39.50.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-10891608344602810122018-12-03T08:23:00.000-08:002018-12-03T08:23:53.717-08:00Guest Post: The Meaning of String Theory: a song-by-song analysis by Robyn Kessler<i><a href="https://hanson.net/forums/fan-club-forums?sc=7&thread=231167">This post was originally posted on the Hanson.net forum</a> by Robyn under his screen name @robinbond. When I asked Robyn if I could link to the post on my review of the album, he pointed out that the post was on the Members Only side, which would have been inaccessible for non-members. So we decided to repost Robyn's analysis on my blog as a guest post where everybody will be able to read his insightful, detailed analysis. Thanks, Robyn, for letting me share it!</i><br />
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There's a boy I used to know - Reaching For The Sky (AMBITION SEARCHING FOR ONE’S PLACE IN THE WORLD)<br />
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If I could turn the world to a melody I think so many troubles would cease to be - Joyful Noise (MOTIVATION)<br />
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Look at what you're doing. Where's the love? It's not enough; it makes the world go round - Where's The Love<br />
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(ACKNOWLEDGMENT<br />
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This is the line drawn in the sand that turns a boy into a man - Dream It Do It (PROCLAMATION)<br />
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It's gone so fast... In a MMMBop it's gone - MMMBop (USE THIS MOMENT or else it's gone... compare with message of Tonight)<br />
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Now that I've started there's nothing standing in my way - Chasing Down My Dreams (DETERMINATION)<br />
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I'm caught up in a dark emotion; I'm giving you all that's left of me - Tragic Symphony (DESPAIR / FEELING SPENT)<br />
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I should have gotten out when I thought I could - Got A Hold On Me (QUESTIONING CONTINUING)<br />
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YEARBOOK is the song that the whole show hangs on... which is (I think) why Hanson said that this show answers a question they've been asking for a long time... actually, everyone has been asking Where did Johnny go? -- if we take Johnny as a personification of the hopes and dreams we had of who we would become, the song's place in the show makes sense. Considering the lines selected. Yearbook is actually a framework for the whole String Theory story. The lyric in the song “sometimes I think I hear him calling out my name; sometimes I wonder maybe we’re to blame” speaks to the fact that only we can take responsibility for the person we became. That said…<br />
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Where did Johnny go? – Yearbook (SEARCH FOR IDENTITY / OUR PLACE IN THIS WORLD )<br />
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No straighter path than to struggle, ‘cause when we rest we fear and it draws them near - Siren Call<br />
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(ENCOUNTERING OBSTACLES)<br />
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When I'm alone in a cold dark room, there's still someone that I can tell my troubles to - Me Myself And I (FINDING HOPE)<br />
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Those around him said with spite "risk of failure isn't worth the fight - Reaching For The Sky Part 2 (ENCOUNTERING PEER PRESSURE)<br />
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I heard them say that dreams should stay in your head ... I started feeling like I don&#39;t want to fight... and we won't go down - This Time Around (OVERCOMING NEGATIVITY)<br />
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Only you know what you lost - Something Going Round (IDENTIFYING THE ROAD TO RECOVERY)<br />
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Tomorrow the march will begin again; Every time you fall face-down in the dirt, I never knew before - don't be afraid “ - Battle Cry (PERSEVERENCE)<br />
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You're in for a big surprise - you can't stop us now - You Can't Stop Us (COMMITMENT)<br />
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A high-flyer's what I want to be... I'm gonna run away and learn to fly like you... you can't bring me down… what<br />
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am I supposed to be? - Broken Angel (SETTING GOALS)<br />
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We dreamt a dream, then lost our way, in the dark of night, at the break of day; How did we go wrong? Where<br />
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do we belong? - What Are We Fighting For? (REFLECTION)<br />
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I've been losing for so long I can't begin... you're so insecure, you're hurt right down to the core - you're only<br />
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stuck in your pain – Break Town (ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CONTEXT)<br />
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Yesterday was just fine but the future's all I've got time for... my feet can't move to where my heart just ain't - No<br />
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Rest For The Weary (FOCUS)<br />
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I was born to be someone no-one's ever been before - I Was Born (HAVING A UNIQUE VISION)<br />
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Always had a taste for another thrill; when I hit a wall and I'm put to the test - Sound Of Light (PUTTING<br />
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VISION INTO PRACTISE)<br />
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Don't care what has come before; tomorrow's an open door; Don't wait for tomorrow, cos it just might be tonight – Tonight (CARRYING THE VISION FORWARD INTO FULFILLMENT)<br />
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<i>Robyn Kessler is the admin of Hanson South Africa and a great supporter of the Take The Walk campaign. Check out his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hanson.southafrica?__tn__=%2CdlC-R-R&eid=ARCdIzlWH33NKZqZlVo5Z-YSZUVi91lNGmt0ar-toKKG0pu5g6Pq3jMfb6Ng08R7jQQVrMZB3p6xiVhn&hc_ref=ARQ_qL0q6EZErlOUxpoDBzq38ZqOeTcKw5M60MoKPDknRpT2nZJLnoPjthOXh8VuSSI">Facebook Page</a> and his <a href="https://twitter.com/hansonafrica">Twitter account.</a></i>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-83690417845259918062018-06-03T11:55:00.001-07:002018-06-03T15:21:30.789-07:00Animal Instincts - a song-by-song review of Hanson's 2018 Members EP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Are you ready? Let's start.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhlssYXEQ3Y4b5T4AxXI4stc2K8_Srz0wUW5cFSYstbLhwnHVi7PvnfkMz6K5ZzyRrjLYI9vxG8vMr6BMDnXGhrF1l0fMLVljnBknEacVE7fWZBX2UVDyAJJeCz1njv28IUoOJUbgUAM/s1600/FullSizeRender-5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1398" data-original-width="1600" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhlssYXEQ3Y4b5T4AxXI4stc2K8_Srz0wUW5cFSYstbLhwnHVi7PvnfkMz6K5ZzyRrjLYI9vxG8vMr6BMDnXGhrF1l0fMLVljnBknEacVE7fWZBX2UVDyAJJeCz1njv28IUoOJUbgUAM/s200/FullSizeRender-5.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>Working</b><br />
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When I first heard the preview clip that was posted on HNET, I wasn’t too impressed. It sounded an awful lot like <i>Til New Year’s Night</i> - one of Isaac’s leads on the <i>Finally, It’s Christmas </i>album: a Chuck Berry-style rock’n’roll song with a ‘50s vibe and easy rhymes. Fun, but not particularly memorable.<br />
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Hearing the full song, however, changed my mind. Blame the intro, with its infectious guitar riff and catchy handclaps: it’s impossible to sit still while you listen to it, even if it’s only for some subtle Isaac-style pigeon-neck moves. Or blame Carlos Sosa’s saxophone: this is one of those rare exceptions when I actually welcome a horns part. And what to say about ‘that’ guitar solo, which, according to the liner notes, was provided by none other than J.D. McPherson? Did he owe Hanson a favour for bailing on BTTI 2017? Who knows, and I would have liked to be able to say that <i>Working</i> featured Isaac’s best guitar solo to date, but maybe that’s still to come.<br />
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Unsurprisingly, the lyrics are this song’s weak point: like in the case of <i>Till New Year's Night</i>, you get a feeling that Isaac wasn’t going for deep and meaningful here:<br />
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<i>Six am rolling out of bed</i><br />
<i>Putting on my pants, fixing my hair</i><br />
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I’m sure we can all imagine Isaac fixing his hair at six in the morning (#OldManPriorities), but what about the rest?<br />
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<i>Talking to my boss about my check</i><br />
<i>‘Cause my payroll’s so small gives me a crick in the neck</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLkuLuQYgS3i4ZPD9RNNmyeT3c1U-xE-hNKBTf9Kq27fWxEPKgkreWInblpFF6oX9-u-UvfwtPRYwQLtXAbxiDfQ2gttJ2MLk0BHA5DiA5bvTiJfXHPieJStg7VXNxlLy36S3Pk80x94/s1600/Isaac.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1056" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLkuLuQYgS3i4ZPD9RNNmyeT3c1U-xE-hNKBTf9Kq27fWxEPKgkreWInblpFF6oX9-u-UvfwtPRYwQLtXAbxiDfQ2gttJ2MLk0BHA5DiA5bvTiJfXHPieJStg7VXNxlLy36S3Pk80x94/s320/Isaac.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Collar Hanson?</td></tr>
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<i>Working </i>is an act of rebellion to blue collar life, but Isaac Hanson is not exactly Springsteen and I can’t quite buy the idea of a Hanson brother clocking into factory job and complaining about his wages - and no, negotiating a severance deal from Def Jam doesn’t quite count as working class life experience. But this is classic rock’n’roll after all, and this kind of song is more about style than content. Besides, Isaac’s vocals are absolutely on point, so I think I can give him a pass. Is this going to be my favourite Isaac lead of all time? No. But play it again, Sam.<br />
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Skip or Play? Play!<br />
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<b>Goldminer</b><br />
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I may not be, technically, a ‘Zac girl’, but some of my favourite Hanson songs of all time are also Zac leads: <i>Fire on the Mountain</i>, <i>The Walk</i>, <i>I Am</i>. But I do find that a lot of Zac leads sound quite similar, especially in recent years: <i>Juliet</i>, <i>Get So Low</i>, and most recently <i>Ghost Writer, </i>these songs all seem to follow the same template, all underscored by that kind of Beatles-esque, almost percussive piano style. Unfortunately,<i> Goldminer</i> also falls into that category and is so similar to last year’s <i>Ghost Writer</i> that I keep mixing the titles in my head - as they both start with the letter ‘G’.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDfes4vju6neRSWAB2PpVJ0sKcWImB4jWu1chIPLt2pO72bZtiZB7gAO8boBu-5zZH95cXJZ9OapOIolYjUn5K2Agff535Ma-n1yv_PFqorflGX32KDq-W7ddxL_OOd_T-fcbJ56XDMeg/s1600/Zac.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="769" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDfes4vju6neRSWAB2PpVJ0sKcWImB4jWu1chIPLt2pO72bZtiZB7gAO8boBu-5zZH95cXJZ9OapOIolYjUn5K2Agff535Ma-n1yv_PFqorflGX32KDq-W7ddxL_OOd_T-fcbJ56XDMeg/s320/Zac.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What do you mean this sounds like "Ghost Writer"?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The lyrics, as you may have guessed, are about a woman who is after men’s money:<br />
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<i>She’s on the prowl, looking for money</i><br />
<i>She’s a gold miner</i><br />
<i>Stealing your cents</i><br />
<i>Robbing you blind</i><br />
<i>Open your eyes, this girl’s nothing but trouble</i>.<br />
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I won’t launch into an in-depth, feminist-centred tirade, mostly because I think that laziness, rather than misogyny, is the driving force behind these lyrics. <i>Goldminer</i> leaves me indifferent, and I expect more from Zac Hanson: without going as far back as his most inspired, <i>Walk</i>-era output, even last year’s <i>Ghost Writer</i> was better than this.<br />
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Skip or Play? Skip.<br />
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<b>Young and Dumb</b><br />
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What does this ethereal, drum sequencing led, synth-heavy intro remind you of? Cast your mind back to 2015’s <i>Inside the Box</i> members EP and to its best song, the achingly beautiful Isaac lead <i>Grace Unknown</i>. Yes? Can you hear the resemblance? Good, let’s keep going. Zac’s drums kick in about 30 seconds into the song, a slow, dull beat that gradually builds up into a crescendo that gives the song a sort of big ‘80s sound, of the kind that almost screams for a music video and a giant fan pointed at Zac’s hair.<br />
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As this is a Taylor lead, unsurprisingly the lyrics have “Taylor” written all over them:<br />
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<i>I pursued happiness</i><br />
<i>A tapestry of fluorescent bliss</i><br />
<i>But I’m dying on the vine</i><br />
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(*Nerd Alert: in the liner notes, <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/fluorescent">'fluorescent' </a> is incorrectly spelt as ‘florescent’- a quick look at the dictionary confirms that even in US English there should be a ‘u’. <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/florescent">'Florescent'</a> is a totally different word.)<br />
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<i>Don’t recognize the view from here</i><br />
<i>A poor reflection in the rearview mirror</i><br />
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Aside from the way Taylor says ‘mirror’ as ‘me-yah’, which is a prime example of Hanson’s quirky enunciation, these are lyrics you can geek out to - vague enough to appeal to a wide range of listeners, but personal enough to let you believe you might be getting some insight how Taylor really feels.<br />
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Like Isaac in <i>Working</i>, in <i>Young and Dumb </i>Taylor, too, shows a fascination with low paid jobs; it is, however, true that poverty and struggle have been romanticised in literature, poetry and the folk tradition since the beginning of time.<br />
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<i>I tried living in the ivory tower</i><br />
<i>Held down three jobs at ten an hour</i><br />
<i>Just to get into the door</i><br />
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However, there are a couple of lines that could come from Taylor’s personal experience:<br />
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<i>Been a hero and a deadbeat</i><br />
<i>A pencil pusher and a piece of meat</i><br />
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Whether they’re based on life experience or purely fictional, these are good lyrics - the kind that you want to dissect, speculate and interpret to your heart’s content. Then, the bridge comes at 2:35 and it’s pretty epic:<br />
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<i>It’s hard enough</i><br />
<i>To know it’s not enough to know better</i><br />
<i>If these aching bones</i><br />
<i>and these jagged stones go together</i><br />
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Can you hear the Phil Collins-era Genesis? Hanson have given them a nod before, when they covered <i>Invisible Touch</i> during a Livestream in November 2014. That bridge is a perfect amalgamation of Genesis and Phil Collins’ ‘80s solo work, and on top of that, it features some killer Hanson harmonies. I also love how, in the chorus, 'young' rises and 'dumb' falls, perfectly conveying the song's sense of disillusionment, of youth slipping away.<br />
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Like <i>Grace Unknown</i>, <i>Young and Dumb</i> is a song with a ‘big sound’ and a chorus that soars; Taylor’s voice is great when he sticks to his mid-range, as he did in <i>No Rest for the Weary</i> from 2016's <i>Loud</i> EP. The lyrics are imaginative and inspired, with the small, notable exception of a couplet at the end:<br />
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<i>Ashes to ashes</i><br />
<i>We’ll all end up in a casket</i><br />
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Maybe if the EP recording process didn’t happen in the space of a week, those two lines would have been dragged into the trash basket, or filed in the outtakes folder with other material that sounded great at 2:00 AM in a sleep-deprived hallucinatory state. Where the first line soars with its biblical tone, rhyming it with 'casket' in the second line slams it back down to the ground, and any sense of poetry is lost to a word coming straight out of a funeral director's catalogue. ('Grave' would have been a better choice of words, but of course, it didn't rhyme).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWunCbNs7LoX3P03R-mmxhHS4MYMBByuQpxHBZEf361PsuIxKzVuK7fkRSUWAC4DYTJh-lO-S6aVASuxsDbvyqeCQ_tB1HRCXe1uRYwSMorzJtDqzqZQrtJDl9h3NN6rzj0QWZSmBuFcg/s1600/Taylor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="760" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWunCbNs7LoX3P03R-mmxhHS4MYMBByuQpxHBZEf361PsuIxKzVuK7fkRSUWAC4DYTJh-lO-S6aVASuxsDbvyqeCQ_tB1HRCXe1uRYwSMorzJtDqzqZQrtJDl9h3NN6rzj0QWZSmBuFcg/s320/Taylor.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I bagged the best song of the EP!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As usual, I’m nit-picking: <i>Young and Dumb</i> is, without a doubt, one of the best songs Hanson have recorded since <i>Sound of Light</i> and one that showcases Taylor’s voice at its best.<br />
<br />
Play or Skip? Play.<br />
<br />
<b>Bad for Me</b><br />
<br />
First of all, let’s all consider this: <i>Animal Instincts</i> features two Isaac leads. <i>Two</i>. This, alone, is a reason to celebrate. There have been EPs with no Isaac lead at all, and EPs with Isaac leads that didn’t sound much like Isaac leads, like <i>What’s Your Name</i> from <i>Music Made for Human</i>s. In terms of Isaac-awesomeness, this year’s EP brings us a bumper crop.<br />
<br />
With this premise in mind, I think it’s fair to say that <i>Bad for Me</i> doesn't stray too far from familiar territory: it’s a mid-tempo ballad, with typical ‘tortured Isaac’ lyrics, very much along the lines of <i>Live for Me</i> and <i>Being Me </i>(interestingly, all three songs have 'me' in the title). The vocals are soft at first, almost whispered; so you’re almost unprepared for the rush of emotion that comes at 1:40, when Isaac cranks it up a few notches and belts it out, his voice almost cracking, the way it does when Isaac sings <i>like he means it</i>. That’s the kind of Isaac lead I want to hear, and even if I don’t care much for love songs, I could hear Isaac sing a recipe book in this way and I'd be happy.<br />
<br />
Play or Skip? Do you even have to ask?<br />
<br />
<b>Sophia</b><br />
<br />
If Isaac fans are in total shock over this year's two leads, Zac fans are by now used to getting multiple offerings from Little Drummer Boy. If I were Taylor, I’d start to worry. But I digress: let’s talk about <i>Sophia</i>:<br />
<br />
- Standard fare of piano-as-percussion: check<br />
- Beatles-esque melodies: check<br />
- A woman’s name as the title: check<br />
- Lyrics about a quirky, whimsical, ‘free spirit’ female character: check.<br />
<br />
This is all beginning to sound like <a href="https://masterpiecebynumbers.com/">Zac-Hanson-by-numbers</a> and I can’t help thinking, ‘come on Zac, you know you can do better than this’. I hope that this only a phase, possibly a consequence of all the time and effort the band has been putting into the String Theory project. With the yearly EP happening regardless of other commitments, Hanson have to come up with five songs, whether their creative juices are depleted or not. It’s the trade-off for their ‘contract’ with us fans and one that I will still take over getting no new music at all.<br />
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With its simple piano chords and catchy chorus, <i>Sophia</i> will keep playing in your head long after you’ve hit the ‘stop’ button, and soon you'll be blasting Slayer to cleanse your hearing, all to no avail, because after one single spin, <i>SOPHIIIIIIAAAAAA</i> will have wormed its way into your brain and only horse sedatives will put you out of your misery and make it stop.<br />
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Play or Skip? Skip, or be ready to face the inevitable consequences.<br />
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<br />
<b>The Final Verdict</b><br />
<br />
There’s a lot that I don’t love about <i>Animal Instincts</i>, starting with its title, which isn’t very imaginative and bears no connection to any of the EP's five songs. As for the artwork, I don't understand it: is it supposed to be a kind of ‘so bad it’s good’ literal interpretation of, well, animal instincts? Is it supposed to appeal to dog loving fans*? Or are Hanson testing the market to see what they can get away with? After the “Fanson for Life” merch, everything is possible, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a range of Hanson-branded pet merch appeared in the store at some point in the near future (believe it or not, people have been asking for it on the forum).<br />
<br />
[*Confession: I am not a fan of dogs, with the exception of the two pictured below]<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLdVKIfi8i_7upPMcjaWThy0SqNky5T0zUb74OyMvZFoPmybPDvzjlOZkK2O5FXAkQuysv52Rj_fEZSC_xjmNFwof65nOFRJ38J_-NZFePLnkTZ0G9MP8dCOvHsM5X7HJc15vgrvwzHc/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-06-03+at+18.58.27.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLdVKIfi8i_7upPMcjaWThy0SqNky5T0zUb74OyMvZFoPmybPDvzjlOZkK2O5FXAkQuysv52Rj_fEZSC_xjmNFwof65nOFRJ38J_-NZFePLnkTZ0G9MP8dCOvHsM5X7HJc15vgrvwzHc/s320/WhatsApp+Image+2018-06-03+at+18.58.27.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baxter, (left) and Penny (right). Credit to Jodie.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In all honesty, I had low expectations for this EP for several reasons, not least because this year Hanson had been keeping very quiet about the whole writing and recording process, with no weekly ‘making of’ streams*, which lead me to suspect that maybe the band had reservations about the quality of the songs. As it turned out, things had just got too hectic at Hanson HQ before the EP’s official release and the 'Making of' Animal Instinct streams are now happening, starting on Friday 8 June. There will be a total of 5 streams, one each Friday through 6 July and looping throughout each weekend. So if you haven't renewed your membership yet, now's the time.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, what matters is the music, and this year’s EP contains, at least for me, more hits than misses, owing it in part to the two, <i>did I mention two,</i> Isaac leads and a really strong Taylor lead which is already showing early signs of becoming a fan favourite. Sadly, both Zac leads are this EP’s weakest links for me, so I’ll keep listening to his best work and hope that any future songwriting will be more inspired.<br />
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<br />
Animal Instincts is not going to replace <i>Sound of Light</i> as my favourite Hanson Members EP of all time, but neither is it going to take the bottom place in the list (that belongs to <i>Music Made for Humans</i>). What is certain is that the 2018 Members EP will go down in Hanson history as <i>The One With Two Isaac Leads</i>. If that’s a sign of things to come, suddenly the future is looking bright in Hansonland.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqDkWJVsYQMTol4cB7VEglJO35igj9FzNKKZXAsCVpKEIrtTId-kAlafLBt-CPQZzra54ffy99epm2xWUjZhyqsNI9d7zu9FOyKzfgQlr1vQQwXheN8k8rtOO65AW1HWqxTi1Hqufjyg/s1600/Cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1427" data-original-width="1600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqDkWJVsYQMTol4cB7VEglJO35igj9FzNKKZXAsCVpKEIrtTId-kAlafLBt-CPQZzra54ffy99epm2xWUjZhyqsNI9d7zu9FOyKzfgQlr1vQQwXheN8k8rtOO65AW1HWqxTi1Hqufjyg/s320/Cover.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's about dogs, apparently</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<i>Animal Instinct is included as part of the 2018 Fan Club membership. Join today at <a href="https://hanson.net/store?product=hanson-net-membership-11516">Hanson.net</a> </i><br />
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asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-92001209130148972582018-05-16T13:00:00.000-07:002018-05-16T16:11:58.523-07:00Fired Up in the Fjords: Norway Gets the Hanson FeverAt some point in 2017 Hanson announced that in 2018 they would play three <i>We Love The '90s</i> festivals in the Norwegian cities of Stavanger, Oslo and Bergen.<br />
<br />
Hanson had played at the same kind of festival a couple of years earlier in Belgium, and back then I had decided not to go: the idea of a whole night of the worst type of '90s music was my idea of hell. For that exact reason, I wasn’t planning to go to Norway either, until a full Hanson show was announced out of the blue in early December. The location? Ålesund, a town straddling two islands in the north of the country, a stone’s throw from the UNESCO World Heritage-listed site Geiranger fjord. I’d wanted to visit Norway for a long time: in my teens I'd been a fan of the <a href="https://a-ha.com/">Norwegian pop-band A-ha</a>, and had Norwegian friends, one of whom I’m still in touch with. It was fate: I was going to Norway.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY25KlA-OLNVg8H6fUE0wNoaEj7lGjbdDuPnD2rUo8bewNbxZe1-WxJ3JyYGQeLLERcipBd5Gh04NkPwHNMJdfBIz507stSc2xJWq8zEULiNYEHg3P_i2gat8Spsxpy255VElfXjQeGcw/s1600/Take+on.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY25KlA-OLNVg8H6fUE0wNoaEj7lGjbdDuPnD2rUo8bewNbxZe1-WxJ3JyYGQeLLERcipBd5Gh04NkPwHNMJdfBIz507stSc2xJWq8zEULiNYEHg3P_i2gat8Spsxpy255VElfXjQeGcw/s320/Take+on.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't know <i>a</i>-ha? You should.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>The Stars Align in Ålesund</b><br />
<br />
I had no great expectations for this show, its main appeal being the fact that the venue, the Terminalen Bysene, holds approximately 600 people. I love small venues, and although I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Hanson play to a smaller crowd before (Rome 2013: about 25 people and a couple of stray dogs*), this was definitely going to be the smallest venue so far. As Hanson had never played in Norway before, I figured that the setlist would be a copy-and-paste job from the MOE tour, with no major surprises, but still a good excuse to visit Norway.<br />
<br />
[*Hyperbole warning. But Rome was a very under-sold show.]<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytIDwWBgPDajj6pBlGoM63RvRaCHMCxMHG9W9XkhyEwUQ3CrpVwh-duxcWnDrRRnkFPS-y82PaPUokYaeb9C9ejSDCY9fSIZzaxBD8S4Dp7zwmoiE0vvv-d8theBi49Yi1CAOE7gXc9A/s1600/IMG_5636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytIDwWBgPDajj6pBlGoM63RvRaCHMCxMHG9W9XkhyEwUQ3CrpVwh-duxcWnDrRRnkFPS-y82PaPUokYaeb9C9ejSDCY9fSIZzaxBD8S4Dp7zwmoiE0vvv-d8theBi49Yi1CAOE7gXc9A/s320/IMG_5636.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ålesund</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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You know when the stars align and everything turns out to be pretty much perfect? Well - that was Ålesund. The day before the show, a friend of mine won a M&G through a competition organised by the venue. Unlike official M&Gs, my friend’s prize included a plus one, and she invited me to go with her. That threw the both of us into a spin, as we were planning to have a very laid back, ‘turn up whenever’ show day. Instead, the Hair, Wadrobe & Make-up Department would have to work overtime because, well, there would pictures, right?<br />
<br />
On the morning of the show, with no plans to line up early, I was putting on the 14th layer of make-up when one of my friends, out on a reconnaissance, texted me to say that the venue were doing their own numbering system, and were telling fans to take a number and come back at doors. That kind of thing had never happened before, and let’s just say that my choice of booking the closest hotel to the venue, rather than one with the nicest rooms, had once again paid off*. Within approximately three nanoseconds, I had legged it downstairs, grabbed some friends from the café, and before you had time to say <i>her er jeg</i>, we were in front of a lovely Australian woman called Esther, who handed me a ticket numbered 26. Not bad, not bad at all, considering that this was going to be a zero-effort type of show anyway. So I went back to my room and set out to add the 15th layer of make-up; after three nights of getting very little sleep, that was more of a necessity rather than an exercise in vanity.<br />
<br />
[* Like in Paris 2017, when I forgot my ID for the MOE and was able to run back to the hotel which was only a couple of doors down from the venue.]<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWI8yfCjcoJkZAuqdQ04FyaqXNP2GGl_MKy31Abxg_OcGf9vVgs-1YJ3Rv7ZSjE7YUZHOJB_sJwvnvOpK7Cm6QCbot_hkS_wxS6-5OfvspnhHYvULu-Q1hR89nGlWejU2_99-e67ql6DE/s1600/IMG_6667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWI8yfCjcoJkZAuqdQ04FyaqXNP2GGl_MKy31Abxg_OcGf9vVgs-1YJ3Rv7ZSjE7YUZHOJB_sJwvnvOpK7Cm6QCbot_hkS_wxS6-5OfvspnhHYvULu-Q1hR89nGlWejU2_99-e67ql6DE/s200/IMG_6667.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If only all venues did this.</td></tr>
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<br />
My friend had been told to be at the venue by 5:15 PM, so we decided that we had to be there by 5 PM at the latest, because the venue was a whole 30 seconds walk from the hotel and anything could happen along the way: we could be abducted by aliens, or fall into a manhole, or be hit by an avalanche from the nearby mountains. It was not worth the risk. We got there early and chatted with the other lucky winners as we waited. After a while, Esther came out and said we could go in individually or in pairs. I told my friend, ‘you’re the winner, your call!’, but she decided that we’d go in together, for mutual moral support. I was very happy with that, because by that point I was suffering with a touch of Hanxiety*.<br />
<br />
When I walked into the venue though, as it usually happens, my nervousness disappeared: I’d met them before and if there is one Hanson Dogma I believe in, is that Isaac, Taylor and Zac are really down-to-earth guys who always do their best to make their fans feel at ease.<br />
<br />
[*A well-known condition among fans of the band.]<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pNkbRe0yS3ps2SJF6rGFKLGs9B4B28vY0b4UVZEALLupMZeC8iolcoPEGgepvgvMHLETnKcYwUIqCNtQ6xeVmDXOG5OHgwJh2wRMcRicyzNzBCCU16vMv_qT7__xhNdHBxq2q8N-Ooo/s1600/IMG_5842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pNkbRe0yS3ps2SJF6rGFKLGs9B4B28vY0b4UVZEALLupMZeC8iolcoPEGgepvgvMHLETnKcYwUIqCNtQ6xeVmDXOG5OHgwJh2wRMcRicyzNzBCCU16vMv_qT7__xhNdHBxq2q8N-Ooo/s320/IMG_5842.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Totally not nervous.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It was warm inside, and as Esther showed us where we could put down our coats and bags, I couldn’t help noticing a robed, bearded Orthodox priest, just hanging around as if he totally belonged in a music venue: an incongruous presence during a rock’n’roll band’s M&Gs session. <i>Interesting, </i>I thought.<br />
<br />
Hanson greeted us warmly, and as I shook Isaac's hand, I joked "we might have met once before". Indeed, only four months before, I'd had my photo taken with the band at <a href="http://hansontourmemories.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/catching-hanson-bug-on-pictures-day.html">BTTI 2018</a>.<br />
“How’s Norway treating you?” Zac asked me.<br />
“Cold.” I said.<br />
I always find Zac really easy to talk to, and once again, I ended up talking to him the most, about Norway and our sightseeing plans for Oslo. When I asked Isaac if they had any surprises planned for the setlist, it was Zac who replied, saying something like ‘you guys have been to a lot of shows but these fans haven’t ever seen us play before’, to which Isaac added that maybe they’d do "I Don’t Want to Go Home" (spoiler: they didn’t). Before I knew it, Esther was calling time and as we said our goodbyes Zac, said to me ‘I hope you have another layer to wear’. He obviously knows that Hanson hypothermia is a real phenomenon. We picked up our coats and bags and wrapped up warm before walking back out into the Norwegian chill. A couple of G&Ts were swiftly downed: our close encounter with the band finally over, we could finally relax*.<br />
<br />
[*We didn't want to risk getting accidentally drunk <i>before</i> our M&G.]<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganf66cW9dpRfVeP4XPl-tdrRpEAMrD8fYbMm-85AFWx7f_CXlhu7uL7Y8KOQbAHGZPjPMPN7izOgklE9wfGnBCYtoyC8o5XcXLgyjo3Gr8fUxk4I9_1dtNHlzW3o-Sc1GkEPEX4On9nA/s1600/IMG_6050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganf66cW9dpRfVeP4XPl-tdrRpEAMrD8fYbMm-85AFWx7f_CXlhu7uL7Y8KOQbAHGZPjPMPN7izOgklE9wfGnBCYtoyC8o5XcXLgyjo3Gr8fUxk4I9_1dtNHlzW3o-Sc1GkEPEX4On9nA/s400/IMG_6050.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting Hanson with my friend.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In years of going to concerts, I can honestly say that I have never come across better venue management than at the Terminalen: doors opened at 8 and by around 7 PM, the wonderful Esther started to get everybody in line by ticket number. As more people arrived, she would call out the previous number, so that every new arrival could slot into the right spot in the queue. It was a concert goer's dream, and it showed that queue management can be done, even at Hanson shows. Esther, if you are reading this, know that you are now a legend among Hanson fans, and have joined the Pantheon of Venue Staff, together with PRY security in Milan, Laura from ShowSec in London and Angela, also from ShowSec, in Manchester.<br />
<br />
I had expected to be standing at the back for this show, but because of my number and the fact that the Isaac side is always less in demand*, I had a perfect second-almost-front row, behind my friend and another girl, and although I wasn’t quite at the barrier, I had nobody in front of me. You know what that means, right? An unobstructed view of Isaac and a half decent chance of taking some good pictures.<br />
<br />
[*The fools!]<br />
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<br />
<b>The Show</b><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/1734341759959501">(Setlist)</a><br />
<br />
To my surprise, the setlist turned out not to be a complete copy and paste from the MOE tour. The show opened with “Waiting for This”, and stayed with <i>Shout it Out</i> with “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’”. If what followed, “Where’s the Love”, was a predictable choice, “Runaway Run” wasn’t. As I had expected, the set was heavy on the first three albums and <i>Shout It Out</i>; <strike>strangely, <i>The Walk</i> was completely omitted</strike> <strike>although *</strike> and <i>Anthem</i> was given a nod through “Fired Up” and “Get The Girl Back”. There were a couple of welcome and rarely played (at least in Europe) choices like “Musical Ride” and “Wish I Was There”, which was performed at the front of the stage, so that we could at least see Zac. “Penny and Me” was given a poignant acoustic performance, and Hanson’s 2017 single, “I Was Born”, got everybody pumping their fists in the air.<br />
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[*Thank you Viktoria for reminding me that "Been There Before" is actually from <i>The Walk</i>"!]<br />
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<br />
It was a great, high energy concert and the guys looked as if they were really enjoying themselves. The crowd, which was mostly made up of Norwegians with a smattering of other nationalities, was equally warm and responsive, with none of the aggressive, obnoxious behaviour that we sometimes have to suffer at Hanson shows.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIO89jzC-isblcdm9NtmVGjROA1F2MTibXNBzGNohaU6goZnex6JAOM5mPDckuOoYIMY4y8c0Jufh7opvIegpxkrgHWLMkDoxxxalT4cP5Ckc-wh0Xo43jCB2EElic82nM_ascYbzDSAI/s1600/6677378d-a1c0-4b5e-bef3-658edd8b6ce1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIO89jzC-isblcdm9NtmVGjROA1F2MTibXNBzGNohaU6goZnex6JAOM5mPDckuOoYIMY4y8c0Jufh7opvIegpxkrgHWLMkDoxxxalT4cP5Ckc-wh0Xo43jCB2EElic82nM_ascYbzDSAI/s400/6677378d-a1c0-4b5e-bef3-658edd8b6ce1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With my friends at the show.</td></tr>
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Afterwards, as I was making my way out of the venue, I spotted another Orthodox priest. Wait, no, there were two. No, maybe three? By the time we had made it outside, a whole gaggle of Orthodox priests and a nun had emerged and were standing by the van, clearly waiting for Hanson. I love this band - where others would have groupies and assorted hangers-on as their entourage, these guys bring a posse of Orthodox priests to their shows. If this isn’t subverting the rules of rock’n’roll, I don’t know what is.<br />
<br />
It didn’t take long for Hanson to come out, but they quickly got into the van, together with the priests. I felt a bit sorry for the Norwegian fans, who were hoping to meet the guys, but soon Isaac came out of the van again, and asked for everybody to stand back. Why was Isaac, and not the driver, being sent out to direct traffic? Before I had time to take to Twitter and complain for the inhumane treatment of the most put-upon Hanson brother, however, Zac and Taylor had also come out of the van, and soon all three were signing autographs and taking photos with fans, including two of my friends. They didn’t stay out very long, possibly because it would have meant imposing on their clerical guests, but it was a nice gesture towards the Norwegian fans who had never had the opportunity to meet the band before.<br />
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My verdict on the show? It was one of the best regular Hanson shows I’ve been to so far, also partly thanks to the small, intimate venue that looked packed without feeling claustrophobic. The setlist was less predictable than I had expected, and let’s be fair, I’ve been spoilt with the BTTI shows over the past four years, so I’m bound to always miss the inclusion of EP songs and deep cuts. Undoubtedly, Hanson’s choice of setlist made sense for this particular show, and I hope that Norwegian fans will get to hear some of the rare stuff soon.<br />
<br />
Next stop? Oslo.<br />
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<br />
<b>Questioning My Life Decisions in Oslo: a</b> <b>preamble (feel free to skip)</b><br />
<br />
As Hanson fans from ‘way back when’ tend to be in their early 30s now, it’s not surprising that for a lot of them the 90’s will always be the decade that gave us the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. But I am older, and for me, the '90s will only ever mean the Seattle grunge scene and, to a lesser extent, the Britpop and indie music I danced to in dingy, sweaty basement nightclubs every Friday and Saturday night as a university student in the mid-nineties. As for the other stuff that was in the charts, I did my best to avoid it. I remember getting dragged to some awful nightclubs in my last year of high school and wondering how on earth my friends could dance to the ghastly dance/techno that was being played. I'd stumble upon a TV show in which members of a boyband would be gyrating on a stage, miming to a song, no instruments to be seen. That was not what I called music.<br />
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Ask me if I “Love the '90s” and I will tell you I do, but not <i>those</i> '90s.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>The Show</b><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/1737167223010288">[Setlist]</a><br />
<br />
So I knew I was going to hate the rest of the ‘artists’ (quotation marks are necessary) at the Oslo festival, but I had seriously underestimated just <i>how much</i>.<br />
It was horrendous. Appalling. Atrocious. Awful. Dire. Dreadful. Horrible. Horrid. Horrifying. Ghastly. Even the Thesaurus is running out of words. Basically, it sucked.<br />
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And what can be worse than being stuck watching a series of ‘acts’ whose performances make you want to swallow broken glass? It’s doing so in a massive arena full of the worst type of drunk, aggressive, obnoxious people. Without going into specifics, let me tell you, I spent the duration of the show trying to stop some drunk, obnoxious women behind us from attacking one of my friends.<br />
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As the ‘party’ went on, some of us started to tweet Hanson, begging them to come on stage before we lost the will to live. Luckily, approximately three quarters into the ordeal, techs began to bring instruments on stage. Actual instruments! Up until that point, there had been no sign of a musical instrument anywhere, which really tells you something about the calibre of talent performing. When I saw the gear being wheeled out on stage, I felt a wave of admiration for ‘our band’ - the only band who had the right to be called so. And I was proud of being there for Hanson, and not for some scantily clad, gyrating douchebag.<br />
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Finally <i>our band</i> came on stage, Isaac more badass than ever in his suit and shades. Before playing a single note, Hanson had already put all the other acts to shame.<br />
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<br />
We all knew the setlist would be very short and mostly made up of <i>MON </i>and <i>TTA</i>-era songs. But I was surprised to hear “Waiting for This” as the opening track, as I hadn’t expected anything from <i>Shout it Out</i> for this show. “In the City” was another very welcome addition and a less predictable choice from Hanson’s second album.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicycBuTZG6dk3l7POnLTu3wkmxa5y222ggGDbQBeaqxXkrDqtL05eL4GYwuiaEHcgX4Yc2lNLb8s2MwQ9TS2ymStpObCDbd-3w9YvrR6qWdjmhU5BkxIxltiAth-DlvV0rjVRtd3T8hck/s1600/P1010786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicycBuTZG6dk3l7POnLTu3wkmxa5y222ggGDbQBeaqxXkrDqtL05eL4GYwuiaEHcgX4Yc2lNLb8s2MwQ9TS2ymStpObCDbd-3w9YvrR6qWdjmhU5BkxIxltiAth-DlvV0rjVRtd3T8hck/s400/P1010786.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Until Oslo, I’d never seen Hanson play in such a large venue before; the only time I’d seen them perform to a larger-than-usual crowd was at the Hop Jam last year (2017). But the Telenor Arena is huge, and although I will always prefer small venues, it’s pretty impressive to see the band play on a massive stage, to a huge crowd and with good lighting. Undeterred by the largely inebriated and chemically altered crowd, Hanson played like they meant it: as if they were playing a real Hanson show, to a crowd of devoted Hanson fans. The guys took no shortcuts, and when the chorus of “If Only” came on, they jumped up and down, knowing that at least some of the audience, mostly on the front row, would know the drill. And from what I could see, all the Hanson fans at the front gave back as much as they could, myself included: that was not the time to feel jaded about the “Where’s the Love” finger dance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmCrPJ9XDsWVoicf3P3cf9OQBIU_JDIpicA8AEUMM-FQ7tO3AKhgk7gCCDEz3N-FN-SVviWKa0DtuNe4MVOeEjH8XmC4fTRZZhWVOC8dTrXMjYo6-3Zvyv9-0z4MWYyoFVv2mWF2PWrU/s1600/P1020106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1346" data-original-width="1600" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmCrPJ9XDsWVoicf3P3cf9OQBIU_JDIpicA8AEUMM-FQ7tO3AKhgk7gCCDEz3N-FN-SVviWKa0DtuNe4MVOeEjH8XmC4fTRZZhWVOC8dTrXMjYo6-3Zvyv9-0z4MWYyoFVv2mWF2PWrU/s320/P1020106.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
After six songs, it was all over, and the moment the guys disappeared backstage, my friends and I sprang into action with a renewed sense of purpose: to get the hell out of there.<br />
<br />
As I emerged into the freezing Oslo night, two distinct thoughts popped into my mind: one, that ‘my’ band had totally slayed it on stage. And two, that I’d never go to a <i>We Love the '90s</i> 'party' ever again.<br />
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We left Norway the following day. I was relieved to know that I wouldn’t have to endure another festival of horrors, but a little sad that my Scandi-themed Hanson adventure was over, and that I wouldn’t get to see Bergen. I hope that one day I’ll go back to Norway, take a cruise along the fjords and eat the equivalent of my own body weight in Norwegian bread and pastries. And hopefully Hanson will play there again soon: if the opportunity came up, it would be great to have a repeat of Ålesund, sharing the music with some of the friendliest, most chill people in the fan base. Until then, <i>ha det bra, Norge</i>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9uxlOybSbjKkp3GP5Lyj6r02_lBSZWtyHHsgwvrBv-EnEFlo9mwSLwL3TKQUgTrSo23KQaGayZCJOJnaMk1oG9q_v2BG4R18AVW7zjPaZEgkHHL7zGIbcsq1oa4RDtZ86igYG5nUqGs/s1600/IMG_5824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9uxlOybSbjKkp3GP5Lyj6r02_lBSZWtyHHsgwvrBv-EnEFlo9mwSLwL3TKQUgTrSo23KQaGayZCJOJnaMk1oG9q_v2BG4R18AVW7zjPaZEgkHHL7zGIbcsq1oa4RDtZ86igYG5nUqGs/s400/IMG_5824.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Norwegian bakeries = heaven</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7rucMlwIqiHY73ra4yxvpNleCIb5379oUb6MGFxKWTIUXS12bJkEIMgJHgEphMIdyTRADEWfstaE3IareF8T3qQE6iB3lthCs_a2y_hzPGEWoKdjb9Bd318IsfPHO4wA5YB7kTqpB604/s1600/IMG_6266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7rucMlwIqiHY73ra4yxvpNleCIb5379oUb6MGFxKWTIUXS12bJkEIMgJHgEphMIdyTRADEWfstaE3IareF8T3qQE6iB3lthCs_a2y_hzPGEWoKdjb9Bd318IsfPHO4wA5YB7kTqpB604/s400/IMG_6266.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bar with a view in Oslo</td></tr>
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<br />asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-50672114890921364512018-03-13T18:12:00.000-07:002018-03-14T01:46:42.079-07:00It's Not You, It's Me: am I heading for a Hanson breakup?<b>A Preamble</b><br />
<br />
This is a blog post I’ve been wanting to write for a while, but which I have resisted until now. I already have a reputation for being outspoken and I know that some fans consider that a Crime Against Hanson. In some circles, simply being critical of the band will brand you as a ‘negative’ person. But being a fan of a band is not a paid gig, and I have no editor to answer to, or corporation to please. I’m only a fan, without any sort of special status in exchange of which I could reasonably be expected to toe the 3CG party line.<br />
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<b>My 7-Year Musical Ride So Far</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6 years, soon to be 7</td></tr>
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I joined the fanclub in April 2012, completely unaware that 2012 was going to pan out as a very difficult year for the band, with the notorious ‘near-split’ happening, with an album that was proving difficult to finish and a whole load of tumbleweed standing in for content on the website. Not knowing, however, any better, I threw myself into the fan experience with the recklessness and enthusiasm of an absolute beginner. Then, in 2013 Sound of Light EP landed, closely followed by an album - the long awaited ‘Anthem’. That winter, Hanson toured in Europe. I saw six shows, got a M&G and met the guys a few times. I was in music (and fan) heaven. 2014 was relatively busy too, with the launch of a new website (still in BETA in 2018); several livestreams followed. In January 2015 I went to my first BTTI and despite a far from perfect resort and inclement weather, I thought the experience was absolutely magical.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfuJ3TH-cp6tYCL8XohgJqXE2bnSo3_By5KAVF055kO4ZqZw16eX6e7GV6oGSz20N1nISNQyORTeHPve11mfe8fpm9nz5YH7EBfYXZviiiODumCBx2sHXC_Ahw4A5pfEy3JqhuQddMUU/s1600/Glasgow.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="960" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfuJ3TH-cp6tYCL8XohgJqXE2bnSo3_By5KAVF055kO4ZqZw16eX6e7GV6oGSz20N1nISNQyORTeHPve11mfe8fpm9nz5YH7EBfYXZviiiODumCBx2sHXC_Ahw4A5pfEy3JqhuQddMUU/s400/Glasgow.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the walk in Glasgow, 2013. It was my first ever Hanson show.</td></tr>
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I will soon be renewing my membership for the 7th time but a lot has changed in the way I feel about Hanson as a band: a lot of the magic has gone, and so far, no amount of self-delusion on my part has managed to bring it back. So, what’s changed? Is it me, or is it Hanson? If I were to take inventory of my seven years as a fan, what issues would crop up? If I were to break up with Hanson, what reasons would I give them? So, come and join me on the therapist’s couch: we’re going for couples counselling.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgArMCUu8RnuQwrhUaNIsNuhMJCKX9zNQDVy9aAwxb0mjwB8jkWRyxxL6ee638gD_EJRPklEi3bs87rNZTarwVILCY8S00sGz_lj9AAxt_misuPlD5GrMq3ITFETR4lFC2l58RC3lDChqw/s1600/Couples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="792" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgArMCUu8RnuQwrhUaNIsNuhMJCKX9zNQDVy9aAwxb0mjwB8jkWRyxxL6ee638gD_EJRPklEi3bs87rNZTarwVILCY8S00sGz_lj9AAxt_misuPlD5GrMq3ITFETR4lFC2l58RC3lDChqw/s320/Couples.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talking it through together</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Gripe #1: The Music - or Lack Thereof</b><br />
<br />
I love ‘my’ bands to make music. This might sound old-fashioned, but I like new music at regular intervals. I also like to feel that the song I’m listening to actually means something to the artist who made it. Music is one of those ephemeral art forms that allow little margin for cheating, and if there’s no real inspiration behind it, it usually shows. Which brings me to the yearly Members EPs.<br />
<br />
Yes, Hanson release some music every year in the form of Members-only EPs. Without a doubt, some of the band's best songs are hidden gems to be found in those EPs. But for every “Grace Unknown” there are several ‘experimental’ songs, sadly forgettable filler tracks with predictable lyrics and little originality. The problem with Members EP is that they are usually written and recorded in the space of a week. Hanson say that they choose to work to such a narrow time frame in order to challenge themselves; but it’s hard not to be cynical and think that, actually, setting aside a single week means getting the task over and done with as quickly as possible. Which, inevitably, raises the question: do actually Hanson still enjoy writing together?<br />
<br />
Whatever the answer, the fact remains that a week’s work is unlikely to produce a masterpiece; that EP is not going to be some kind of abridged "Sgt Pepper", or "Pet Sounds", or "The Joshua Tree". Good work takes time, and I find it worrying that Hanson seem to want to spend as little as possible doing the one thing they have committed to doing every year: writing those five songs.<br />
<br />
As a result, EPs are often hit and miss, with potentially good songs that could however have done with some polishing or which scream for better production. Lately, a lot of the members songs have a certain derivative quality, eliciting a lot of ‘this sounds like’... ‘that’s an 80s song’... ‘that’s a 60s song’. Those songs can be undeniably fun and catchy, but are hardly the kind of music that will stand the test of time. Take, for instance, “I Don’t Want To Go Home", from the "In Color" EP. It's a great Hanson event anthem, but unashamedly manipulative: it’s about us, it flatters us, it’s self-reflective. But is it a song with universal appeal? Would it speak to the heart of a non-fan in the same way as “These Walls” or “World’s on Fire” spoke to me in 2012, when all I knew about Hanson was contained in a few gigabytes of MP3s that a friend had put on a DVD for me?<br />
<br />
The other problem with Members EP music is that those songs are hardly ever get played outside of fanclub events - almost as if Hanson themselves know that that's not good enough material to ‘cross over’ to the non-hardcore crowd. On some of the rare occasions that those songs are played - at BTTI or at the odd pre-show MOE, Hanson appear not to have even rehearsed them, or bothered to learn the lyrics. And when the artists themselves don’t treat their own work with respect, it’s hard not to feel that maybe that work is not the real thing, but only a stocking filler to keep fans happy until the main present arrives - an album. Only, there hasn’t been an album since 2013. That’s right - it’s been five years since Anthem. Where’s the band's burning desire to make new music, to connect with people all over the world?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe7JhQ400MQcG8ZgZPCg7zHCvpJzIfEZqqxwVt9xTrJzBMLT1OHZ3CRrSczUWi6gjss_krq97elvR7hto0w5T1IBDChDXbFrrGRELbVN4vNY7K2-u1wRq_T3PyY5WbgBAL-L4QjuFMw60/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-03-13+at+23.55.55.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="348" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe7JhQ400MQcG8ZgZPCg7zHCvpJzIfEZqqxwVt9xTrJzBMLT1OHZ3CRrSczUWi6gjss_krq97elvR7hto0w5T1IBDChDXbFrrGRELbVN4vNY7K2-u1wRq_T3PyY5WbgBAL-L4QjuFMw60/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-03-13+at+23.55.55.png" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthem: Hanson's last proper studio album</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Through the nostalgia-driven Middle of Everywhere CD and tour, Hanson managed to recapture the attention of a lot of old fans from 1997 who had lost interest in the band. So why not take advantage of the increased numbers and hit a bigger, more eager fan base with a new album? Wouldn’t that be the logical thing to do? Instead, Hanson, still hot on the heels of the MOE tour, release a Christmas album, a novelty record of limited seasonal appeal, largely marketed to the scores of the recently acquired fans. For the true music fan, a Christmas album just doesn’t cut it.<br />
<br />
And this is why I think that maybe the problem lies with me: maybe Hanson are no longer a band for the music geek. Maybe they never were, and I was just lucky to stumble across them at a time when writing new material was still a priority for them. Maybe I am just the wrong type of fan for the band - I care about songs, lyrics, I search for meaning. I nerd out with friends over a song's smallest detail. Yes, I’m hard to please - but that’s because I have been obsessively listening to music since I was about ten years old, back when all you had was an LP and its sleeve notes, or maybe, if you were really lucky, a few magazine cuttings with a months-old interview to your favourite band. There was no internet, there was no Google, and there were no selfies to post on Instagram. Believe it or not, back then it was all about the music.<br />
<br />
It's music I want. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong.<br />
<br />
<i>“It’s not you, it’s me” quotient: 10/10</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Gripe #2 :The Good Ol’ Days Have Long Gone</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Remember when the Hanson Day concert would be streamed live for everybody back home to enjoy? No? You must be a new member. Believe it or not, that kind of thing happened regularly, and I used to set my alarm clock to 1 or 2 AM, get up and watch the stream in the company of friends who, from all over the world, would also be sitting bleary eyed in front of their screen, snacks and drinks in hand.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwMIH-HHpIG7mY_YgjJte-7HfEB8QOfaAjdCh39Tc176_G-sTaCR_CRf01YsRKlyQ8npeuSC9ceIuWna7SCZ6aSCBewTMUOjKhGiCGljuA_iSKagHTnXfnkEkLMTIKQ8pBYHmIntULCg/s1600/Old+Site.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="945" height="55" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwMIH-HHpIG7mY_YgjJte-7HfEB8QOfaAjdCh39Tc176_G-sTaCR_CRf01YsRKlyQ8npeuSC9ceIuWna7SCZ6aSCBewTMUOjKhGiCGljuA_iSKagHTnXfnkEkLMTIKQ8pBYHmIntULCg/s320/Old+Site.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remember the old site?</td></tr>
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<br />
We used to discuss the streams live on Twitter, joking, over-analysing haircuts and facial expressions. Usually, as part of a livestream, there would be a Q&A and a live performance; it all had a kind of homemade, amateur feel, but we loved it. It was what kept us renewing our membership, year after year; it was something we actively looked forward to.<br />
<br />
Until it all disappeared.<br />
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemrDKlFeI18179VZOeX8Qbtr4vVHcw8r-3vjXr62IhO5tFf8Em5J417w3FWCt7kzthZnQRwduI_wB0crLgYCla00hhAwOyoHvzKqaRPnz_8087_mRex4PYc_XYZ6ghnwJUXM7wcXvqG0/s1600/Livestream2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemrDKlFeI18179VZOeX8Qbtr4vVHcw8r-3vjXr62IhO5tFf8Em5J417w3FWCt7kzthZnQRwduI_wB0crLgYCla00hhAwOyoHvzKqaRPnz_8087_mRex4PYc_XYZ6ghnwJUXM7wcXvqG0/s400/Livestream2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old, homemade Livestreams</td></tr>
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Now, any mention of Livestreams has been removed from the Membership description on HNET, and the only streams we have seen in recent years are pre-recorded, ‘making of’ videos. What kind of content do we get these days? The odd blog post, a few Instagram stories; meanwhile, the band’s official Twitter account appears to have been farmed out to a social media agency, who are clearly under the misguided impression that Hanson’s Twitter following consists mostly of 12-year olds. How else can you explain that, only recently, valuable band time was taken up by creating an original set of GIFs? What band films original footage with the sole purpose of creating a set reaction gifs? And more to the point, surely the whole point of reaction GIFs is that they’re supposed to be spontaneous, not staged? Someone sack the agency, please: my friend's dog Baxter could surely do a better job.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKNbffmdsVJ0JmodZQBlGy_1LGGj5ZHx_r67X1xfxLDJqHgplQ7gXqREKL4kW1b0eoKNhr3c9znl4HXUOMCSSD9DN4bb6NvM94o4AYsJJYFSU0vgmL0O2vDLWb5_OlAhbPoqUhE3xi-Y/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-03-13+at+18.29.01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKNbffmdsVJ0JmodZQBlGy_1LGGj5ZHx_r67X1xfxLDJqHgplQ7gXqREKL4kW1b0eoKNhr3c9znl4HXUOMCSSD9DN4bb6NvM94o4AYsJJYFSU0vgmL0O2vDLWb5_OlAhbPoqUhE3xi-Y/s320/WhatsApp+Image+2018-03-13+at+18.29.01.jpeg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
I’ll be honest: I was used to my fanclub membership offering a lot more, and yes, I miss it. Maybe I’m a spoilt brat, maybe I am resisting change. Maybe I should accept that bands obey to the rule of diminishing returns, in the same way as when you go and buy groceries, you notice that the same product you used to buy now contains less of the product, but for the same price, or higher. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations and maybe it's perfectly reasonable to put one less bagel in the pack, and charge me the same money.<br />
<br />
<i>“It’s not you, it’s me” quotient: 6/10</i><br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Gripe #3: Everything Else</b><br />
<br />
I’ve been a music fan since I can remember and before getting into Hanson, I went to concerts, listened to the records at home, bought music magazines, and occasionally, in later years, chatted with fans on bands' forums. I ‘met’ one or two of my favourite artists once or twice and was thrilled when I got their autographs. These days, with albums barely selling and streaming venues paying paltry amounts, Hanson and many other bands and artists offering ‘fan experiences’. Cue a bigger and bigger Hanson Day and BTTI. Also cue the increasingly intrusive element of selfie-hunting taking over said events.<br />
<br />
Don’t get me wrong - I love BTTI (well, this one just gone, 2018, not so much). I went to Hanson Day twice and loved Tulsa, the events and the shows. But that kind of stuff should be an extra, a way for the artists to replenish their coffers so that they can keep doing what they really want do: make music.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38UUXnn6itJC002BmbmnY4Z3MmcuhPvTr8DVta2gRSeILFRL6zLceF8_KMJnOG9EpNppQGv8G7G3G6XROAAv1tyaeHiSKpoCuTWGrtAu9aU2Hk4dnjYa_mZwSFbmhNFxnVA8xLxWFr5c/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-03-14+at+00.39.09.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="1183" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38UUXnn6itJC002BmbmnY4Z3MmcuhPvTr8DVta2gRSeILFRL6zLceF8_KMJnOG9EpNppQGv8G7G3G6XROAAv1tyaeHiSKpoCuTWGrtAu9aU2Hk4dnjYa_mZwSFbmhNFxnVA8xLxWFr5c/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-03-14+at+00.39.09.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rock Boat is one of many 'fan experience' events. Just don't bring up Hanson with them.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Lately, however, the whole ‘fan experience’ thing seems to be the priority for Hanson; the end, not the means. And I can’t help feeling that the band are pandering to those fans who are only in it for the ‘experience’ - the selfies, the ability to boast on social media about ‘hanging out’ with their teenage heartthrob Taylor Hanson. The music is just an after thought. And those of us who question it, who dare to ask when a new album will come, are told to stop complaining, because “Hanson do so much for us”. Well, yes, to be fair, Hanson do a lot for <i>them</i>, agreeing to selfie after selfie, putting on more events at Hanson Day that have nothing to do with music but which offer an opportunity for fans to get close to the guys. Personally, I’d give all of these admittedly fun events up, if that meant I saw an effort on Hanson’s part to hunker down in their bunker and write some new music.<br />
<br />
<i>“It’s not you, it’s me” quotient: 10/10</i><br />
<br />
<b>So What Happens Now?</b><br />
<br />
One of the reasons why it’s so difficult for disillusioned members to leave a religious cult, is that leaving your beliefs behind is like admitting that you’ve been wrong; that you’ve been duped by a charismatic leader for whom you would have jumped off the nearest cliff. Yes, I know Hanson are not a religious cult but there are staggering similarities between fan behaviour and cult-thinking.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoR5uYVlAybT9iU4Sz8jJ-sW_dk9vgn-bjQzz0olTFwrHmd19PsHjttLBj41gUkmcQQGH0TLsm50JYiB69YBml-YchHmh-MOMpI5Mx-AGmCOkF_OIZmfSWEi-8DGU3gZ015D8SALlBM0Q/s1600/The-Path-Cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="952" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoR5uYVlAybT9iU4Sz8jJ-sW_dk9vgn-bjQzz0olTFwrHmd19PsHjttLBj41gUkmcQQGH0TLsm50JYiB69YBml-YchHmh-MOMpI5Mx-AGmCOkF_OIZmfSWEi-8DGU3gZ015D8SALlBM0Q/s400/The-Path-Cover.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When Eddie Tried to Quit Mayerism, It Didn't Go So Well </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Take the lack of objectivity among our fan base: it’s as if fans are sticking their fingers in their ears and going <i>LALALA</i>, not wanting to hear anything negative. Because, of course, if you see the old man behind the curtain, and realise that he’s not a wizard, you’ll be sad and disappointed. And like with a cult, leaving the fanbase will often mean leaving your support system behind; your friends; your social circle. Your day-to-day chats by the virtual watercooler, discussing the band, the fans, planning outfits for the next event, figuring out how much weight you need to lose and what cosmetic treatment you need to invest in for the next picture with the band.<br />
<br />
But whatever a fan/cult member’s inner fears may be, shutting down debate because you’re unable to accept that there might be a problem is only going to push discussions underground - in private chats, secret groups and those remaining few social networks that still allow a degree of anonymity. Shutting people down and tell them to ‘stop complaining’ and - worse - to ‘be grateful’ is a surefire way to turn off those fans who still love the band but refuse to turn into unquestioning fanbots who live under the misplaced belief that they should show gratitude to three rockstars for allowing them to keep doing what is, without a question, the coolest job in the world - and not the other way around.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHUFcaKiS-Ykqvy3Is-TCXjmGd3a9BCGFYSxnLOsHArxF_hNw5agQwuz3g7thwdWsxcIu5XUZJSZREgAtz73MiGSyvpa6zUlbXxqfQr2Qqd9jYWqA0khOfxMraZBoTisSy5z3ipRHiVo/s1600/Resistance+is+futile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHUFcaKiS-Ykqvy3Is-TCXjmGd3a9BCGFYSxnLOsHArxF_hNw5agQwuz3g7thwdWsxcIu5XUZJSZREgAtz73MiGSyvpa6zUlbXxqfQr2Qqd9jYWqA0khOfxMraZBoTisSy5z3ipRHiVo/s400/Resistance+is+futile.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
As for me? Like Edith Piaf sang, <i>je ne regrette rien</i>. I fell in love with this band because their music spoke to me, moved me, uplifted me. Back then in 2012 I had no way of knowing that, through Hanson, my life would change in more ways that I could ever imagine. I will never walk away from music that has meant so much to me, but how much longer can I stick around for, chasing after a mirage that keeps dissolving as I get closer?<br />
<br />
However - and some of you will be surprised to learn this - I am deep down an eternal optimist. I want to believe that Hanson can still be ‘that special band’ for me; that they can still make a kickass album that I’ll play to death for months on end. I want to believe they still care about making music more than just being a ‘brand’ that flogs us merch in seasonal ‘Collections' like a chain store in a shopping mall.<br />
<br />
I'm not ready to turn my back on this band - yet. But I know I’m not alone in thinking that unless Hanson show us that new music is still a priority for them, there will come a time when I’ll completely lose interest. And by then it will be easier to just say “Hanson, it’s not you, it’s me”. Maybe we can still work it out.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-28587027652067680902018-01-31T07:24:00.002-08:002018-01-31T09:21:07.284-08:00Catching the Hanson Bug on Pictures Day<b>PICTURES DAY</b><br />
<br />
Traditionally, the fourth and final day of BTTI is Pictures Day, i.e. when you get the unique opportunity to have a professional picture taken with all three brothers, and if you’re lucky and determined enough, have a 30 seconds chat with them. It’s not really a Meet & Greet but with over 400 fans attending, it’s a good as it gets.<br />
<br />
Let’s be honest: most of us plan maniacally for Pictures Day. I doubt that the majority of fans are delusional enough to be trying to impress the guys; the reason for all the preparation is that, as we all know, once the photos are up on the HNET gallery, everybody in the fan base will be pouring over them for days and weeks. And you don’t really want to be the Worst Dressed Fan of BTTI 2018, do you? And so, every year, we prepare, carefully choosing The Right Outfit, accessories, shoes, hair and even shapewear (the latter, by the way, is torture in the tropical heat).<br />
<br />
A constant on Pictures Day is the weather. According to BTTI law, Pictures Day will inevitably be the hottest, sunniest, most infernally humid day of the four-day vacation. This year was no different, and in marked contrast to the monsoon-like weather that we’d had since landing in Jamaica several days prior, we woke up to a very hot Pictures Day morning, with the sun threatening to poke its face through the rapidly thinning clouds. As I stepped out on the porch, I instantly began to sweat. Yes, it was Pictures Day alright.<br />
<br />
I’d had my Picture outfit planned for months. In a stroke of luck, I’d found a flamingos print dress online early in the year, and had the sense to buy it before it sold out (flamingos are the new unicorns). So once all the make-up was applied and a futile attempt to de-frizz my hair was complete, I joined my friends by the side of the pool, close to the gazebo-like island where the photos would be taken and where a long queue of fans had already formed.<br />
<br />
Hanson weren’t even there yet, and none of us felt like standing in line for hours, so I sat at the Level bar with Howra, who was wearing a flower print dress. The sun was breaking through the clouds and we wanted to sit in the shade with our bottles of water in an effort to sweat as little as possible through our picture outfits.<br />
<br />
Within minutes, however, a very large beetle-like insect began to fly around us. We waved it away, but within seconds, it was back, circling around us even more insistently. “It’s as big as a helicopter” I yelled, jumping out of my seat. Evicted from our nice, shaded spot, we moved to a pair of loungers by the poolside. But no sooner had we found a new spot, than the fiendish creature was after us again, its drone-like buzz getting closer, louder and more menacing. With the bug now inches away from our faces, Howra and I sprang up from our seats again and sprinted away in opposite directions, screaming like characters in Scooby-Doo, as the fans in line watched us bemused.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicT5FyG1H9pha8BaGEup7MF26aUK2THHKQEEvdOp8W0_0ACiIU5ykB9EvxZhBQz0FebepeOtrD01_FGEqJd8_RT7j0tfZtGvN1pZdCYhOVoTbqXUfNWyrlB4Lk6ePHHUGBnP0NRo3omd4/s1600/Scooby.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="500" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicT5FyG1H9pha8BaGEup7MF26aUK2THHKQEEvdOp8W0_0ACiIU5ykB9EvxZhBQz0FebepeOtrD01_FGEqJd8_RT7j0tfZtGvN1pZdCYhOVoTbqXUfNWyrlB4Lk6ePHHUGBnP0NRo3omd4/s320/Scooby.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An accurate representation of Howra and I running from the bug</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This went on for several minutes. during which we’d occasionally pause for breath, hoping that the monstrous thing would desist, only for the chase to start all over again, and once again, our demented dance would resume, amidst our increasingly shrill cries. Then, just as the bug had landed on a sun lounger, a waitress from the bar walked towards us, carrying a large beach towel. Amidst fits of laughter, with one deft strike she whacked the insect, sending it tumbling several feet away on the paved floor.<br />
<br />
We looked at her in awe.<br />
“That’s what they do,” the waitress said, still laughing. “They pick on someone and won’t leave them alone. They don’t sting but they can dig their claws on your skin. He must have been attracted by your clothes.” she added, eyeing our dresses. <i>Of course </i>- I thought. Howra’s dress had a flower pattern, and the beetle must have mistaken my pink flamingos for some flowers: it thought we were food. I did feel sorry for the poor creature’s premature end, but on the other hand, I really didn’t fancy the idea of those claws on my skin - not before my $3,000 picture with Hanson.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjRLKbW89DfeS48TOxemi50xlo_TTGeywutgItoT1SjLLvC2A4lPW78yBes1cLiEs-cXDfqZ125Ul2FFjZ5noUQP6iy9P-Dal_Q2tNIgunvIvvvbBvYvKn3_vwnKqOVRW-RD_kd7ae0o/s1600/Bug.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1422" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjRLKbW89DfeS48TOxemi50xlo_TTGeywutgItoT1SjLLvC2A4lPW78yBes1cLiEs-cXDfqZ125Ul2FFjZ5noUQP6iy9P-Dal_Q2tNIgunvIvvvbBvYvKn3_vwnKqOVRW-RD_kd7ae0o/s320/Bug.jpeg" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bug</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Picture time came and went, in the usual ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ style. When I let Taylor know that he’d played two songs out of three from my wishlist, he asked me what the third one was.<br />
“Carry You There”, I said.<br />
“Oh,” Taylor said, nonchalantly. “That was actually on my solo setlist.”<br />
"Oh." I was not impressed to hear that that pesky Hanson brother had skipped one of my favourite songs. “I should throw you in the pool, then.” I said. But Taylor was already turning toward the camera, perma-grin firmly place, and I don’t think he heard me. That was probably for the best.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgu_thO7bLXTJSglJv6aFUbyVHcR3NQfz-mg6PNvShIvr-cah3FdfBFW4-7BxrBvbKrPf8WPxW8zuJ2QP8yu5J5QwqhTzLIQnqbURqF80G8B400KlYrG500nRD2QeUgr4G-NbUfX5f2s/s1600/Feet.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgu_thO7bLXTJSglJv6aFUbyVHcR3NQfz-mg6PNvShIvr-cah3FdfBFW4-7BxrBvbKrPf8WPxW8zuJ2QP8yu5J5QwqhTzLIQnqbURqF80G8B400KlYrG500nRD2QeUgr4G-NbUfX5f2s/s320/Feet.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is Taylor laughing at my feet?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/1629469140446764"> ISAAC SOLO SET</a></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
A confession: until now, I was under the mistaken impression that Isaac’s set this year was mostly made up of mushy ballads that all merged into one. But looking back at the setlist, it's clear that my memory betrays me: after a rare performance of ‘Every Day”, a very energetic rendition of “River” followed. Next was “Hand in Hand” - a song which I’m always glad to hear, although I think it sounds better with a full band. “Smile” brought back the usual mention of a previous BTTI when Isaac got “Smile” and “Sometimes” mixed up, and “Leave the Light On” is always a crowd pleaser - one of those good, solid Isaac leads that you can sing along to. There was a made-up on-the-spot song about Jamaica, followed by a new song, “Missing, Needing, Wanting You”. The latter falls into the ‘sappy ballad’ category, just like the next track, “A Life Without You”, a song that Isaac wrote at 14. It was first dusted off for BTTI 2016, and has become a feature of his solo lists ever since - one of the two songs he plays on the piano (the other being “More Than Anything” - which he’d played as a solo at the Members’ show).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ciu8VMq-hoE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ciu8VMq-hoE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
The set ended with “Lonely Again” - something I’d been hoping to hear for a long time, and one of those typical Hanson songs with sombre lyrics disguised within an upbeat tempo and an infectious chorus. Isaac himself said something along the lines of “you can never have too many “sha na nas” in a song” - and who can disagree with that? It was an apt closing to a perfectly good if somewhat predictable set; Isaac turned up on time, wasn’t too drunk and didn’t let fans hijack the set with their requests. But it wasn’t the heartfelt performance he gave last year, and it wasn’t the upbeat, crowd winning solo set of 2015 - my favourite Isaac solo set out four BTTIs I’ve been to date. But that’s okay - every year a different brother surprises me through his solo set; 2015 was Isaac, 2016 was Zac and 2017 was a close call between all three. This year, the winner was Taylor (and not because of his impromptu swim).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0lQvYPqISURvfOpv37Ye400UTHJDLtga2QOuDO-9D42JMfbfsvHnyHH3LKU4_bgxCb_j-K-Zdye_0CMM9yD1PHrUHwsd_Uxcc7256YsAi7B7g4iDBjKIm7vv1q0VFrGu4MvW9bvKeu7w/s1600/Isaac+Solo+Setlist.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="625" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0lQvYPqISURvfOpv37Ye400UTHJDLtga2QOuDO-9D42JMfbfsvHnyHH3LKU4_bgxCb_j-K-Zdye_0CMM9yD1PHrUHwsd_Uxcc7256YsAi7B7g4iDBjKIm7vv1q0VFrGu4MvW9bvKeu7w/s320/Isaac+Solo+Setlist.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isaac Solo Setlist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/1629469430446735">THE FINAL SHOW - SINGLES NIGHT</a></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
Like many fans, I hadn’t been overly impressed to hear that “Singles” had been voted as one of the three BTTI themes, although I still favoured that over a Christmas set. Hanson have such an extensive discography that it seems a bit of a shame to use up a whole night of BTTI for singles, especially considering that there haven’t been many of those in the last few years. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Despite my initial reservations, I enjoyed the Singles show, not least thanks to Hanson’s unusually tight performance - as glitch-free a concert as I’d ever witnessed at BTTI, where unpredictability rules. The choice of setlist helped, as in addition to the inevitable appearance of “Where’s the Love” and “Get the Girl Back”, we got treated to more obscure should-have-been-singles and B-sides releases, such as “Every Word I Say” and “Deeper” (as everybody probably knows by now, the latter was the song through which I discovered Hanson). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was fun to hear Hanson’s only recent single, 2017’s “I Was Born” get the BTTI improv treatment and become “The Ballad of the Baby Turtles” when, for the second consecutive night, the little reptiles decided to hatch on the beach; “don’t underestimate the sting of a baby turtle”, sang Taylor, instantly creating a new Fanson Fad for anything turtle-themed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmKnAcyv8keXjMODcYge4SM34WmzebpJimZyaT4gqQAK6P4p27VJtaYdeKRAvBKRhYLH7RUzFJR0_NxMsNJfv_JLqSaurHUPlfUjv_4ZSlm1LWOP9uvCsu6HRj-I8p2GtZIJ8BQ3d5Aw/s1600/IMG_3522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmKnAcyv8keXjMODcYge4SM34WmzebpJimZyaT4gqQAK6P4p27VJtaYdeKRAvBKRhYLH7RUzFJR0_NxMsNJfv_JLqSaurHUPlfUjv_4ZSlm1LWOP9uvCsu6HRj-I8p2GtZIJ8BQ3d5Aw/s320/IMG_3522.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Singles Show</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One notable change from previous BTTIs was the final performance of ‘Back to The Island”. It had become tradition for the musical guests to join Hanson on stage for a group rendition of the song, but this year, by Day 4 both Stephen Kellogg and Chris Carrabba had left. Did Hanson, who are known to be extremely parsimonious, try to cut costs by only paying for the guests to stay until the night they were due to play? That would never happen, right?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Breaking from the singles theme, the set ended with two covers - The Darkness “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”, which is always a hit with the Zac girls, and a repeat of AC/DC’s “(You Shook Me) All Night Long” - which they had already played on the first show. Personally, as I’m not a fan of either song, and considering that one had already been played, I would have chosen something else to choose the final show, but as usual, I’m nit-picking. The final show certainly didn’t disappoint.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkuDLYjADmuWPYi0jWpqnmjx7bkCiaSZIVqa1TXy4d0FZYsHhJ1IkdffcipNFwU-LOiI16p12enFY5EKJFQ_YKlbi17CfMpJ9LZVPOF2MG3VShod7wDwLhCY-4txqmmBIWUzAv9nocG0/s1600/Singles+Show.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="558" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkuDLYjADmuWPYi0jWpqnmjx7bkCiaSZIVqa1TXy4d0FZYsHhJ1IkdffcipNFwU-LOiI16p12enFY5EKJFQ_YKlbi17CfMpJ9LZVPOF2MG3VShod7wDwLhCY-4txqmmBIWUzAv9nocG0/s320/Singles+Show.png" width="299" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Singles Show Setlist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />
Afterwards, once Hanson had left the stage and the lights had gone out, I once again had a strange feeling, very different from the usual Post Concert Depression; a feeling that, although BTTI was now over, it hadn’t even happened at all. As Howra kept saying, BTTI 2018 was like a storyline from LOST. We were on the island, but it wasn’t really the island as we knew it: it was all <i>a little bit weird</i>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPCYyTY797hbjiymmQwXhM_aiT9GxLaAOw9fzDNIirXQk8s-E1stUqc3PgZkH20zlvTyWqyGZBwJS5ocQnGLa3Kpdt2GU3O9jZFMYWANEosbAgHf_PVYFcr2zVvjuzBnViB_V1wg-6io/s1600/Lost.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="500" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPCYyTY797hbjiymmQwXhM_aiT9GxLaAOw9fzDNIirXQk8s-E1stUqc3PgZkH20zlvTyWqyGZBwJS5ocQnGLa3Kpdt2GU3O9jZFMYWANEosbAgHf_PVYFcr2zVvjuzBnViB_V1wg-6io/s320/Lost.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's the island, man!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, there was still one event to go through…</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>TAYLOR’S DANCE PARTY</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<div>
There’s really not much I can say about the ‘dance party’ other than I barely paid attention to it. This year, the party took place on the stage in the middle of the square, where the resort’s entertainment team did their daily performances. In that respect, the location was an upgrade from previous years, when it was held in the buffet: more street party, less budget cruise ship. At one point, some of the male dancers from the entertainment team got on stage, where they provocatively gyrated for a few minutes before Taylor saw sense and sent them packing.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3LclmyyJn3Rbf4Y1BR54NY7IBWhOKghxThImZcAqALSxLqLIVYZHziiFZbSFAa43QKlsaS8hEqE6rihu736zf-2lbIGCqZirZOZhEE7htwIB2CXmKGLpRPtZMT6FrBr-yk01TKWnb-E/s1600/Human+Mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3LclmyyJn3Rbf4Y1BR54NY7IBWhOKghxThImZcAqALSxLqLIVYZHziiFZbSFAa43QKlsaS8hEqE6rihu736zf-2lbIGCqZirZOZhEE7htwIB2CXmKGLpRPtZMT6FrBr-yk01TKWnb-E/s320/Human+Mountain.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Jamaican Street Party</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
But really, it was more of the same - Taylor on stage, fans surrounding the stage gawping at Taylor, fans handing Taylor shots which he always tries to refuse and then inevitably ends up accepting: and who can blame him? Surrounded by fans, he needs all the help he can get.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Unlike last year, Zac and Isaac were nowhere to be seen - I can only guess that they felt they’d already paid their dues by turning up on the first night. And again unlike last year, this time I wasn’t anywhere near inebriated enough to enjoy Taylor’s choice of music.</div>
<div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So I chatted with friends, took photos with people, and just milled around. Towards the end, we went to watch the action from the far side of the barrier. Soon, it was clear that Taylor was about to leave, triggering the Hanson Gravitational Pull Phenomenon: our previously empty spot suddenly filled with fans, many of whom were sipping a drink and acting casual, as if just passing by. If you’re into people-watching, that’s quite an amusing dynamic to observe.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once Taylor had been ushered away, the assembled crowd of fans slowly dispersed; the bar closed; the resort went back to its weird vibe of a Caribbean Disneyland crossed with one of those American ghost towns you see in old Westerns. Through hidden speakers, crickets chirped and green tree frogs croaked - stubbornly keeping up that tropical rainforest illusion for one more night.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And that was it - BTTI 2018 was over. Nothing had been missed out - we’d had all of our shows, our activities and our pictures. In one way or another, Hanson and Island Gigs had managed to deliver everything they’d promised, and they’d done a great job considering the circumstances.</div>
<div>
The weather couldn’t be helped, but there were a few issues that maybe could have been avoided, and which certainly contributed to making this BTTI a little less amazing than its predecessors. And out of the four BTTIs I’ve attended so far, 2018 is going straight to the bottom of the list for me.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Did I still have fun? Of course: when you are with the right people, you can always make the most of any situation. The food was good, the music was great, and we were away from the daily grind of our real lives at home. And now, the memory of wading through the quagmire or drinking shots of Grand Marnier to keep warm at the swim-up bar will keep us going for another 12 months, until we are ready to do it all over again. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So I guess I’ll see you next year, and let’s hope it’s in Jamaica.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHKIftuiyVpIL_UTyNSh5uge1kZh71NqEQ6U5pabcBr5uCIfNDfnOiFtoGPq-V_sx5QmLteCYjpGBTY9XhK_jNkoH0pW7pF1i6haPTEzts-62_ZG5YuRGh4Z6gScd9_LW-wxpoQNDwVQ/s1600/Quagmire.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHKIftuiyVpIL_UTyNSh5uge1kZh71NqEQ6U5pabcBr5uCIfNDfnOiFtoGPq-V_sx5QmLteCYjpGBTY9XhK_jNkoH0pW7pF1i6haPTEzts-62_ZG5YuRGh4Z6gScd9_LW-wxpoQNDwVQ/s320/Quagmire.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Quagmire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyHov-a9DTpZLjEIJCHA9rSF3nRv1rwoh3oI2cgUFT6TRvdDGgkw-UckpPeMKoT3zmXkT1fEOgAmQNaRIY3Ud14S5Foei2ZyHQuk4CaXbl-E2XeUf26yIJds1Jcxc43d9EZ1_9JLO1us/s1600/Scary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyHov-a9DTpZLjEIJCHA9rSF3nRv1rwoh3oI2cgUFT6TRvdDGgkw-UckpPeMKoT3zmXkT1fEOgAmQNaRIY3Ud14S5Foei2ZyHQuk4CaXbl-E2XeUf26yIJds1Jcxc43d9EZ1_9JLO1us/s320/Scary.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the Sky Explorer at Mystic Mountain (L-R: Howra, me, Ingela and Nilene)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewMx5eJZ6XraRV3YMmyi1X953R1D8sdUtipAY9FaWz2cP0eVr5YXa_dROuQNqDbjVP_kSvMeGtZkdLYqTIuwThY1tz_7kalWUE_YyBE4xTyZrogPzAYxM7Zx6Pyq2ND3wdcCPQrMqilI/s1600/IMG_6572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewMx5eJZ6XraRV3YMmyi1X953R1D8sdUtipAY9FaWz2cP0eVr5YXa_dROuQNqDbjVP_kSvMeGtZkdLYqTIuwThY1tz_7kalWUE_YyBE4xTyZrogPzAYxM7Zx6Pyq2ND3wdcCPQrMqilI/s320/IMG_6572.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mango Daiquiris with Ingela and Kelly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<b>My Favourite BTTI 2018 Moments:</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To hear “World’s on Fire” and “These Walls” with Kelly; pool volleyball; mango daiquiris; our trip to Mystic Mountain; the dessert counter.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>My Least Favourite BTTI 2018 Moments:</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Monsoon; the concerts in the greenhouse; the selfie hunters at Tie Dye; some of the resort staff; putting on several pounds with every visit to the aforementioned dessert counter.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Hopes and Dreams for BTTI 2019</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Going back to the Jewel; a selfies ban during organised activities; to hear “Carry You There”; Butch Walker on Guests Night.</div>
</div>
<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjEXs5g_j4VJthvLulopMotHuBeISzl3uzgin5kqhyphenhyphenpTkiwJAPD24KbNFFWF0Ps5CF8jA4XPfxiY8PjhRqA2t2K4tCNUho-9pERkzTqV3Sp18qblReGUcu-hUDcjPWpBo_eLTF_cvQn4/s1600/Picture+Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjEXs5g_j4VJthvLulopMotHuBeISzl3uzgin5kqhyphenhyphenpTkiwJAPD24KbNFFWF0Ps5CF8jA4XPfxiY8PjhRqA2t2K4tCNUho-9pERkzTqV3Sp18qblReGUcu-hUDcjPWpBo_eLTF_cvQn4/s640/Picture+Day.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L-R: Howra, Kasey, me, Ingela and Kelly. Oh, and Hanson in the background.</td></tr>
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<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Back to the Island</i> is an annual event for Hanson.net fanclub members organised by Hanson and Island Gigs. Details of the 2018 event just gone can be found <a href="https://hanson.net/BTTI2018">here</a>.</span></div>
asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-63342368074578568192018-01-23T08:00:00.002-08:002018-01-23T11:38:47.870-08:00Day 3: A Hanson Tsunami<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">We're All Gonna Dye </span></span></h3>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I can’t even remember what we did the morning of our officially-third-but-effectively-only-second day: most likely, a combination of eating, drinking, and maybe a brave dip in the pool. The first item on the day’s agenda was the dreaded Tie Dye and as <a href="http://hansontourmemories.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/a-btti-post-mortem-part-2-sketches-from.html">my love for crafts has been well-documented in a previous post</a>, <i>what could possibly go wrong?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">In my experience of previous BTTIs, the second session of any of the craft-type activities is usually the least disorganised, so this time we had orchestrated to register for the red pass, in the hope of a hiccup-free second session. The schedule change, however, meant that both sessions would to be running back-to-back. When we heard that our session would start thirty minutes later, and saw Hanson going in the opposite direction on board of a golf cart, I had the nagging feeling that double bluffing fate would not work in our favour. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This year, at least, was the first time I could actually follow the tie-dye demonstration, which took place on a raised platform. We were at the table closest to the front, and when the demo was over, Isaac, who had just dyed a shirt in the colours of the Jamaican flag, came over to our table. <i>Jackpot,</i> I thought. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttkfkK7JoepHbk8RzdTpbNVdaJSpIeXlBYCibbZ-nwqyDAlqQypVzKejo1iSxdQ_4tOvVvOYUvRjfH_g6ktKBbNxFj36v9JgaAZSzCRXccw84M0B3_QU4TW-dRAgCm_2nH3Hrb7dJHF8/s1600/Tie+Dye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttkfkK7JoepHbk8RzdTpbNVdaJSpIeXlBYCibbZ-nwqyDAlqQypVzKejo1iSxdQ_4tOvVvOYUvRjfH_g6ktKBbNxFj36v9JgaAZSzCRXccw84M0B3_QU4TW-dRAgCm_2nH3Hrb7dJHF8/s320/Tie+Dye.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They All Wanna Dye</td></tr>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Kelly and I complimented the Old Man for the show the night before, and then, in an idiotic tone I didn’t even recognise, I proceeded to tell him how I liked his work best and how I wanted to use the same colours, except, we didn’t have any green. The fact is, I liked the shirt he'd just dyed because of the Jamaican flag theme, but who’s going to believe that? By then, however, Isaac had already legged it all the way back to the stage to fetch me some green - probably grateful for the chance to get away from this moron. By the time he’d come back with a bottle of dye, I’d managed to find some - it was right in front of me, on the table.* </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">(*I’m sorry but it looked blue).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Ooops, sorry, we already had some, after all.” I said. I’d like to say that Isaac rolled his eyes but he was wearing shades. Let’s face it though: he probably did. He stuck around for a few moments, during which all my friends and the others at the table appeared to be struck by a sudden and debilitating form of mutism. Unsurprisingly, Isaac soon turned on his heels and left.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And that was it as far as “Hanson interaction” went: soon, they were all swarmed by selfie hunters, who this year cranked it up several notches on the annoying scale by leaving their tables to follow the guys around, making it impossible for them to mingle. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: small;">When Taylor tried to make his way to the front, the Hanson Gravitational Pull Phenomenon happened. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">For the uninitiated, the HGPP is when fans realise that a Hanson brother is on the move, and so they begin to magically glide towards him, very nonchalantly - or so they think - pretending to be just casually passing by</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Very quickly, the Hanson Brother in question is surrounded with no way out, and only a miracle, or at a push, Rebecca, can save him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">That’s exactly what happened during tie dye, and by the time Taylor had extracted himself from the crowd, he was all but sprinting towards the paved walkway, ‘I’m done’ written all over his face. (Genetics have served Taylor Hanson well: not only does he have a great voice and a pretty face, but he has also very long legs that can get him away from fans quicker than you can utter the word ‘selfie’).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">As I watched Taylor drift away like Wilson in “Castaway”, something inside me snapped: there was something I wanted to say to him, and considering how things had gone so far, who knows if I’d ever get another chance? I strode purposefully toward him, and after waiting for him to take yet another selfie with someone, I pounced.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4_Za5DMPDXbUDjfyv-yVe5ZRlayvI7F707rCukXPQkKDKO7vDgaGuZ_1z88hqX8q3iXVL1gelpi1Kz1E2Vp5YPLRTO5sjr59g7k_aclwn1PKYbMFQ0onVCjsJ6NbP_5CI_5uadQZdVI/s1600/Wilson.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="500" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4_Za5DMPDXbUDjfyv-yVe5ZRlayvI7F707rCukXPQkKDKO7vDgaGuZ_1z88hqX8q3iXVL1gelpi1Kz1E2Vp5YPLRTO5sjr59g7k_aclwn1PKYbMFQ0onVCjsJ6NbP_5CI_5uadQZdVI/s320/Wilson.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">“I’m not going to ask you for a photo,” I blurted. A flicker of surprise flitted on Taylor’s face, and I forged ahead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">“I just wanted to thank you for playing “World’s on Fire” last night. It meant a lot to me and my friend.” I carried on, knowing that Kelly was standing just a couple of feet away. As the expression on his face changed from auto-Hanson-selfie mode to something more genuine, Taylor explained the reason why that particular song doesn’t get played much: in a nutshell, and I paraphrase here, “World’s on Fire” belongs to a certain period, which they have now moved on from. In turn, I politely objected and told him that fans love that song and that they should play it more often. Finally, I thanked him again and then let him gallop away from the circle of fans that was rapidly closing in around us. <i>Mission accomplished</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I’ve had a handful of opportunities to interact with the band in my six years as a fan - nowhere near as many as some of the long-standing, super-duper hardcore fans I know. But I can say with absolute certainty that whenever I’ve spoken to one of the guys about their music, they have always reacted with a mixture of gratitude and surprise, as if they’re not quite the jaded musicians that you’d expect them to be after 20+ years in the business. I don’t think it’s an act: why else would you want to be an artist if not to connect with people over your music? And to me as a fan, that minute-long connection is worth a thousand photographs.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHGh6nhYZ1BSPYl4PyRElD3wXabsirzqO-iPVdE56EHQwDzZvWzZGjbS2O12tWwEJWNsr3J4o3-jz5Ezwl6qW-4cJqRa3o1U5wHLHNY_oeJAmc745ilMSTHSIcF1ZXbxB0HU22NjJtng/s1600/Talking+to+Taylor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHGh6nhYZ1BSPYl4PyRElD3wXabsirzqO-iPVdE56EHQwDzZvWzZGjbS2O12tWwEJWNsr3J4o3-jz5Ezwl6qW-4cJqRa3o1U5wHLHNY_oeJAmc745ilMSTHSIcF1ZXbxB0HU22NjJtng/s320/Talking+to+Taylor.jpg" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talking to Taylor about my favourite Hanson song</td></tr>
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/1628199327240412">Taylor Solo Set</a></span></h3>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fast-forward a few hours, which I’m guessing were spent eating more bite-sized desserts at the buffet, and we were finally on the beach for Taylor’s solo set.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For anyone who was there at BTTI 2018, Taylor’s solo set will forever be etched into their memory as that time when Taylor took his socks and overshirt off and invited fans to join him for a dip in the ocean. A half-undressed Hanson brother with a deathwish and four hundred fans at different stages of inebriation: again, what could possibly go wrong? Rather predictably, a stampede ensued, and one cannot help but wonder if the tsunami warning that we got a couple of days later was the impact on the tectonic plates from a couple of hundred Hanson fans suddenly running into the water. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It goes without saying that I did not run into the water, and for a number of valid reasons. Firstly, I didn’t want to lose my spot; secondly, I wasn’t dressed for it and didn’t fancy spending the rest of the show cold and wet. Last but not least, that stretch of beach is very rocky and a fan had already injured herself a couple of days before by taking a dip without water shoes. As I had survived the injury-inducing yoga class, I didn’t want to tempt fate again, not even to catch a glimpse of Taylor Hanson emerging from the water, weighted down by waterlogged clothes, like an all-American Neptune on a wet t-shirt contest. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZIggUJnU8Zjuh0v99LIVnvTyOJNm0CGWp9ucNW0gJDaCxrYFYQbNTqZISZYi8RL2ekLzSRX0cI6-zbFv_YovfgKWfZEbebscrsMsnt8ldjMaSTxbvwgihYSR8JDCg5WLDUCOTRcVygc/s1600/Neptune.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZIggUJnU8Zjuh0v99LIVnvTyOJNm0CGWp9ucNW0gJDaCxrYFYQbNTqZISZYi8RL2ekLzSRX0cI6-zbFv_YovfgKWfZEbebscrsMsnt8ldjMaSTxbvwgihYSR8JDCg5WLDUCOTRcVygc/s320/Neptune.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor Neptune</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Taylor’s aquatic antics aside, my one true favourite moment in the whole set was a rare performance of “These Walls”. The stripped down, acoustic version that is featured in the “Stand Up, Stand Up” EP was one of the first Hanson songs I ever fell in love with - together with “World’s on Fire” and “Carry You There”. Finally, some six years later, I was seeing it performed right in front of me. Other highlights of the set were “Believe”, “Be My Own” and the criminally neglected Anthem track “Cut Right Through Me” - which, however, would have sounded better with the rest of the band. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Taylor has a tendency to cut his solo sets shorts, and this year, due to his impromptu swim, was no exception. As I would would later find out, “Carry You There” had also been on his setlist, which means that I’d come incredibly close to completing my Holy Trinity of Hanson Songs I Wanted to Hear. On the other hand, I now have a good excuse for wanting to go back to the Island again next year.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNz4bxOo4dtHkR2v0YXsZh_plyccMhkEFvnG01nZz9UuysYe7QLjbdTZiG2Z-5J3mU5OQF8mZXd0tdzWOAOLWOzEs-bH9_GPRS6dPaGL2ANl3_v4u9EtKoM86HqjZEqwx7vEQGIbGQNoA/s1600/Taylor+Setlist.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="599" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNz4bxOo4dtHkR2v0YXsZh_plyccMhkEFvnG01nZz9UuysYe7QLjbdTZiG2Z-5J3mU5OQF8mZXd0tdzWOAOLWOzEs-bH9_GPRS6dPaGL2ANl3_v4u9EtKoM86HqjZEqwx7vEQGIbGQNoA/s320/Taylor+Setlist.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor Solo Setlist</td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guest Artist Night - Stephen Kellogg</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the problems with changes of schedule at BTTI is that it often leads to guests and Hanson having to play on the same night; out of four BTTIs I’ve been to, this has now happened three times, making it the rule rather than the exception. Guests and Hanson on the same night means that not only fans will camp out for Hanson, so no first 3-4 rows for the guests’ own fans, but also, that there’s no night off to chill out and enjoy some music without the pressure of having to be there at a certain time for the main show. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alas, BTTI 2018 was going to be one of those years again, with Stephen Kellogg playing his set just before Hanson. I’ve recently become a fan of ‘SK’ - as fans affectionately refer to him - and after seeing him twice in the UK last October, I was excited to see him play on a beach and in the company of the person who had got me into this music - Kelly. The set was really good fun, and although some of the songs he played might not have the immediacy that suited an unfamiliar audience, SK got a really warm response from the crowd. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Afterwards, we went over to chat to him for a few minutes, and I asked him to sign a live CD that Kelly had given me as a belated Christmas gift. When I mentioned that I’d taken my husband to his Manchester gig, SK nodded. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">‘Oh, your husband was that really cool guy, right?’. Suffice to say, he won even more fan points with me that night (and my husband will never admit to it but he’s secretly thrilled). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chatting to SK was a stark reminder of how fan/band interaction can be when fans act like normal people in the presence of normal people. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will ever happen with Hanson fans, and ultimately, we, the fans, are the ones who lose out.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6XqLjwn-xeTuxAOUs8pFzVSLx_qI-SrGPDqFsSfQxVt_XizmP6432aF8Pze8lq1I7fj0-oWewR2o6iI2uuFqqsIctFG9VAcMXmYgSmhfLW2ebbJJv2Kt7J0-cYZDQ0394Vs8MWvYe7s/s1600/asphodelia_23_1_2018_15_46_7_796.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6XqLjwn-xeTuxAOUs8pFzVSLx_qI-SrGPDqFsSfQxVt_XizmP6432aF8Pze8lq1I7fj0-oWewR2o6iI2uuFqqsIctFG9VAcMXmYgSmhfLW2ebbJJv2Kt7J0-cYZDQ0394Vs8MWvYe7s/s320/asphodelia_23_1_2018_15_46_7_796.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My signed Stephen Kellogg CD</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/1628354573891554">The Main Show - Members night</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Members Only songs concert is really one of my main reasons for going to BTTI, as Hanson tend to stick to familiar album releases when they play normal shows - especially in Europe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />This year’s set was a good mix of new and old, incorporating tracks from their most recent EPs - “Somebody That Wants to Love You”, “Ghostwriter”, “No Rest for the Weary”, regular BTTI favourites like “Best of Times” and “White Collar Crime”, with the inclusion some rare treats such as “What’s Your Name” (an Isaac lead I had not yet heard live) and “Coming Back for More”, during which SK, who had co-written the song, joined Hanson on stage for an unforgettable sing-along.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /> A regular feature of BTTI sets is the made-up-on-the-spot song, and this year we got treated to “I’m Gonna Play The Chords Wrong” which preceded “On the Road”; those moments are always a lot of fun and show Hanson as their most comfortable and relaxed - a side they are clearly only happy to show to a small audience of people who, let’s face it, are never going to boo them offstage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The show ended with a pretty epic rendition of “I Don’t Want To Go Home” from the “In Color” EP. <a href="http://hansontourmemories.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/in-color-review.html">We all knew that that song was going to become a new BTTI anthem,</a> although maybe it would have been more fitting on the final night. As I sang along with Zac - “all my friends are here, I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go home”, it thought of how strange this BTTI 2018 felt - how everything was just a little out of sync.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just like Cards Against Humanity the day before, Family Feud took place in the buffet; but this time we’d got there earlier and bagged a relatively decent spot by the side of the stage. I was tired and a little bored, and once the game started, I quickly got distracted by checking my social media. I knew my number wouldn’t get called, so there was no need to really pay attention. <i>Or so I thought</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because at one point I became vaguely aware of Isaac’s calling numbers in reverse order - 136, 135, 134…. something registered in my mind that the next number would be mine...133 … oh no. Oh no no no. <i>No</i>. My number? That’s not how it usually works. I willed myself to get up and walked toward the stage feeling like someone who is having an out-of-body experience on their way to the gallows. Would I make a total fool of myself in front of my favourite Hanson brother?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I took a seat at the front, and swept my gaze around the room while I waited for the other players to make their way to the stage. To my left was my table, with Howra, Kelly and Ingela grinning at me, phones raised to capture the moment. Somewhere in the centre, semi-disguised behind a pillar was Kasey, sticking a thumb up in encouragement. And right at the back was Suze, waving maniacally like an over excited parent a her child's school play. I laughed, and soon the nerves were gone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(For posterity: the question was ‘what does a man do when he starts losing his hair’ and my answer was ‘he shaves his head’. I did not win any points but Isaac said he agreed with me, not with the game. <i>Win)</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so, after a day packed with a lot of music and a hefty dose of fan madness, another day was over, despite the fact that BTTI had only really just got going.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stay tuned for Part 4.</span></i></div>
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asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-69478243035496380622018-01-18T06:23:00.001-08:002018-01-29T14:52:56.073-08:00Day 2: When Hanson set the World on Fire in a Jamaican Greenhouse<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">We woke up to, guess what, more rain. The outlook was bleak.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Technically, it was Day 2 and BTTI had not even started. Hanson had tweeted a revised schedule which pretty much packed four days’ worth of events in three days, so out went my plans to have more beach time this year. Not that the beach looked like much of an option, anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The first event of the day would be Zac’s solo set (the location still to be confirmed at that point) so Howra and I decided to try the yoga class, which another friend had taken the day before. I figured the class would probably be geared towards beginners - enough for me to keep up. What could possibly go wrong?* (*this became the mantra of BTTI 2018 for me)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">We walked up the stair to the gym only to discover, to our dismay, that there was absolutely no designated floor space for a single person stretching, let alone for a yoga class. At least seven or eight people had turned up for the class, and we all looked around the small fitness room in disbelief, wondering how on earth we were going to all fit in there. But before I had a chance to bail, a man in shorts and massive biceps appeared, greeting us ominously: “I’m probably not as flexible as some of you.”</span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Awesome.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Deeply regretting my latest life choices, I found myself a space between the treadmills and the lat pulldown and unrolled the mat, which had probably last been wiped when Bob Marley was still alive. When Biceps Man began the class getting us to go ‘cold’ into a deep back bend, I knew it was a terrible idea - I felt it was too rude to leave - proving that some <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/very-british-problems?utm_term=.dkmb68gd0#.ueng2GNpd">Very British Problems</a> are real.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">We struggled through the routine, battling on with the lack of actual instruction, the dirty mats and the horrific B.O. that was emanating from someone in the room. Then, to our horror, Biceps Man began to do take a woman through deep, face-down quadriceps stretch (a very, very bad idea on cold muscles). I hesitated: I needed both of my quadriceps intact for tonight’s show, but walking out of a class is pretty poor etiquette. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Howra was having none of it. </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">“We don’t owe him anything.” </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">she whispered menacingly. At last, we left, and my lower back hurt for the rest of the day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I can’t remember much of what we did next, other than once again taking our rage to the buffet and eating a ton of food. At some point though, we ended up joining some friends to a game of beach volleyball; I suck at sports beyond anyone’s imagination, but that afternoon was one of the most fun moments of the whole week and I was almost resentful that we had to get out of the pool to get ready for Zac’s solo set, which was now going to take place in some sort of tented structure at the entrance of the resort - basically, a greenhouse. Once again the question popped into my mind: <i>what could possibly go wrong?</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Answer: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hansonitalianfanpage/posts/1627152907345054">Zac’s Solo Set</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br />The greenhouse was situated on the Melia’s extensive grounds, which offered, among other things, a climbing wall and ziplining - all closed in the inclement weather.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Reluctantly, I joined the queue that was snaking all around the Melia’s parking lot. The best thing about BTTI</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">is that you can rock up whenever you want and still get a good view of the stage; but now I felt like was about to attend a regular tour stop, with the added bonus of being at the back of the queue. By the time we got into the greenhouse, the room was packed, and although I knew there was a stage at the other end, it was so low I could barely see Zac’s keyboard.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The show started an hour late - an hour I could have been playing pool volleyball - and when<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Zac finally took to the stage, I could barely see the top of his head. It was going to suck to see a solo set - one of BTTI’s unique selling points - in such an abysmal venue, but it was better than the alternative (an outside venue) or no show at all. I told myself that at least I could hear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Or so I thought. Because when Zac opened the set with “On The Rocks”, the sound was absolutely terrible. He carried on with “Call Out My Name” - one of my favourite songs from “Sound of Light” which, however, doesn’t particularly benefit from the solo treatment. Zac’s banter with the front row - hard to decipher even in optimal sound conditions - was virtually unintelligible from where I stood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Next was “No Sleep for Banditos”; I love that song (in fact, I love the whole EP, which is the first physical Hanson CD I ever owned) but it wasn’t the best rendition I’d heard. As Zac ploughed his way through "Misery", “Letters in the Mailbox” and the omnipresent “Juliet”, I go the sense that the whole set was not going very well at all, with wrong keys, wrong chords and forgotten lyrics. I would have liked to hear a better version of "Chasing Down My Dreams" for the same reasons mentioned for NSFB; on the other hand, I would have been happy to skip<span class="Apple-converted-space"> "</span>Do You Believe in Love" - why on earth does Zac insist on playing it as a solo, when it needs a band, and above all, drums? The set ended with a new song, “The Ballad of Seymour Better Times”. I wish I could say that it was awesome but it didn’t leave much of an impression on me - hopefully the finished version, if it ever emerges, will.*<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Zac seemed to be eager to walk off stage as quickly as possible, just as I was equally glad to leave the greenhouse. As we made our way outside, I came to the conclusion that I’d just watched my worst Hanson solo show so far - even worse than Isaac’s shambolic performance of 2016.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">What do you do when things go wrong at BTTI 2018? You head for the buffet, which is what we did, again. We took out our frustration on the dessert counter, and if I gained a few pounds that night, Zac is the one to blame</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*A recording of 'Seymour" has emerged, and you know what? I rather like it. It's a kind of Wilco-like ditty that wouldn't sound out of place in a Sundance movie. You know what I mean?</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The Main Show - Rock All Night</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Fast forward a few hours and we were back in the greenhouse, or rather, in a large kind of ante-chamber that had been set up as bar. One of this year’s guests, Chris Carrabba, was playing his set. I poked my head through the doors:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>a cat was being strangled to the tune of a sort of Dropkick Murphys-lite, fanson-friendly ersatz punk. I headed straight back out to the bar. Only minutes earlier, I’d spotted Stephen Kellogg getting out of the shuttle bus, even managing to quickly say hello. Now, <i>that</i> was a concert I was actually looking forward to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">By the time the main Hanson show started, I was once again at the back of the room, and couldn’t see squat. Hanson opened with “Oh La La La”, which I haven’t heard anywhere near enough times live, then carried on with “Fired Up” and in “The City”, followed by ‘And I Waited’. Oddly, I have no recollection of hearing songs two, three and four; I suspect that’s because I was finding it hard to immerse myself in the music when all I could see was the crowd and the top of Isaac’s ‘wave’. Luckily, all of that was mitigated by Stephen Kellogg suddenly appearing in front of me and nonchalantly leaning against a pillar while he watched the show, every inch the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">off-duty rockstar checking out his mates’ band. I needed to find the person who had got me into his music, and drag her there.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I found Kelly about 10 rows from the stage, Taylor side; from there, you could at least see the band’s heads. “Blue Sky” was almost finished by that time, and I was trying to tell Kelly that SK was at the back, when the unfathomable happened. As we heard some familiar opening notes, Kelly started to freak out, while my brain stopped computing, paralysed with denial. This is the dialogue that ensued:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Kelly: “Arhhgghghg OMG arhghghghgh”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Me: “No, it’s not that.”</span><br />
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Kelly: “Yes it is! Arhghghghghg! Arhghghghgh!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Me, robot-like: “No, it’s not. It’s “Crazy Beautiful”.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Kelly: “Noooo! Yeeeeeeeeeeeah! It is! It is! Arhghghgh”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Kelly: “Arhghghghghghg!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Me: “It cannot be. It cann-”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Taylor Hanson:<i> “Watch from a distance, beautiful…”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">And so it happened. After years of begging, bitching and campaigning, after practically giving up hope, Hanson played our favourite song, <a href="http://lyrics.hansonstage.com/lyrics.php?song_id=92">“World’s on Fire”</a>. The closest I’d ever got to hearing it live was <a href="https://youtu.be/zT_3tpDPSwo">during a Yahoo! Livestream of the RNR tour in 2015</a>, when they played it and my Twitter exploded (and I thought it was “Crazy Beautiful”). I love that song so much that <a href="http://hansontourmemories.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/its-not-often-that-song-actually.html">I even wrote a blog post about it</a>, and as recent as a few weeks before BTTI, I’d managed to sneak a mention of it into a thread about songs we wanted to hear - opening with “It will never happen but…”.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, it did happen, and I was there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">After this truly epic moment, Kelly and I were on a massive high for the rest of the show: Hanson could have played "The Chicken Dance" and we would have been cool with it. The rest of the setlist was a mix of old and recent songs - some not exactly ‘rock’ but this is Hanson, not Slayer, after all. They threw in a few covers at the end - a medley they also played during the MOE tour that combined “Long Train Running”, “Gimme Some Lovin’” and “I’m A Man”.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The set wrapped up with another cover, AC/DC’s “(You Shook Me) All Night Long” - a song so full of double-entendres that it should be re-named “You Made Me Cringe (All Night Long)”. I don’t know about you, but I struggle when Hanson sing ‘naughty” lyrics - not because I think that they’re altar boys, but because a large part of the fan base treats them as such. This is the same fan base that had a collective meltdown when Hanson put the word ‘shit’ in a song, after all. In this situation, I go into a sort of out-of-body experience as I watch Hanson fans go wild as Taylor sings "<i>s</i><span class="s1"><i>he told me to come but I was already there".</i> Maybe it’s just me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">It was a fantastic show, and the guys were on top form - even Zac, who had visibly recovered from his disappointing solo set. It’s a shame that Hanson had to play what could have arguably been the best concert of the whole event, in such a terrible setting - imagine that same show, with that same setlist and World’s on Fire under the stars? But at least they played, and I’d take a concert in a greenhouse over missing out on my favourite song any time</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; white-space: pre-wrap;">["World's on Fire" video by Habitz]</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rock All Night Setlist</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zac Hanson hosting Cards Against Humanity</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Last year’s party games were a lot of fun; they were held on the main stage on the beach, so people could come and go, watch their friends on stage, grab a drink, sit on the sand or on a lounger, while Zac and Isaac ‘hosted’ the games. But because of the ever-inclement weather, this year’s party games had been moved to the buffet. By the time we got there - barely the time to head back to our rooms after the show, freshen up and have a sip of water - the buffet was packed, with chairs crammed in every nook and cranny of the room. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">We eventually found some seats but although we could see, it was hard to hear what was being said on stage. It must have all been hilarious though, judging from the hyena-like hysterical reaction of the people sat behind us. With my eardrums at risk of shattering at regular intervals, and my tinnitus making itself known with a vengeance, I was soon losing the will to live. Despite the fact that ‘adult’ humour is not my kind of thing, last year I’d enjoyed the game; but this year, walled in by howling fans, stone-sober and without an easy way out, I found the whole thing cringeworthy. Put Zac Hanson reading smutty sentences to a room full of inebriated fans: <i>what could possibly go wrong?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">This: a fan, who had been called to take part in the game, decided to take off her dress as she walked on stage, treating the whole audience to a view of her underwear, which my friend described as a ‘granny bra”. Zac looked totally unfazed - although I suspect that this fan has blown her chance to get another photo with him ever again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The fans’ reaction on social media was gold: “at least wear something pretty and lacy” was the overall consensus. Impressing Zac Hanson, arguably the most conservative of the three, by whipping one’s clothes off on stage is probably not the smartest idea anyway, but doing so in unflattering nude underwear is just criminal.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is a Granny Bra the key to Zac Hanson's heart?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">That night I went to bed thinking that this BTTI 2018 was showing signs of being a very different affair from the postcard perfect experience of 2017. What would the next day bring or rather, what <i>else</i> could possibly go wrong? </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Find out in Part 3.</span></span></div>
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</style>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893028946956085668.post-38433571733794995532018-01-14T09:41:00.000-08:002018-01-14T10:46:55.439-08:00Day 1 - The Deluge and a Hanson Zombie Apocalypse<div class="p1">
Day 1: Saturday - The Deluge and a Hanson Zombie Apocalypse</div>
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We woke up on Saturday morning to more torrential rain. It had been raining on and off (mostly on) since Wednesday night and, as a result, the resort was pretty much flooded everywhere. I sat on the porch of my ocean front bedroom, drinking coffee, looking worriedly at the stage, half-built at the far end of the beach, its metal frame taunting the sky for lightning. Almost opposite my room, what I figured would be the mixing desk tent flapped maniacally, mercilessly battered by the elements*.</div>
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So far, not so good.<br />
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By that point, all sorts of rumours were going around the resort about possible contingency plans for that night’s show. Deep down, though, I still hoped that somehow, gods of all denominations would intervene and let us have our concert on the beach. The idea of being bussed to an outside location did not appeal at all: the resort is in the middle of nowhere, with only a smattering of small towns and villages nearby - it’s not like Las Vegas, where even the cheapest hotel has its own theatre. And as for an alternative location within the resort, nothing stood out as suitable.</div>
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I love the rain, but when you’re in an-all inclusive beach resort and it rains for longer than a few hours, you suddenly realise how those places are basically Disneyland on a beach - totally unequipped for life indoors. So if you’re looking for something to do, you’re out of luck, unless you are prepared to stay in your room with a book - hardly the most sociable activity when you’ve been looking forward to seeing your friends for months.</div>
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There was very, very little to do. I’d planned to have a facial at the salon (not the spa) that morning, but when that didn’t happen (I’ll spare you the boring details), I headed straight for the breakfast buffet. The hours that followed are a rainy blur, and were spent eating, registering, eating some more, drinking, eating, drinking, eating - until the announcement came via Hanson’s twitter that the show had been cancelled. You can only imagine the disappointment, especially given that soon after the news came, the rain stopped. But by then, Hanson and Island Gigs would have had to make a decision one way or another, and nobody could really blame them for not taking any chances with that monsoon-like weather.</div>
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Later that night, the resort’s admittedly excellent entertainment team put on a show in the main square - steel drums, dancing and synchronised swimming. We, however, wanted to sit around and chat without loud music blaring in our ears, so we headed back to the porch. It was the first semi-dry evening we’d had since we’d got to Jamaica, and as I sat on a rocking chair** on the porch, I thought there could be much worse places to be, after all.</div>
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Then, all of a sudden, a van turned up and out came Hanson. We were so engrossed in our conversation that at first we didn’t even notice them - one of my friends was frozen on her seat, unable to speak for an interminable moment, convinced at the same time that she was perfectly capable of communicating Hanson’s presence to us by means of telepathy. It didn’t work, and eventually she managed to whisper a strangled ‘they are here’. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBoF0ZdOERcWV7wXDI32-fn9ay6uVU7z967Wq-ISxmmQpSww69AmOB5q4b7iWB4dtkLjg6w2f3zFIDzNlXZYKFDdGgKkUyPtn6Ryaz7ePXJab4XIrXe7zAw4Nm4Zfz_E-ObY_COEUj74/s1600/IMG_3371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBoF0ZdOERcWV7wXDI32-fn9ay6uVU7z967Wq-ISxmmQpSww69AmOB5q4b7iWB4dtkLjg6w2f3zFIDzNlXZYKFDdGgKkUyPtn6Ryaz7ePXJab4XIrXe7zAw4Nm4Zfz_E-ObY_COEUj74/s320/IMG_3371.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Selfies Begin</td></tr>
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We stayed put on the porch as Hanson went into the reception building - from what we could see they were taking band ‘official’ photos and talking to people; then at some point fans got in and the selfies began. Soon after, the guys left and headed for the main square, clearly putting on a personal appearance to compensate fans for the lack of show (aka a Guilt Appearance™). When we finally deemed it safe to go and check out the situation, we were met with a depressing, if predictable spectacle: Isaac taking selfie after selfie, with a long line of fans waiting for their turn, like congregants at Mass lining up for Communion, with Isaac, of course, being the priest (after all, Isaac always goes into ‘priest pose’ when he doesn't have a guitar in his hands).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5xlhyBaVdBV2Mun4NYf8f8HAu-g2Uy4HuQ1nncSjCwlR2-07QW-39iPxMtSCht4RoVmudY8Mabtwl2I-BYEJ_3Px6I95VzkSklOHhMsJu0C4ieZE6DYBep-oOQ22p_Rnz8p9WpA5UCo/s1600/Comunione.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="709" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5xlhyBaVdBV2Mun4NYf8f8HAu-g2Uy4HuQ1nncSjCwlR2-07QW-39iPxMtSCht4RoVmudY8Mabtwl2I-BYEJ_3Px6I95VzkSklOHhMsJu0C4ieZE6DYBep-oOQ22p_Rnz8p9WpA5UCo/s320/Comunione.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">People queuing up to receive Communion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyndIiW2Olx7TivSabmMI-xBaabwfhe_2rfKPp2vX7vkyUTeoiMHf1pXTrJk0B9Vv3k-63kFK2b_FDjKksmwoNRNCZ79ihc0JvMRep0B8tBksWE8LuRJK2aFxhyj1SNYqVF0n_rPD7ns/s1600/Priest.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyndIiW2Olx7TivSabmMI-xBaabwfhe_2rfKPp2vX7vkyUTeoiMHf1pXTrJk0B9Vv3k-63kFK2b_FDjKksmwoNRNCZ79ihc0JvMRep0B8tBksWE8LuRJK2aFxhyj1SNYqVF0n_rPD7ns/s320/Priest.jpeg" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isaac in "Priest Pose"</td></tr>
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We stayed as long as we could bear it, but life is too short to watch a Hanson brother take selfies with a gazillion fans, and once a collective <i>nope </i>was spoken, we went back to find our seats. The porch was still as empty as when we’d left it - the chairs still rocking ominously like a scene from a movie. Considered the Hanson Zombie Apocalypse that was going down in the nearby square, the image was rather fitting.</div>
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We’d been there for a while when we saw Zac, who was walking back to a waiting van outside the reception building. He saw us and came over. <i>“Hi, how’s the porch?” </i>he said.</div>
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He chatted with us for a couple of minutes- not long, but it was a nice gesture, and something that I’ve now seen Zac do on several occasions. If you don’t harass him, he often comes and speaks to you, unprompted. There’s a lesson there, if anybody is interested.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Night One ended with a debrief in ‘the swanky apartment’ - i.e. Ingela’s room. We should have been on a post-Hanson show high, but the mood was subdued after four days of rain and the change of schedule, and we had no idea if we’d get all our shows in the three days that were now left of this wet and grey Back to the Island 2018. Day one had come and gone, and instead of the Rock All Night ‘welcome show, we got Hanson Selfie Hour instead. <br />
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One thing was certain: BTTI 2018 had started <a href="https://www.shmoop.com/hollow-men/poem-text.html">not with a bang but a whimper</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRxNqFuiB0yLFTbHWDlN6YV_ewEIaaKNH_ACsGBwmYD9eP6VbNmflOENoQt_No0kRJjelkAN5pWmY4bEZPL3nFxBgxoRwKae9JvS4gSyiFMgLhXko4bAb8-1UDvNLn0rwhEodNf4sfWs/s1600/IMG_3383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRxNqFuiB0yLFTbHWDlN6YV_ewEIaaKNH_ACsGBwmYD9eP6VbNmflOENoQt_No0kRJjelkAN5pWmY4bEZPL3nFxBgxoRwKae9JvS4gSyiFMgLhXko4bAb8-1UDvNLn0rwhEodNf4sfWs/s320/IMG_3383.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the sign looks sad</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*The video I posted was taken a couple of days before the event and before the sound tent was actually built, but you get the idea.<br />**The rocking chairs at the Melia were lethal. I crushed the top of my feet on them several times and my feet are still bruised from them. They’d never pass Health & Safety Regulations in the U.K.</span>asphodeliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316052330459955707noreply@blogger.com0