Tour Memories (and occasional musings)

String Theory 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: you have to see it live . 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 boa...

It started badly, with a repeat of last year’s weather that was more Back to the Quagmire than Back to the Island , 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”.   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 exc...

(Trigger warning: this post contains references to the loss of a parent.) Zac: A Coming of Age Setlist If you read my blog posts on last year’s BTTI , 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, “Reading Your Mind” and “The Ballad of Seymour Better Times” (the latter had first been performed at the 2018 solo set). I will never tire of “Musical Ride” which sums up the life of a Hanson fan, and I’ll forgive Zac for messing up the beginning of “Fire on the Mountain” . Predictably, “Bittersweet” - by now a regular staple of these solo sets - made an appearance, and the rarely played “Use Me Up” 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. I first saw Zac perform a solo set in 2015, and back then he performed song after song without much talking. W...

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

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

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

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. #1 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. #2 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 e...