Screaming, pushing, shoving, punching, grabbing, hair pulling…… those are all things that I experienced at my latest Hanson concert. The fans were crazy I tell you, crazy! In my opinion, it tended to be the younger fans who were causing all of the disturbances, while the older long-time Hanson fans who were there for their favourite group, and not just to get a glimpse of some major hotties, tried to avoid being sucked into the craziness.
One thing that I still don’t get about the concert is that it said on the ticket that the show started at 6:30, but it didn’t start until about an hour later. Why? Still not too sure, but it was well worth the wait! Hanson mixed it up with some new stuff (penny and me, underneath, etc.), some old stuff (mmmbop, where’s the love, river, etc.), and some cover stuff (Bryan Adams). The song of the night for the males (and there were way more males than I ever expected to be there!) seemed to be Rip It Up, while the song of choice for the ladies seemed to be a tie between Tay’s solo of Crazy/Beautiful and the good ol’ classic Mmmbop.
All three guys got some solo time on stage, with Zac going first to slow things down on the piano. Ike’s touching solo gave me goosebumps, while during Tay’s solo I didn’t even bother trying to get on my tiptoes to see him since just about every girl in the place suddenly leapt towards his side of the stage.
Zac was really rockin’ away on his tiny little drum set, but it was a whole different experience watching him rockin’ away with no long hair to flip around! And Ike’s just amazing on the guitar – really awesome to watch and listen to! Near the end of the concert, Taylor’s beautiful wife and child appeared on the steps to watch the one of the last songs of the night. And when the guys took the stage for the last time for their acapella encore, fans were both touched and saddened because the awesome experience was almost over – at least I sure was.
Even though this concert ended up costing me wayyyy more than I had anticipated (with the initial cancellation where I had non-refundable bus tickets from my hometown, then had to purchase new ones from my school town to go to the new concert), and even though I had to miss Thanksgiving dinner on one side of my family (because I live so far away from the concert), it was well worth it. I got to see my favourite band perform up close and personal, an experience that can never be taken away from me.
On Saturday September 30th, me (Krystal) and my (then)boyfriend (Tom) woke up really early in the morning and left our hometown which is about 4 hours north of Toronto. We arrived in Toronto in the afternoon and had tons of fun shopping. Then we got on the subway and headed downtown to find our destination - Massey hall. It was pretty easy to find since there were tons of Hanson fans already lined up outside screaming their heads off. We had a nice quick dinner at a nearby Taco Bell and then we lined up to get into the venue. We had really good seats. Second row a\on the balcony. At this venue the balcony was low enough that Taylor could easily grab a hold of the railing and hop up (which he did during the show!) Anyway, the show was great. M2M was the opening band and since I actually like them, they were very entertaining for me. My boyfriend seemed to like the two girls in bikinis that were sitting a few rows away from us a bit more though! Well, Hanson sounded great, looked great and honestly were great! Ike's solo was wonderful and Taylor was very energetic, more energetic than I'd ever seen him at a concert before. He was jumping all around while Zac seemed rather mellow. I know, weird huh? I guess it was just tay's turn to be a little crazy! The concert passed too fast for my liking. I wished it would've lasted forever! They played some old stuff (Mmmbop, Thinkin' of You, River ect.), some current stuff (If Only, Dyin' to Be Alive ect.) and some new stuff (.......) Everything was great! Taylor messed up on the keyboards once and slipped on the carpet while hundreds of girls ran to the stage whenever he or Ike would come close crushing the security guards in front. This was my favorite concert yet and I can't wait to see Hanson again. They've even turned my boyfriend into a Hanson fan because he (as well as I) respect that they play, write and produce their own music. They are truly talented young men who will continue to make music forever and have an established fan base who won't let them down!
On Tuesday June 23rd, myself (Krystal) along with my friend [at the time (Mel)] and cousin (Amber) all piled into my dad's car and began our 4 hour drive to Toronto for the Hanson Concert that started at 7:30pm. After shopping at the Yorkdale mall in Toronto, we all got on the subway and headed to the theatre. When we got there, we headed for the line that was miles long! The wait to get in wasn't that bad though. It moved pretty fast. At 6:00pm we were in! Then, since we had lawn seats, we headed up to find a spot to stand. Well, we went right for the top because it's so high up that you can see everything much clearer than if you were in the middle of the lawn. So we set ourselves up. These girls behind us had made a REALLY COOL Hanson sign. It was huge! Definately the biggest sign I've ever seen. We were glad that these girls had made the sign because it was so big that we all knew Hanson would see it. And since we were standing in front of the sign, of course it drew attention to us too! Alright, at exactly 7:30pm Admiral Twin came on. That's Hanson's friend Jarrod's band. They're really good. I didn't expect them to be so good. Now I think I might just buy the CD! Anyway, when Admiral Twin was done the crew had to set up the stage for Hanson. So Walker, Hanson's dad went on stage and started filming the fans. I know that he got the big sign behind us on tape. You could just tell. At 8:30pm Hanson finally came on!!! They all looked so good!!! Tay was wearing a green shirt with baggy pants, Zac was wearing a whitish colored shirt and Ike was wearing a beigish colored shirt with cool blue pants. Well, they opened witha few songs, then talked about how they loved Toronto. YEAH!!! Then Tay looked up at the huge sign and dedicated Where's The Love to all of the people up on the lawn, while pointing at the huge sign! Yeah, he noticed!!!! Well, then Tay took off his green shirt and he just had a tight white one on. WOW!!! Ike also took off his shirt. WOW!!! Okay, while the guys were introducing the other guys in the band, Tay was playing the drums while Zac gave away his drumsticks. What a cutie!! Then, Tay and Zac left and Ike played the piano and sang to "More Than Anything" Did he ever sound good!!! He's got a great voice, not that we didn't already know that! Okay, the guys played a few songs, then some more and before we knew it, the concert was over! The guys came back and did an encore 3 songs. They ended with "Ain't no Cure For The Summertime Blues." I love that song!! But, before they went off they did a little bit of "Wierd" accapella. Then Zac and Tay sprayed everyone with water! Man, did Zac ever spray people!! At one pont Tay walked over and shook a few people's hands while Ike took over on the keyboards. I think the cutest part was when Ike walked over to Tay with his guitar and they sang from the same microphone. It looked so cute! Ike kept walking around on the stage and I really liked that. Zac squeaked a couple of times but it was so cute! Then, it was time for us to leave. That was the worst part! I can't wait to go to another concert!!
On Saturday August 16th Hanson appeared at Canada's Wonderland. They were scheduled to perform at 7:30pm but when park gates opened at 9:00am people began to pour into the theatre. Unfortunately I along with my friend Tania were on a bus trip and we only arrived at 10:00 but we still got good seats. We were in the first row of the upper seating area, so I could see over everyone else. All throughout the day people were chanting "Hanson, Hanson" and other stuff like that. Some fans even had Taylor, Zac and Ike's names written on their bodies with lipliner or eyeliner or even paint and markers. Fans were holding up signs that said "Tay give me a call(with their phone #'s" or "I love (hanson of their choice)". There were also these guys who looked like they were in their 20's and there were six of them. They had no shirts and on their stomachs it spelled out HANSON and on their backs it said MMMBOP. They were jumping up and down and cheering and stuff. Every time one of the hosts said the name Hanson, Tay, Zac or Ike the crowd would go wild. At around 5:15 Hanson came on stage and said hi and stuff for about 15 minutes. They looked so good! When the people were setting up Hanson's instruments the crowd went wild yet again. One of the girls that we were sitting with got picked to go on stage for a show and when she went backstage she saw Hanson. She said that Ike was the first one to say hi to her and he waved. Awww how sweet! We saw the back-up's for Hanson standing around backstage and we even saw who we're 100% sure was Avery and Mackenzie with their mom walking around on the hills backstage. Then finally at around 7:20 Hanson came on and did a little interview. The fans were screaming really loud though so you couldn't really hear Zac since he wasn't talking very loud. Then after a few questions were asked Hanson began to perform. They sang Madeline and Man From Milwaukee accapella and then they sang Thinking Of You, Where's The Love, A Minute Without You and MMMBop with their instruments. That was all live on t.v. Then Zac poured his bottle of water on his head and then the guys held hands and bowed and a couple of minutes later they came back for an encore and they sang MMMBop accapella. It was the best time of my life. Anyway during Man From Milwaukee when Zac does his little thing with the megaphone Taylor said," give it up for Zac Hanson and during another one of Zac's drum solos Ike turned around and said" Ladies and gentlemen give it up for our little brother Zac Hanson." It was so cute. They were great and they looked like they were really having fun. They knew how to please the crowd energetic. Whenever the camera would be on Zac he'd look stright into it and start smiling away. He's got to be THE most adorable guy in the world! Now I love them even more! If you ever have the chance to see a Hanson concert, bring lots of film!
If you have any questions or comments e-mail me!
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