July 15th 1998
To most of you it was just another Summer's day,
but not for me. It was the day I saw
my three most favorite people on this earth, Isaac, Taylor and Zac
On Wednesday, July 15th 1998, I saw Hanson. First, they came to do a
private Press Confrence at Planet Hollywood San Francisco. I went
with my mom, my sister and Kristina and Frances. Hanson was going to get
there at 2:00pm. We stood in-line for 3 and a half hours in the 90*
weather! It wasnt boring because we were busy the whole time! There
were photographers from A LOT of different newspapers and TONS, I mean
TONS of news reporters from every station in San Francisco! We were the
very first people in line so we got interviewed the most. We got alot
of questions like Why do you like Hanson, What makes you like Hanson,
How long have you liked Hanson, Which Hanson is your favorite and a
bunch of other questions! It was kind of embarrasing because the news
cameras were like on top of us and microphones were in front of us! One
station was live!! It was all really fun! We sang the chorus to
MMMBop for a man that worked for KGO am radio in San Francisco and a lady was
There that worked for First Cut on NBC...she interviewed us! It was
like we were celebrities! Then on the Planet Hollywood speakers..they
played all of Middle Of Nowhere twice and everybody in line sang and
that got on the news! Then at about 2:15pm, there was this BIG huge
blue bus coming around the corner really slowly. That was the Hanson bus!
Boy..the screams got SOOOO much louder! As the bus stopped in the
middle of the street, people were just going nuts! Hanson didnt get out for
about 15 minutes! I saw Isaac step out of the bus..then, it got crazy!
Everybody from the back of the line pushed SO hard, we could have
gotten hurt! Anyway, Isaac, Taylor and Zac started to walk in, the pushing got
even worse! Taylor was waving and so were Isaac and Zac. I could
hardley see because all these people from the back pushed their way up..but I
got a good picture of Isaac! Then once they went in, the lady that
worked at Planet Hollywood told everybody that once you got in to watch
the confrence, you couldn1t scream or take pictures..if you did..you'd
be ejected! And to see the confrence, they only let the first 15 people
in! So we got to watch! It was so so so neat. Hanson was just about 5-10
feet away from us!! But it was kind of hard to see because all the of
the press was in front of us! And then..I noticed Hanson's dad, Walker!
He was video-taping the confrence and he taped us too! Then when it was
over, I took alot of pictures of Isaac, Taylor and Zac. And I took a
picture of their dad! Kristina asked Walker if she could take a picture
of him..He said "No pictures, sorry". Then he asked me if I had tickets
to for the show tonight and I said "YES!". He said "Oh cool". I TALKED
TO HIM! YES! When Hanson was gone, this lady took anything you might have
for them..Kristee bought some alien pencils for Zac and I had a letter
I wrote to them and I gave them my picture along with my e-mail address,
phone number and address! And Kristina had a rabbits foot for Zac!!
Then, after that, we left Planet Hollywood and went and took pictures by their bus! We came home so we could change to another Hanson shirt! I changed and then we left to go to the concert! On our van, we made a big sign that said "San Francisco Loves Hanson" and we had Hanson stickers and banners!! We got to the
Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mtn. View CA At 4:30pm (the show started at 8:00). It
was SOOOO hot there! There was a huge long line to get in there and we
didnt want to wait in that long line in the heat, in the mean time..we
went over to a booth where they were selling things!! I bought, A
t-shirt, stickers, pins, a 5 foot poster, a program and a laminate.
After that, we put everything in the car and went over to the lawn
where there was a tree and some shade. As we were sitting there, we heard
Hanson doing their sound check. They did, "River", "Soldier" and a part
of "MMMBop". Then, after a few minutes, we got up and we went into the
Shoreline to get in our seats. We sat there for about 2 hours. Then at
8:00pm, Hanson's opening act called, 3Baha Men: played. They were a
Jamaican/Reggae group. They played about 4 songs. One was "Back To The
Island". I knew that because I have Hanson's album Boomerang and Hanson
sang that on there. After them..they had a 20 minute break. When the
break was over, Admiral Twin came out. They played 3 songs. One was
called "Call No. 27"I think they sounded like the, "Beatles"! When they
were done, it was another 20 minutes until Hanson. During the break,
Admiral Twin walked right in front of our section and we started
screaming and taking pictures. Kristina reached over and shook two of
their hands!! Then, before we knew it, Hanson came out!! It got REALLY
loud! Taylor said "Hey SAN FRANCISCO". Everyone was screaming including
me. They were talking but I couldn't really hear because of the
screaming! But they opened with, "Gimme Some Lovin'". I was singing,
clapping, jumping and taking pictures! They were sooo darn good! They
did a couple acoustic songs. One was "Stories" (*thats my favorite
Hanson song*) and I can't really remember the other two..I think one was
"Soldier". Then Isaac played the keyboard and went solo on "More Than
Anything". That rocked! On the song, "Money", Taylor went over to Zac's
drums and he played!! He's pretty good! Then, as Taylor was going back
to his keyboard, he tripped or slid on the stage and landed on his
hands and knees! But, he got back up..smiled and gave the audience a "THUMBS UP"!!I can tell he was embarrased!=) After that song, Taylor said "I see alot of you with light sticks".(I had an orange and green one and Kristee has a pink and green one) And Zac held up his light up drum sticks and shook them. They were neat! Taylor said "You guys are one of our most awesome crowds". After that, I felt special! They played another song and they left!! I was sad..EVERYBODY started screaming and they came back out and said, "For a crowd this awesome,
we'll play some more". Whoo-hoo! They played "Speechless" and
"Summertime Blues". Isaac went into a very deep-low voice and did the
part, "I'd love to help you son but you're too young to vote"! I was
screaming and going crazy! That was their last song. When that was
over, they did a little bit of "Weird" acapella! After that, Taylor said
"Thank you guys..you guys are awesome" and Zac said, "We1ll see you
nextime" and Isaac said "Goodnight"! I was so sad it was over! But I
had the most fun anyone could ever have had! I just wish our seats were
better because Zac sprayed the audience with water using a Super
Soaker! Oh well!! When we got home, my ears were ringing and my throat was sooo
sore and my voice is/was funny! But, I'd do it all again in an "mmmbop"
if I had the chance and I hope Hanson comes back here REALLY soon!
The original was 8 pages long and I wrote it the day after the show..
July 16th 1998. July 16th was the SADDEST day of my life! :(
