My first Hanson concert: December 9th, 2007
"You owe me" I griped at my blond best friend shivering next to me.
It was six degrees outside. Yes, six. We had left our winter coats in the car because we decided against spending an outrageous $8 each on coat check fees. After exhausting all her other options (including trying to find a way to get her 16 year old sister into an 18+ venue) my best friend Beth had finally asked me to go see Hanson with her. I reluctantly agreed to go as long as she paid for my ticket.
My face was numb. I could not move my toes.
"I don't even like Hanson!" I made sure to whine just loud enough to collect a few glares from the girls in front of us in line.
The doors finally opened. I looked at the time on my phone... I had just spend an agonizing 45 minutes freezing my butt off to go see a band that I had liked when I was nine. My only hope was that they'd cut their hair since 1997 and that they would play "I Will Come To You" and "MmmBop" two songs I had remembered loving when I was a pre-teen.
The line slowly inched it's way through the doors and the girls directly behind us in line kept talking about how this concert was going to be such a big deal. Why? It was the last concert stop for the tour and they always do something 'special' for the last night of a tour. What tour? The Walk Tour. That was a strangr name for a 'rock' tour. Were they against vehicles or something? Amish? No. It had something to do with charity and Africa. Hmm.
We finally made our way through the doors and I was thankful to find out that I had not permanentally lost all feeling in my body. The main floor was about half way filled with a bunch of running, pushing, frantic looking mid- 20 year old women cramming themselves like sardines to try to get a couple centimeters closer to the front. I laughed at them. Psychos!
Beth and I found a sopt towards the middle- right side of the stage, directly under the stairs that led to the 2nd floor of the venue. It was and elevates section of the floor with a raling so we had a perfect view over everyone's heads and no one could walk in front of us. People kept coming and cramming into the main floor. Did Hanson really have this many fans still? Someone said something about it being sold out. Strange. A couple feet belows us in the pit were a group of already buzzed women who kept the beers coming. The show hadn't even started yet. Next to them was a couple who seriously needed to get a room.
The opening band started. They were a local group of three siblings and called themselves The Abdomen. they were actually pretty decent, musically. As their set came to a close, you could hear the excitement in the room pick up. The screen between the front row and the stage wnet down, though from where I was standing we could still see most of what was going on. The roadies were switching up the stage, the drunk girls were ordering more beer, I could finally start to move my toes and security was escorting a girl down the stairs. Wait a second... I knew that girl. We'll just call her Lady... Lady and her scantilly clad self was being escorted out of the venue, a security guard on each arm. (We later found out she had been caught drinking and trying to scrub her black X's off her underaged hands in the bathroom. We had met Lady through another band we used to like a few years ago and she hadn't changed much since then.) Great. These were the kinds of people that liked Hanson.
I looked to my left and recognized two girls from high school. Twins named Madelyn and Jaclyn. They were sweet girls. I remembered from old conversations with jaclyn at our high school lunch table that she liked Hanson. I didn't think much of it at the time, never expecting to find myself at a Hanson concert. Jaclyn held a sign that read "My twin's name is Madelyn!" I didn't understand it at the that point in time. Did they want a shout out? ("Madeline" is now own of my favorite Hanson songs and I wished they had sung it for them that night. :( They did not.) The twins noticed me and smiled and waved in my direction. I returned the gesture.
The lights went down.
Screams.
I saw some silouttes walk onto the stage, the screen was still in the way. The screen slowly inched its way up and the screems escalated.
I noticed Taylor first. Honestly, he hadn't changed much from what I remembered of him. Same blond hair, same baby face, same energy. Beth was already gushing about how attractive he was and I think I heard the title "number one!" more than enough times form her that night.
Then I saw Isaac with his buzzed hair. Nice, the Hanson boys HAD cut their hair!
Then I saw the youngest one, Zac, strut straight to his drumset. When I was nine, Zac had been my favorite because he was closest to my age and of course my logical nine year old self had to pick the one closest to my age because it would be weird to marry an older man like Taylor or Isaac. Zac didn't look anything at all what I remember him looking like. He was actually... was I going to let that thought pass through my head? No, not yet. It was hard to see him way back at his drums, the lighting in First Ave, the venue, was awful and the spotlights seemed to be on Taylor and Isaac.
I was bummed I couldn't see him but I didn't have much time to be bummed before the music started. The first song wasn't "MmmBop" or "I Will Come To You" or anything else I would have recognized, but whatever it was, i liked it. I was watching Taylor Hanson pound on the piano and belt out lyrics with an undeniable passion for his music. At the end of the song he looked at the cheering crowd and just smiled. I realized I was smiling too. Oh no. A few songs into the the set Beth prompted me with "OH! It's the roundy-round song!" she yelled in my ear while doing a circular motion with her hand. I stared at her blankly. "You' know it!" As soon as the song hit the chorus, something clicked and I all of a sudden found the lyrics to "Where's The Love" buried deep in my brain. I remember how awesome it was to watch all 1,000+ people in the venue, including Taylor himself, simultaneously whip their hands around their head in that "roundy-round" motion Beth had shown me. I joined in. Wait... I was having fun... at a Hanson concert.
Before I knew it, Taylor was announcing that they'd be right back. The lights went out. What? Already?
"What's going on?"
The roadies were moving stuff around on the stage.
"Acoustic set" I heard a girl behind me say.
I didn't know what that meant, but I'm glad her explanation did not include the word "encore" or "end" like I had immediately assumed when the lights went out. The lights went up. The first thing I noticed: a smaller, African looking drum on the front center of the stage. All three of them waked onto stage again, but this time Zac walked straight to the center front drum. Finally with the help of sufficient lighting and Taylor not blocking my view, I noticed something and was ready to admit it to myself: wow, Zac had gotten much cuter since 1997. His hair had gotten darker and it was puled back into a tiny pony tail, with a perfect amount of sweeping bangs and flyaways to frame his face. I was busy studying the features of his face when something life-altering happened with no warning: the boy smiled. I'm pretty sure I had some sort of mouth-gaping reaction to that. He had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen in my life. I could not hold it in any longer: "He's gorgeous"
"Who Tayor!!?"
"NO! Zac."
Then the next thing that came out of my mouth, I do not understand, but is none the less relevant to reasons why I decided that Zac Hanson was one of the most gorgeous men I had ever seen: "see HE doesn't have any facial hair" I must have been creeped out by Taylor's pedophile looking goatee he had going on.
The acoustic set was by far my favorite part of the whole concert. I was finally able to see who was singing which parts, and began to admire their three distinct voices... yet when they sang together or harmonized, it was the most beautiful sound I had heard. A couple songs into the acoustic set, Beth leaned over "You'll like this one, it's their new single... it's a Zac solo." My reaction: I whipped out my phone and activated the audio record setting. I wanted to have something to remember this moment. It was the first time I heard his voice so clearly by itself. He hit every note perfectly and his voice had a tone unlike anyone's I had ever heard before. It was unique but a good kind of unique. I did not understand how someone so beautiful could have such a beautiful voice too... did this boy have any flaws? The song "Go" is the song I attribute to my becoming a "Zac fan" again after nine years. The song that I attribute to me becoming a full-blown Hanson fan came towards the end of the concert.
After Beth freaking out about her favorite song "Crazy Beautiful," after jumping up and down to "If Only," and after Zac danced around on stage with a shiny string of red garland (see video at the bottom), after hearing a creepy sounding song that I later found out was a rare song called "Yearbook" it was prank time. There was suddenly a giant stuffed ape on stage and the boys had changed clothes. The beginning notes of the ballad started and cheers erupted everywhere. I didn't know why yet, but from the crowd's reaction I knew this song was special.
"Lovin' you..." after the first line of the song I had already decided that I gave in. I was officially a Hanson fan. The lyrics, the notes, their voices... I was undeniably in love with the music and the band.
For some reason we had decided to leave a few songs early because we wanted to beat the traffic out of there. After all, it was late, I had been up since 4am because of work, and Beth and I both had classes the next morning. The entire way home to my college dorm I could not stop taking about Hanson. I asked question after question. Then came the information I was freading: "I think they're all married..." But this night wasn't about that. It was about the music and the band and me admitting to myself that liking Hanson wasn't just something from my past, it would become something very prominent to my future.
I remember this like it was yesterday and re-watching it today got me a lil teary- eyed.
This video isn't mine but it's all the evidence I have as to why I fell in love with Zac Hanson.
