HANSON HULLABALLOO 2008! Part Two
Allentown, PA 5/2/08
Mileage: 282.72
Alright. After a 6 day break, we were back on the road again.
We left Providence for Allentown around 6pm on Thursday night, figuring we would give camping out a try. We aren't huge fans of it, mostly because its never gotten us a really good spot and we have fun wherever we are, but seeing as we were going to so many shows, we figured we'd camp for at least one.
So we got there a little before midnight, and were kind of just loitering around the front of the venue because we didn't realize that the doors were down the side. We ended up talking to a security guard named Scott who worked there, and told us where the doors were, where to park, etc. According to him there wasn't anyone else there yet, so he gave us numbers 1 and 2 and warned us to sleep in our car with the doors locked. When we headed down to the side door, there were about 3 other cars of people who had been numbering themselves and stuff, and gave us a really hard time when we were like hi... venue numbered us 1 and 2. We weren't trying to start drama but like... the girl who put herself in charge of numbering was super annoying and was like, making us put numbers on our cars and it was just ridiculous. Sometimes I forget how ridiculous Hanson fans are. So, whatever. We slept in the car. Long story short, no one slept much and we ended up getting out of the cars and into an actual line around 6am.
C'mon, who doesn't love sleeping in cars in Sketchville, USA?
Anyway... the day was pretty much boring city. We left to try to find a Dunkin and then decided we'd rather have Starbucks, so we spent about an hour and a half finding one with the help of my phone GPS. We made friends with some of the campers - Rachel, Chelsea, Liz, Sam... they were about the only cool ones. That we talked to anyway.
Okay so. Walk time.
It was a pretty chaotic walk, if I remember correctly. Taylor got Taylor to talk on the phone with an old friend of hers who originally introduced her to Hanson, and then had Zac talk to her mom for a few, so that was fun.
We apparently became obsessed with taking pictures like this.
There's a bug on his shirt.
Our feet next to Ike's.
Zac and Tay. =)
Master of the megaphone.
EVERYONE MUST FOLLOW.
Here's Ike's really attractive man purse.
This is what I like to call the "Zac as an Emo Model" photoshoot.
perfection.
I really liked Zac's belt.
I TOOK THE WALK!
Alright. Good times. After the walk, we kind of just... continued to mill about and do nothing, until it got close enough to show time for the line drama to start. A bunch of people started lining up at the door going the opposite way as us, so of course, people started freaking out and blah blah whatever. The moral of the story is, camping out makes you dirty, tired, paranoid, and bitchy.
Once we got let in, we ended up probably between the 3rd-4th row back, in the middle/towards Tay's side. I ended up getting out of the crowd before Hanson even came on. Once again, camping out makes you tired, feel disgusting, irritable, and NOT want to hang out in a crowd of pushing and stupid girls. I also hadn't eaten all day and was feeling a little faint. So I hung out by the food stand on the side of the venue for the show.
Before I left we made sure to take a pre-Hanson picture.
One funny slash random slash cool thing about where I was standing was that Hanson had to literally walk right in front of me to get to the stage. Which kind of tells you something about the venue, but whatev.
A few of Taylor's pictures from the show:
Setlist for Allentown, 5/2/08
CROCODILE ROCK
ALLENTOWN, PA
02 MAY 2008
01. Great Divide
02. Been There Before
03. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
04. Can't Stop
05. Crazy Beautiful
06. Hole In My Life
07. Penny & Me (acoustic)
08. Ain't No Sunshine (acoustic)
09. MMMBop (acoustic)
10. A Song To Sing (acoustic)
11. You're Enough (Z)
12. With You In Your Dreams
13. Watch Over Me
14. Blue Sky
15. If Only/Let's Get It On/If Only
Click to view16. Running Man
17. Oh Darling
18. Hey
19. Lost Without Each Other
20. Something Going Round
ENCORE:
21. This Time Around
22. The Ugly Truth
23. Great Divide chorus (a cappella)
I have to say, as much as I didn't think I would enjoy myself due to the tiredness and the absolutely terrible venue, this was a phenomenal setlist... probably one of the best of the shows we saw. We had heard them soundchecking With You In Your Dreams earlier in the day and I pretty much flipped out because that's the song that I play for my grandma who passed away in 2004... but Hanson's really good at NOT playing songs that they soundcheck, so we didn't think much of it. Not this time though. I was absolutely bawling my eyes out, it was actually pretty ridiculous. There was this lady standing next to me who kind of put her arm around me until the show was over, which was sweet. I think the combination of over-exhaustion and not feeling well and the song just made me lose it. I'm pretty sure I actually cried all the way through Blue Sky. Ha.
Anyway.. Taylor got out of the crowd during Hey and we headed out during Something Goin Round, and danced around in the parking lot to the encore. We hung out by the bus and watched the guys go in and out with the crowd, but then Tim said they weren't coming out - funny story though, before we knew that they weren't signing, I had run over to the car to grab something, and as I was walking back, I saw Taylor kind of waving at me to hurry up because Isaac and Taylor had just gotten off the bus and we thought they were going to start signing. So I started running, and pretty much ran smack into Taylor Hanson because - nope, they aren't signing, they're just heading back into the venue. So yeah, I had to do a pretty serious swerving move in order to avoid a majorly awesome/embarrassing moment.
We hung out for awhile after Tim told us to go home, just because... we're Hanson fans. But we were exhausted so eventually just decided to head back to Upper Darby where we were staying with Taylor's grandma for the night, and get a full night's sleep for Lancaster the next day!
Mileage: 57.16
Lancaster, PA 5/3/08
Mileage: 75.39
We overslept a bit at grandma's, but still managed to make it to Lancaster by noon or a little after. We were automatically feeling better than we were the night before - showers and a full nights sleep do wonderful things.
To be perfectly honest, there wasn't really anything too exciting that happened that was Hanson-related at this show. The walk was pretty average.
I think Ike realllyyyy likes that shirt.
My fave quote of the day goes to Isaac Hanson: "You're a monkey!" when he saw that Tay had jumped up on that thing.
Apparently the 6th walk is when I become more interested in playing with my camera functions.
Zac feet and Ike head.
zaylor fans go ahead.
MONKEY.
So after the walk we decided we wanted to have a few drinks and grab some dinner before the show. Long story short, with the help of my GPS we found the worlds tiniest biker bar in the slums of Lancaster almost 2 miles from the venue, and we got six drinks and two meals for $26 dollars and watched the Kentucky Derby. I have to say, that was probably the best part of the entire day.
This sums up the show:
That was zoomed.
Setlist for Lancaster, 5/3/08
CHAMELEON CLUB
LANCASTER, PA
03 MAY 2008
01. Great Divide
02. Been There Before
03. A Minute Without You
04. Can't Stop
05. Crazy Beautiful
06. Hole In My Life
07. Strong Enough To Break (acoustic)
08. Go (acoustic)
09. MMMBop (acoustic)
10. One More (acoustic)
11. The Walk (Z)
12. Got A Hold On Me
13. Blue Sky
14. If Only w/ Let's Get It On
15. Running Man
16. Let Love Rule
17. Penny & Me
18. Hey
19. Something Going 'Round
ENCORE:
20. In A Little While
21. Rock & Roll Razorblade
24. Great Divide chorus (a cappella)
The show was pretty great once we managed to even get down onto the floor. That venue is set up absolutely terribly, I have to say. BUT the good news is, once we found our little niche in the back, we made friends with a group of a few really awesome ladies and the five of us did the running man in a big circle. The people behind us probably wanted to kill us, but that's cool.
Pre-Hanson happiness.
So we left before the encore thinking, "they didn't sign last night, they're definitely going to sign tonight." Now let's just talk about this for a second. The one encore we wanted to see all tour was In a Little While. And usually we stay and at least hear what the encore is and then decide if we want to stay for it or not. That night, we were really eager to get autographs apparently, so we just left. And what did they play? In a Little While. AND it was raining so they didn't come out and sign.
Seriously?
Yeah.
Screw you Hanson.
♥
So we hung around. Made silly videos of us and our new bffls Rachel and Chelsea. And then headed back to grandma's.
Mileage: 73.96
The next day it was time to head back to Rhode Island... we only had one day at home before we headed BACK to PA and eventually down to NC for the last show of tour. =)
Mileage: 291.31
Durham, NC, 5/7/08
Mileage: RI to PA: 291.95
PA to NC: 397.35
We left Pennsylvania around 3am on the 7th, and after some minor car trouble we were well on our way to North Carolina.
When we arrived in Durham, I got really stressed out driving because we were sort of lost, so we pulled over so Tay could drive, and happened to end up right next to:
I was pretty excited.
We parked and then walked over the the venue, where there were a few fans milling about, but considering the show was seated, there were only about 8 of us or so. Hanson's bus pulled up a little before noon, so we hung around hoping the guys would come out but soon realized that they were probably staying in there til the walk, so we went and got lunch and had a few drinks at my new favorite bar in the world, Bull McCabe's.
Cheers to the last show of the tour!
We met up with the girl who was buying one of my extra tickets, Tiffany, and pretty much became bffs. I love her, and we're going to drive down to visit sometime this summer. Good times.
Anyway... walk time. Apparently there were photographers/videographers today, so the guys were like "Please let us walk in the front for awhile." Okay. Way to stage the pictures guys. Whatev.
At one point, Tiff and I ended up walking next to Zac, and I told her to say something, so she's like "Oh hey... how's it going?" And then we proceeded to have a conversation about how that phrase is a classic which never dies.
Tiff: I didn't realize he was gazing at me so intensely.
AND THEN Zac and I had a moment. It went like this:
Me: So, can I tell you something really lame?
Zac: *laughing* What an awesome way to preface a conversation.
Me: Well its kind of cute slash cheesy. I just wanted to thank you for playing WYIYD in Allentown because it was my grandma's funeral song and I haven't had a chance to thank you guys yet.
Zac: Aw.. well I'm sorry you didn't get to hear it.
Me: No.. I did hear it, I just wanted to thank you guys.
During all of this we were being pushed apart by crazies wanting to talk to him, and at one point he turned around and this happened:
♥
And clearly the world stopped for a few minutes, and then the walk continued.
I want the ring.
Wait, Ike gets to talk?
Yep.
Clearly Tay's thrilled about not being the center of attention.
Don't worry guys. I have control of the megaphone back. All is right in the universe.
I know this is a bit of Taylor overload, but just look how pretty.
After the walk, the three of us headed back to the hotel in Cary for the rest of the afternoon, hung out, showered, etc. Then we headed back to Durham and went to have another beer before heading into the venue. We missed most of Kate Voegeleege's set, which was a little sad, but we got over it rather quickly.
Then the SK6ers came on, and they brought out Hanson during Start the Day Early, which was amazing considering that's the song that Taylor and I played drinking games to in HB.
To close the Sixers set, they did Time of My Life with Hanson, and the whole crew came out... Tim, Bex, Muff, Will, Demetrius, etc. It was pretty awesome. It got Tay and I pretty psyched for an amazing show.
Taylor myspace-ing himself.
After the SK6ers set we decided we really wanted to meet them and take silly pictures.
Tiff had a pretty awesome conversation about whether they wanted to a. Make out with her, or b. Sign her boobs. I'm pretty sure she was still pretty tipsy but they loved it. Especially Goose. =)
SO. Then. Showtime.
Setlist for Durham, 5/7/08
01. Great Divide
02. Been There Before
03. Can't Stop
04. Where's The Love
05. Crazy Beautiful
06. Hole In My Life
07. Strong Enough To Break (acoustic)
08. MMMBop (acoustic)
09. One More (acoustic)
10. Change In My Life (a cappella)
11. Fire On The Mountain (Z)
12. Got A Hold On Me
13. Blue Sky
14. If Only
15. A Minute Without You
16. Running Man
17. Oh Darling
18. Penny & Me
19. Watch Over Me
20. Hey
21. Lost Without Each Other
22. Something Going Round
ENCORE:
23. Rock & Roll Razorblade
24. Feelin Alright (w/ Kate Voegele & SK6ers)
As you can see, this was about the blandest and most average and most predictable setlist I've ever seen in my life. Which was pretty dissapointing but... oh well. We still danced an acceptable amount. I hung out with Scrappy (Sixers merch guy) during Penny/Watch Over Me/Hey period though, and that was kind of more exciting than the show at that point for me. But you know... whatev. I still love them. I just hope we're getting a really awesome live DVD because I'm convinced that its because they were taping the show that it was so standard.
p.s. I know this is a lot of complaining so here's one amazing thing: Fire on the Mountain?!?! Yeah, that was pretty sweet.
I know its really dark but its Ike rocking out on the floor so I had to post it.
Frightening. And this isn't even the Hey face.
Close our eyes, pretend to fly...
This is Tay being like OHai Johnny, STFU>FO. Not really, but I wish. Look how pissed Zac is though. You can tell just from his mouth. This was right before his "no timing or tact" comment.
The encore was pretty much the most fun part of the show, even though I think it wasn't really for our benefit as much as it was for theirs. But basically it consisted of underwear-clad Sixers and Kate Voegele coming out and joining the guys for Feelin Alright... Tay kicked Zac off the drums, Zac standing on the piano... all around some pretty amazing stuff going on.
I'm absolutely convinced that Stephen Kellogg was hammered.
Aw Joe Peschi.
Tay on drums = I'm dead.
So... that was that. We headed out to the bus after the show, and there's been plenty of talk about the crazy mom/drunk people yelling at Tim/whether or not the guys should/would/could have come out... the fact is they didn't and that sucks but there's always next tour.
We left the venue after the tour bus pulled away and passed out as soon as we got to the hotel.
The next morning we went to a Waffle House for breakfast and Johnny/Donny and their crew came in... which was kind of funny slash lame and we wanted to punch them all.
And then we headed back to PA
Mileage: 398.95
And the next day back to RI
Mileage: 291.37
And then I dropped Taylor off at the train station, and it was officially over. =(
BUT, in conclusion, The Walk Tour '08 was pretty much one of the best times I've ever had in my life - we travelled farther than we had before, met some really amazing people, had a few really great experiences with Hanson, and were present for some awesome setlists. We really couldn't have asked for anything better.
Shows: Seven
Walks: Seven
States: Six
Songs Heard: 40
Miles: 3099.84
Amazing.
The end.