Hanson Concert!
Last night I went to the Hanson concert at the Avalon. I had such an amazing time. People make fun of Hanson all the time but they are so talented and they put on an awesome show.
My mom and I got there about an hour before the doors were supposed to open. There was some construction going on with the trains so we had to take shuttle buses and then a train to get to the show. It kind of held us up. When we got there, the line was down the street and around the corner. I was shocked and a bit upset because I thought we were going to be so far back from the stage that I wouldn’t be able to see a thing. I went to a Hanson concert three years ago at that same venue so I knew the set up. There are no seats so it’s first come first serve. Last time I went, we waited in line for hours but it was worth it because we had a great view. I remembered the last time when I was in line that we were a lot closer to the doors. This time we weren’t even near the venue. We were near a club down the street! A bunch of people came after us and we were no longer the last in line, so I started to feel a bit better lol. The line started to move up too and I looked behind me to see that we at least wouldn’t be in the last row. There was a Red Sox game going on because Fenway park is right there. We got the usual heckling from the people at the game. They were singing MMMBop and saying things like, “Oh my God! I can’t believe this many people are waiting to see Hanson” and “Are Hanson even still popular?” I was just rolling my eyes the whole time. Then some guys were making fun of this guy who was waiting to see them and saying, “You are going to be the only guy at the show!” Then they broke into hysterical laughter and were making fun of the fans. So my mom said, “Well Hanson laughs all the way to the bank.” My mom is awesome lol.
They let us inside about 20 minutes before 7 which I was surprised about because last time they let us in after the show was even supposed to start I think. I actually got a pretty good spot too considering. I made sure I was standing to the right because Taylor always is on the right of the stage and he’s my favorite. I was wishing I was taller at that moment though so I could see better over people’s heads. At 7 PM, Keaton Simons took the stage. He was the opening act. I didn’t really like him that much. A couple of his songs were okay but I kept saying to myself after every one of his songs ended, “Okay now bring out Hanson.” Some people in the audience were screaming “Hanson!” I did feel bad for the guy because that was almost like telling him to get off the stage. He played for like a half hour and then we had to wait another half hour because they had to change the stage up a bit after Simons played. Then finally Hanson took the stage. Taylor came out and the first thing I said was, “OMG he looks so hot.” My mom kind of laughed. I must have said about ten times during the show, "Taylor looks so fine" lol. I think my mom was sick of hearing it. He had his hair long, but not too long and he kept pushing it back from his face. He had a little scruff on his face but it actually looked really good on him. When I saw the music video of him with scruff, I didn’t like it but this looked good. Taylor was so cute how he was getting the audience involved. He was like, “Let’s hear some noise! Let’s hear some Boston noise!” Their first song was, “Great Divide”. They sounded perfect and just like the CD. Some bands don’t sound as good live but Hanson definitely does. Then Taylor said how they like playing in Boston. They played MMMBop and dedicated it to the fans. They did like a fan sing along to it which was fun. Taylor was like, “Okay now you take it” and we all started singing it. They played a bunch of my favorites off their new CD like “Georgia”, “Blue Sky”, “The Walk”, "Go", "Your Illusion", "Running Man", "Watch Over Me", and “Been There Before.” They played some of the songs I liked from their old CD too like, “Strong Enough To Break,” “Crazy Beautiful,” "Hey", “Penny And Me” and “Lost Without Each Other.” Taylor mentioned how “Lost Without Each Other” has a Boston history because they filmed the music video in that exact location at the Avalon in Boston. I was there when they filmed it too. Even my mom got into when they played that one.
After playing for like two hours, Taylor was like, “You have been an awesome crowd and we have to go now.” Then after they left the stage, everyone was screaming for them. They do this at all their shows. Everyone screams and they come back out. So then they come back out of course and Taylor says, “So we were backstage and they told us you want to hear another song.” So then they played a cover version of Three Dog Night’s “Never Been To Spain.” My mom could sing along to that one lol. Then they sang a couple more songs and ended with, “Something Going Around.” Taylor jumped into the audience at the end and everyone rushed forward. Of course I wasn’t close enough to get to touch him but oh well. Isaac threw his guitar pick and I got it! Squee!!! It was awesome.
Some of the fans there were being really raucous. One girl actually pulled her bra off and threw it on the stage. I was like, “Oh my God! Are you serious?” She looked about 15. I was like, seriously get a life. Then a few other people were trying to cut in front of us so they could have a better view. They were making up lies like, “Oh my mom is up there” or “My friend is saving a space for us.” My mom told a couple of the girls off that were doing that. More evidence of my mom’s awesomeness. After the show, my mom was even more awesome when she warded off an attack of people who tried to cut me in the souvenir line. I was able to get the T shirt and poster I wanted before they sold out. I didn’t get to wait around though to see if I could meet them because we had to make sure we’d get a shuttle home.
I did get some pics and video clips of the show last night. A lot of the pics came out blurry because Hanson was moving around so much and people were bumping me. I did get a couple good shots though. You can click on the pics for a larger version.
Here’s a pic of Isaac. It’s pretty blurry, but it was the best one I could get though.
Here are a few pictures of Zac singing “The Walk”. They aren’t too bad.
Here are a bunch of pics of Taylor. I took the most of him lol.
This pic of Taylor came out the best though.
Here are some videos I took. Some of them look like I have no camera skills whatsoever, but I was holding the camera way over my head because I am really short. People kept bumping into me or waving their hands in front of the camera or hitting it with their hands. Some people were even putting their camera in front of mine or hitting me with their camera lol.
MMMBop Sing Along
Zac Sings The Walk
Strong Enough To Break
Been There Before
Blue Sky
Georgia
It was a really amazing night. My feet were killing me from standing so long and I was deaf but it was a blast. I did end up getting bitten by a mosquito while waiting for a bus though. I am allergic to them so my arm swelled up to the size of a balloon. It looked deformed and like I had a broken arm or something. It went down some but it still hurts a bit. I was happy when I got home though too because my dad went and got my Harry Potter book for me at the mall so I didn’t have to wait until today. He surprised me with it when I got home. I read some of it but I crashed pretty soon after so I didn’t get far. I am on page 210 now but I’m taking my time with it. I want to savor it a bit. It is the last one.
And Louise, if you are reading this, I hope you had an awesome birthday :)