Hanson Weekend: Post #1
Friday (November 18th)
I spent the day anxiously waiting to leave for the airport. Seriously...I took pictures of myself, did the dishes, cursed my sister for giving me a cold, paced around the house, and left really early. Let me take a minute here to state how much I hate parking at the airport. The airport itself isn't so bad...I actually like it; the people watching, the incessant chatter, the reunions...it's entertaining. I talked to a semi-cute boy while waiting at baggage claim (and HE started the conversation, I was shocked) and then I spotted THE AMY. It was so exciting! We got through traffic alright (go me and not taking the freeway. Going through downtown is sooooo much faster) I introduced Amy the my family and then we went to get some McDonalds and waited for Krystal and Carleen to show up.
After my Duluth girls arrived, we tried to go see Harry Potter, but every show was sold out until around 10pm. So we went to my church instead; my friend Corey was putting on a show with his girlfriends mom, who is originally from Australia but has been touring in the US. We hung out there for a while, and met Corey's friend Natalia....who is also a Hanson fan. I ended up giving her my extra ticket, because she'd never seen Hanson before. It was my good deed for the entire year. :p We got back to my house and squealed over Krystal's 300+ pictures from Mayfest. Then we changed into our various animal pajamas (it was a farm; turtles and monkeys and cows, oh my) and took a couple pictures before crashing into bed.
Amy and I.
It's our lovely strands of tickets!
Saturday (November 19th)
There is only ONE thing that I will wake up at un-Godly hours for...and that my dear friends, is a roadtrip. After much running around (a couple different gas stations, because one didn't have any squeegee things, and then Krystal lost her glove) we left the cities around 6am. Amy got to play with snow, which was funny. I wish I would've snapped a picture. (She has some in her LJ I think...) It took about 6 hours, including stops and stuff, which really isn't bad. We got to Milwaukee and went in to the venue to get our numbers. Having a number system is fricking smart. Then we took pictures of the Rave sign.
We were able to walk around and explore a little bit, so long as we were back by 3. We saw various Hanson people. I think the first was Jessica. As we're walking to McDonald's we see her pass, and everyone stops to stare. I didn't. It was more like "yes, that's Jessica Hanson...can we GO? I have to pee."
Before spotting Jessica, we'd been milling by the bus, not quite sure if it was ACTUALLY Hanson's bus or not. They weren't there yet...so Krystal and I went and knocked on the door like idiots. (No one cared...but it was funny, we ran away like we had been playing ding dong ditch.) We went to stalk the bus again a little bit later, and saw more Hansons. Zac was the first one I saw, then Taylor came off the bus with Penny. Now...his daughter is still pretty little, not even a year yet. And it was chilly outside. He brought her out without a hat or a jacket on. So, my first thought upon seeing Taylor Hanson? "WHY DO YOU NOT HAVE MORE CLOTHES ON THAT CHILD YOU IDIOT?" I didn't take any pictures, because I'm NOT a paparazzi stalker, despite what some people may think.
So, then we sat in line and shared our blankets/cheez-its/candy with this SUPER cute couple. They were awesome. We actually stuck kind of near them the entire time, they were really nice. Our line numbers were in the 200's.
So, we waited, and waited, and waited some more. FINALLY, they let us in and we got a pretty decent spot. Unfortunately, I was behind uber bitch fan...and she kind of ruined the experience for me. She was really nice during the opening acts, but once Hanson came on, the true bitch came out.
The opening act for Milwaukee was Bascom Hill and they were good. The Pat McGee Band was...eh. The BEST part was when Pat went to do his little acapella, no mic thing (so the audience was super quiet)...and this girl just screams "TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS!!!!!" right in the middle of it. The entire venue burst out laughing, it was great.
It was a good show, and I heard the encore was INCREDIBLE...but we'd gone out to wait by the bus and missed it. I'm really upset, because I guess Taylor was climbing all over the speakers and falling down and such. Retarded me, wanting to leave. (and retarded Krystal and Carleen actually LETTING me. :p)
Setlist
In A Way
Desire [U2 Cover]
A Minute Without You
Thinking of You
Hey
Can't Stop
Weird
When You're Gone
Hand in Hand I called Lauren (notsoperky) during this song, and held my cell phone up for the entire thing. I was in front of Isaac, and I know for SURE he saw me, because he kept looking over at my phone.
Penny & Me {acoustic}
Love Somebody to Know I don't think they had originally planned on playing this. They started playing, and the crowd started singing, then Taylor stops and says "I didn't think we were playing...." and Isaac said "Oh c'mon." So Taylor struts over to the piano and pounds out the beginning of the song, then proceeds to sing the first verse twice...all the while looking adorably confused and exchanging giggles with his brothers. Best. Concert. Moment. Ever.
MMMBop {acoustic} I've never seen a quieter crowd during this song. I was amazed.
Change In My Life [Rockapella acapella cover]
Every Word I Say
Runaway Run
If Only
Long Train Running [Doobie Brothers cover]
Get Up & Go
Crazy Beautiful
Rock N Roll Razorblade
Man From Milwaukee
*Encore*
Feelin' Alright [cover song]
In The City
We waited in the frigid cold for a while before Hanson came out. We harassed one of their people, who brought pizza onto the bus...asking him if he would share with us. Well, that didn't happen. Zac came out first, and he didn't stop to chat or sign anything. He was wearing a t-shirt and nothing else, stupid boy. I met a random girl and we started ghetto booty dancing in front of the bus, proclaiming that we were "dancin' for Hanson." Well, then we said 'Screw hanson. We want PIZZA.' We didn't get any pizza. Boo.
Taylor came out next, and agreed to sign things so long as we remained orderly and didn't 'rush him.' He was a little crabby, but polite. I'd never stood so close to a Hanson before, and when he got near me, I almost freaked out..but handed him Krystal's picture to sign and kept my mouth shut. He is so freaking gorgeous.
Isaac came out pretty soon after, and I could barely contain myself. I really just wanted to jump all over him. He comes over by us and says "It's fricking cold!" to which I so smartly reply "NO SHIT!" (right after I said it, I realized "oh my god. I just swore at a Hanson.") Amy said something about being from Australia and got a HUGE grin out of him. And we took stalker pictures, of which I'm only going to post a couple.
We left Milwaukee probably around midnight or 1...I don't really remember much, because my cold had reached an all-time HORRIBLENESS and I passed out in the backseat and slept the entire way home. Apparently we followed Hansons tour bus for about 30 miles, but I couldn't have cared less.