just had to write a review for the hanson show for music and it goes like this:


Hanson. "MmmBop, right" Yeah didn't they have long hair and just kinda burn out after that one song, yeah? No! Hanson still reigns supreme, kitties. After the aforementioned song off their debut full-length Middle Of Nowhere, Hanson has put out two more solid albums, a collection of early recordings, two live albums, and a mediocre Christmas album a lot may remember, being released just as their fame began to subside. Middle of Nowhere preceded the fabulous This Time Around, which plays like Neil Young's masterwork Tonight's the Night if Neil was at the time under twenty years old. Underneath is just as good, cooling off the rock just a little for a more subdued sound. This tour was in support of the recently released Live and Electric, and to hype up their next studio effort, probably due early next year.
I went to this show last minute, mind you, after my sister had called from her friend�s saying they had an extra ticket they needed to get rid of. Sure, what the heck, my local favorites El Toro! were playing, after winning a contest. On the way there, I built up the idea I was going to see a bunch of hipsters in an attempt to be ironic, going to see Hanson. Could I have been more wrong? The line to get in wrapped around the 1000 block of Arch Street, so long that I missed El Toro!. This line, in addition to being long, was devoid of hipsters. What I saw was a mass of mainly 13-25 year old females, many decked out in Hanson shirts of past albums and tours, the occasional parent, and the extremely rare boyfriend. After the second opener (a terrible clash of Dave Matthews Band and Ryan Cabrera), every couple of minutes when a roadie would walk onstage or the lights dimmed, erupted screams to rival that of Beatles fans in Shea Stadium. When Hanson finally did take the stage, I was pleasantly surprised by a melancholy opener, which of course was sung word for word by the audience. At the start, I was thrown off by the screaming, and partly irritated, but as the show went on I started to sway to the side of the Hanson-kids I stood beside. Onstage was a great band, made up of three talented brothers. I was especially impressed by Taylor Hanson's piano/harmonica/singing, and the way he could pull off all three, while still delighting girls with his hardly ceasing movement. Midway through the set, they finally ripped into some stuff I knew from Middle of Nowhere and immediately seized the opportunity to sing along with the best of them. I continued to enjoy myself in this way for a majority of the rest of the performance. Highlights included "Man from Milwaukee", "Thinking of You", "If Only", and a cover of U2"s "Desire". To close the set, they brought down the house with the piano driven "This Time Around", which only helped to build on my thoughts of Hanson�s relevancy and it is this: this time around speaks of them not going down, and tried to get them to be received as a more serious band. After watching them tear through the song like the world was ending, and like the grown musicians they are, I realized people should see there is so much more to them than Middle of Nowhere. After blowing my mind and expectations, I got a good three minutes of rest and talk time with my new friends, before they came back for a ripping cover of the funk standard "Feeling Alright".
This show totally exceeded what I expected. Hanson are all grown up (sort of), tearing up pianos and guitars and drums, like any other band. And they have the biggest cult following of any band I've ever known which in itself is an awesome feat, considering they have no press or radio coverage. Hanson stirred something in me, and I'm not sure what yet, and not really sure how, but they did. They made me want something that maybe one day I could have. Or maybe it was just so ultra satisfying to see a band I loved when I was seven and seemed to have disappeared, still be relevant and not wallowing in ridiculousness. Or maybe it's just too late and I like Hanson a little more than anyone would expect.