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Abby's Toronto Review
September 30, 2000

My Dad told me it was the best concert hall in Canada. I just responded with a simple "How about the best concert ever!"

The lighting, the music, the guys themselves…I was in heaven Saturday night in T.O.! I've heard you guys say the lighting was excellently done, and I have to agree, the guys looked good. Period. Taylor spent most of the concert in a black beater and grey pants, Ike in an army green polo shirt and khakis (at least, they were khaki coloured), and Zac wore khakis and a red t-shirt with a yellow picture or something. I was on the first balcony, so I'll be damned if I could see what it was! My glasses would've come in handy!!! And the music…what I came for, and I got more than I deserve!

The opened with "Look At You", and followed it with songs such as "Wish That I Was There", "Can't Stop", "River", "Thinking of You" and "Runaway Run". There was more, but I've forgotten whether they were first rock set or second rock set, and I'll leave the complete set-list up to somebody who wrote it all down! Hearing "Wish That I Was There" live was excellent, but the screaming was a bit too loud for the sound system. I could still hear the music of course, but I wanted to tell everyone to shut up! They just managed to muffle a lot of the songs, where I would rather be hearing the guys…not some obsessed Isaac fan a few feet away.

The acoustic set opened with "Sure About It", and was followed by, in no particular order, "Money (That's What I Want)", "Lucy"- and one of the concert's highlights, "A Song To Sing", "glassy surface" verse and all. Hearing the crowd sings along with every word of the song's bridge gave me chills! The acoustic set was really beautiful…people were a lot quieter, swaying their glow-sticks in the almost-darkness. To close out the set, Zac and Taylor left the stage, leaving Isaac to perform on his own. He said, "We're gonna do something a little different tonight," before he began one of the most beautiful acoustic songs I've EVER heard. I would guess that it was "Beautiful Eyes," but I don't know for sure. Could anyone help me out? All I know is, that song was the most amazing display of Isaac's voice I've heard, and no one will be able to tell me he can't sing, EVER!

The final rock set started, and the crowd was hyped up all over again! This set included "Can't Always Get What You Want"- to which my Dad broke out in song…after first laughing at the fact that Hanson was singing a song about morphine addiction! It does seem almost odd and out of place though! Still, Taylor was going around, getting each section to sing "You can't always get what you want!", and even coming in, it was to the only part of the song I knew by heart! When Taylor whipped out the harmonica, I confess, I screamed…"If Only" and "In the City" would be no better without it! "In the City" was by far the most energetic number, with Taylor stepping away from his keyboards, climbing onto the large speakers and onto the edge of the balcony (I was about center!), shaking everyone's hand. He tried to do it on the other side, but the speakers were too far away from the balcony, so that side of the crowd was pretty disappointed! Zac also did his headbanging on this song! Whenever Taylor or Isaac went to shake someone's hand, the crowd, which had made the floor only SEEM like general admission (it looked like it would be pretty damn uncomfortable down there!), the crowd would surge forward. A couple times they grabbed Taylor's hand and wouldn't let go. One song that the album doesn't do justice to is "Dying to Be Alive"…absolutely stunning live! It made me feel all the luckier to be there! People sang along to that one to, word for word, note for note…it was amazing! "This Time Around" was amazing! My Dad said it was the song they peformed best live, but he also had the limitation of not knowing what other songs were that were done well, so he'd forgotten. (I saw him REALLY clapping after "Wish That I Was There", and he didn't like their cover of "Money", but ah well…he also said that he'd rather play "Save Me" as a radio programmer…and he was one for 20 years…just thought I'd throw that little information in there! He liked their concert a lot better than when he took us in 1998.) When the guys did "Speechless" and introduced their band, Matt Rhode, the keyboardist, played a little bit of "O Canada"… it was really sweet!

For the encore, they came out and did "Man From Milwaukee" and an a cappella version of "This Time Around". Meanwhile, the crowd was more or less chanting, "I Want You To Want Me! I Want You o Want Me!" Still, no such luck!

Though my best friend bailed on me last minute, deciding that she didn't want to pay scalpers prices (we had to rely on scalpers for our tickets, cuz a stupid baseball game, which we lost anyway, kept me and my friend from buying tickets the day they went on sale). I haven't told her yet, but when I tell her that we got three tickets for $50 each (for me, my Dad, and his girlfriend), I know she'll be disappointed, because this concert, for a Hanson fan, could not be missed! After the concert started, people were getting in for as little as $12…and the scalpers buy all those tickets…part of the reason they were sold out and I couldn't buy my own! But believe me, the house was packed! About the closest I've ever been to Hanson was tonight…and also their mom. She came up onto the balcony to watch, an she was about 10 feet away from me. That was cool. A girl I met named Veronica pointed her out! Even though my bestf riend wasn't there, I still had a lot of fun, because I made conversation with the Hanson fans around me! (Hey Angela and Veronica! HANSON ROX! Zac too!!!) They are the nicest people…and it helped that we all share this common bond to bring us together!

After all the crap I went through before I got tickets, balcony seats for $10 more than what the price would have been from Ticketmaster, not as close as some people were or have been, I was just thrilled to be there. After the show, on the way home, I began to cry a little bit because I had actually gone, and so many people don't know the sh*t I went through to be there! I was having the time of my life!

This page is in no way associated with Hanson or Island Records. All thoughts and writings are the sole property of me. Please email me with any comments or questions. Thank You.