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Rob's Toronto Review
June 23, 1998

Well I'm still recovering from the show but let me say this first: I have been to a LOT of concerts in my time and this one ranks up there as one of 'THE BEST' concerts I have ever been to! I had the best time! Great sound! Great lighting! GREAT BAND! You'll have to forgive me, I'm still pumped from the show!

I was a little reluctant at first when I bought my ticket; being a (let's say 'non-teen') male, I felt that I might be a little out of place but I didn't. There were quite a few of us there. This was the first time I had gone to a show of this type (screaming, crying, flower throwing, fainting girls). I went armed with my ear plugs, yet I found I didn't need them. Although the screaming was a little unbearable at times, I found that over all, it wasn't much louder than any other concert. It wasn't too hard to hear the band over all the screaming, some of the slower songs were a little tougher.

It surpised me to see a few of the girls were wearing earplugs, Kleenex, cotton balls, whatever they could find. Even using their fingers to muffle the sound of the other screaming girls! For a lot of people, I think that this was probably their first, or at least one of their first times going to a concert.

Ok, let me get this out of the way, even though it dosen't interest ME, I did try to make a note of it for all those of you who NEED to know!

Ike was wearing a grey t-shirt with a brown vest and black runners, he had what appeared to be white and (grey or black) pin striped pants. He took the vest off after a few songs. He had his hair down and after a couple of songs pulled it back.

Tay was wearing some blue (velour?) bell bottoms (or whatever they're called these days...I still refer to them as bell bottoms :-| ). He had a white t-shirt and a green and white dress shirt over that; which only lasted about two songs, then it came off (the green shirt - not everything I just listed! Whew! That was close. You can get up off the floor now and continue reading)...and of course the girls went completely out of their minds when he did this ('help me' - I'm having an Elvis flashback!). Anyway, I think he had black boots on as well. He did the opposite of Ike; he came out with his hair up and after a few songs let it down.

Zac had a white t-shirt with some stripes on the sides and black (I'm not sure what they were! They looked like some kind of nylon parachute pants - the kind with a hundred pockets, you know). He looked like he had black boots on too. Unlike his two older bros., his attire stayed 'in tact' for the entire show. Yes, hair too (he had his down)!

I hope I was descriptive enough for all of you who wanted to know that!

The audience was vey well behaved. Something I thought was VERY cool! :-), were all the parents that came to the show! So many of you had on your Hanson t's (not just ones that you bought at the concert either! I saw some of you with shirts that you would have bought a while ago as a true fan would) ; I saw you wearing the laminants, hats, everything...it was awesome! It made me feel less 'out of place' (thanks to all you parents, you're the coolest!).

I have to concur with Mike McGill from the 'alt.fan.hanson' newsgroup. The advice being that you should wear a t-shirt (Hanson, of course), shorts and take some water with you! Also, with regards to signs, I reiterate that you should keep them down while they are performing. It's hard to see with all the signs blocking the view.

It wasn't too hot but it was :::humid:::. The day started out with some rain but by the show time it was nice and sunny with a slight breeze at times.

Well, that's enough of my 'weather person' impression (did you like it?), now on to the show:

Everyone was psyched and ready for what was coming! People were tossing balloons around and some were blowing bubbles into the air! Every so often someone would come out from behind the stage and getting everybody up and screaming even though it was still about 45 minutes until show time.

The show started on time. Which, 95% of time NEVER happens!

As you all know, Admiral Twin opened up for them. They were really good! I was surprised that they didn't have a spot there, where you could buy their CD! They played for about half an hour (8 songs or so). When they said they were from Tulsa, that gave the crowd yet another reason to scream (they needed that). Once they had played, I'm not sure if people were screaming because they enjoyed the perfomance, or that they were finally finished and that it was just closer to the time that Hanson would hit the stage. I hope it was for the former reason and not the latter.

Another reason that lead me to believe that this was a 'first' concert for many, is that once Admiral Twin finished people seemed to think that Hanson would come on right away (note to those people - that never happens). They need time to set up for the next act.

They put up a grey silk curtain in front of the stage to create more suspense.

There was about a half hour between sets before Hanson came on. They hit the stage about 8:05 and played until 10:00! It was a ninety minute show, that seemed to last only 15 minutes! I guess it's true what they say; "Time flies when you're having fun", and I had SOME fun!! :-)

The show started off with the curtain still up for the first few notes of 'Gimmie Some Lovin'. Then in a thunderclap...BANG!!! The curtain fell to the base of the stage and the band exploded and the fans exploded right with them (not literally mind you) in perfect sync!

The band was in top form tonight! I was EXTREMELY impressed by the way they were totally in sync with each other. They fed off of each others vibes and you could tell that they were well rehearsed! You could also tell that they were having a lot of fun themselves, which of course makes it more fun for eveyone in the audience! They moved around the stage and interacted with the audience like pros! I can't say it enough; how impressed I am with how professional they are. I have seen bands that have been in the business for a long time, NOT perform as well as Hanson did last night!

At one point Tay DID get up behind the drums but only for a short time (man can HE 'pound the skins'!). While he did this, Zac ran out and threw water from a water bottle spraying the first few rows on the floor. Zac reached out and shook some hands in the front row of the audience. I thought he would have been pulled in for sure, that's a long reach at that venue! Tay did the same thing a little further into the show.

The stage setup was the same, as you can see in the photos that they've released at http://hansonline.com/Tour/Pics.htm It's a very cool stage setup. The lighting was superb! Everything was very well placed and left lots of room for (mostly Ike) to roam around...and he was EVERYWHERE! From up on the drumkit stand to sharing the mic with Tay over at the keyboards!

They had screens set up, one on either side of the stage and two further back for the people on the lawn to see. They weren't big by any means. They were basically nine 35" tv's strapped together in a square shape. Before the show and between the bands, they showed coming attractions to the Amphiteatre which included Hanson, that made the crowd go nuts, of course (oh good, another reason for the audience to scream).

The show was broken into four parts: The first being a straight out "rock 'em sock 'em" set. That had Tay using his Kurzweil and Roland keyboards, Ike using the Gibson electrics and Zac had a beautiful glossy emerald green drumkit with the 'Albertane Tour' logo inset in the bass drum (this kit was 'sweet'!).

Part two of the show, they go off stage and the stage crew sets up for an accoustic set! This now includes a three piece fabric backdrop half way out into the stage, that has what appeared to be a garage in 3D on the three pieces (3 Car Garage). It too has the Albertane logo as well as the Hanson trade mark logo (designed by the band themselves, for those of you who didn't know that). Then they brought out the Kurzweil keyboard with a piano bench seat, the black (smaller) drumkit with the Hanson logo inset in the bass drum, a 60's retro armchair for Ike and his Gibson accoustic. In this accoustic set this is where Ike does "More Than Anything". AMAZING! Just him on the stage singing and playing the Kurzweil and a table lamp for light. Once he finished the song, he thanked everyone, got up and turned the light off and exited the stage right....VERY COOL! :-)

Part three of the show took us back to the full stage, full rock out form for some more great tunes! Here, they came out armed with water bottles and soaked the first few rows of the floors!

Then part four was the encore which included the first verse of Weird done acapella! It would have been awesome to have them do the whole song like that! To hear JUST their voices, like that, is a special treat. It's like listening to angels from the Heavens! It gives a person goosebumps! :-)

The stage lighting was good too! They had four towers - they looked like oil derricks - (two on either side of the stage) that had the Hanson logo on the front and a Varilight on the top of each one and each one had two Varilights mounted on the front. The front lights were able to be moved 360 degrees, which meant that at times they would turn them 'into' the towers and the towers were of an opaque material, thus creating a 'glowing' effect! They changed the lighting colours often to create a beautiful atmoshpere.

The back drop at the back featured several pieces of fabric hung vertically, that the guys referred to (in the program) as the "knives", then they had 'Varilights' between them that created a glowing radient effect on the fabric. Pretty wicked effect!

In the middle of the stage they had the Hanson logo affixed to the floor of the stage as they do at all their concerts.

The three guys they had (Scott Hogan - Bass guitarist, Jason Taylor - second guitarist, and Matt Rohde - second keyboardist) were awesome too! They really complimented Hanson's music and made it a well rounded sound for everyone to enjoy.

Here is a song listing. I don't remember the EXACT order:

1. Gimme some lovin' / Shake Your Tail Feathers medley
2. Where's the love
3. Thinking of you
4. River [complete with new bridge (as heard on 'Live @ the 10 spot!)]
5. Look at You
6. Weird
7. Sometimes
8. Stories
9. With you in your dreams
10. Soldier
11. More than anything (Ike 'solo' on piano)
12. Speechless
13. Here, they introduced the backup band while they played an instrumental song -It's the one they play at the end of the TT&MON video at the credits.
14. Good lovin'
15. I will come to you
16. A minute without you
17. True love
18. MMMbop
19. Man from Milwaukee
20. Madeline
21. Summer Time blues
22. Weird Acapella (not the whole song - just the first verse)

On some of the songs, they've made some changes from the original versions. 'River' has the bridge part as in the video from 'Live @ the 10 spot!'. 'Weird' is the video version (with extra vocals) and 'Speechless' has some great dynamics!

It surprised me that the guys didn't mention anything about it being their Mother's birthday. I thought they might have said something to the audience...oh well...I guess they didn't want to take anything away from the business at hand.

We saw Walker there. He came out before the guys hit the stage to get some camera shots of the crowd before the show. He was all around the guys during the show too! In and out and all around them probably getting some great footage for the upcoming video!

Another point of interest, was that a lot of fans showed up with roses, teddy bears, balloons with messages written on them (someone would blow up a balloon, write their message on it and toss it forward asking anyone who grabbed it along it's way toward the stage to pass it on) and various others gifts to give to the guys. A lot of which actually made it to the stage! The part I found really truly great about all this was that the guys, once the show was finally over, picked up ALL the stuff and took it with them!!! That is like giving a gift back to a fan in my opinion! A lot of these shows, you see things tossed on stage and the band just leaves it there as if it meant nothing. ;-(

At the end of the show, after they sang the 'Weird' acapella verse; the three of them held hands and bowed to the audience!

I hope I didn't leave anything out!

To anyone who has yet to see this show; be very prepared...TO HAVE THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!!! I would go again in a heartbeat! These guys are REALLY something to see live! I would also like to apologize if I've ruined the surprises for you but you will still really enjoy yourselves!

To anyone not fortunate enough to be able to see this show; I feel for you. I hope that they will make it by your way the next time. In the meantime, I hope that my little review will have brightened your day and given you a pretty good idea of what it was like! :-)

I would like to say this in closing: To Ike, Tay and Zac; if you read this; I want to say that I had the best time at your show! I can't tell you how much fun it really was! Well...ok, I guess I just did. You guys really truly ROCK HARD! I thank you for a great show and I thank you on behalf of all who attended the Toronto show, whom I KNOW had a FANtastic time! Please feel free to visit Toronto any time you want! You'll always be welcome! :-)

Your friend,
Rob (RB - in the alt.fan.hanson newsgroup)
June 24, 1998

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