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Megan's Washington DC Review
July 2, 1998

I went to the Washington, D.C. concert on July 2nd in Bristow, VA. You bear with me on all this because I described a lot of stuff that was unecessary because I typed this up the morning after the concert. So if I seem a bit hyper and weird, it's because I was! You probably know all this already, but oh well. It was based on my experience. This is also basically from my personal point of view . . .

Here are the songs they sang, kinda in order: Gimme Some Lovin', Thinking of You, Where's the Love, River, Weird, Sometimes, Soldier, Stories, With You In Your Dreams, More Than Anything (THAT WAS SO AWESOME!), Speechless, True Love, Madeline, MMMBop, A Minute Without You, Ever Lonely (THAT WAS NEW!), I Will Come To You, Look At You, Man From Milwaukee, Summertime Blues. It was the most amazing, incredible, fun thing I've ever done in my entire 13 years. There were SOOOO many people there! Most of them were wearing Hanson shirts, some I'd never seen before. They were there with Moms and a few Dads, and most of the girls there were really nice.

We pulled up in the Nissan Pavilion parking lot about 5:00. The doors to the Pavilion opened at 6:30 and the opening band Admiral Twin didn't take the stage until 8:00. When we got there, you could here Hanson talking and singing acapella through speakers. They were warming up and rehearsing. We ate really quick and ran out into the mass of people waiting in the front of the Pavilion. We walked over to the merchandise table, and Kelly and I got tour shirts, programs, and lanyards, and Kelly got a HUMUNGEOUS poster. It was HUGE!!!! After that, we walked over to a shady area of the gates. Kelly spotted our friend Lonna Anderson standing with a group of people. She'd won tickets to the show and was freaking out!! She said she'd seen Diana Hanson, along with a lot of other people, and even got pictures. Then she ran off.

All of a sudden you hear this loud shriek, and everyone starts running to the gate. We didn't know what was happening, but it turns out some guy had yelled, "Are you ready for Hanson?!" and everyone went insane.

The gates opened at 6:15, due to the large amount of people. We ran over to a side where the line was moving quickly, and soon got in and took our seats. We were in the 13th row, almost dead center. UNTIL these girls who were seated in front of us -WITH BACKSTAGE PASSES- stood up THE ENTIRE TIME, and we couldn't see, so we had to move.

After sitting around for about an hour, you hear these screams start arising from over where all the drinks, bathrooms, and food are. Everyone stood up, and people started running over to a fence. It was Hanson, and they for whatever insane reason had run, and I mean RUN, through the mob of people milling around. Neither Kelly nor I saw them, but the girls in front of us saw Taylor and had freaked. And the lady who was over there when it happened saw Isaac. After hanging out in the sun, about 7:55 Admiral Twin took the stage. They performed for about a half hour, and they were okay. They were a ska band, and they were REALLY loud. I felt bad for them, though, because when they asked if we wanted to hear another song, the people in the front (in my opinion the snobs cuz they're probably the ones with the rich daddies who bribed to get those seats) all screamed, "Nooo!" I'm sure they expected that cuz all the people there were there to see Hanson, but still, I felt sorry for them. While we're on the subject of LOUD, let me tell you about the decibal range there. It was SOOOO loud, I couldn't even hear myself screaming. It was so loud, that my ears were blocked and my head was ringing. You do not know what loud is until you go to a Hanson concert. Seriously.

People began to throw gifts onto the stage as Admiral Twin left and Hanson's set was being set up. After all the gifts were taken away, music was being played. Aerosmith, courtesy of Zac! Every time the music paused, screaming arose from all around the Pavilion. Yet, usually it started again momentarily. Until about 9:00. Suddenly, you see bright lights from behind a large curtain they'd put up. Then, you hear the opening chords of "Gimme Some Lovin'" This massive shreik of volume was like a wave crashing over every one. I started to cry, and so did Kelly. We were freaking out like really, really bad. Then, the curtain falls . . .

Taylor was wearing a black light-weight shirt, and he had a blue button shirt over it. He was wearing red velvet pants, and I couldn't see his shoes because everyone was too tall. Zac was wearing a blue army shirt and black pants. Isaac was wearing black pants and a white light-weight shirt, with a green button shirt over it. All three of them had there hair down.

When Tay began to sing, you couldn't even hear him. The screaming didn't die down until the middle of the song, and even then it was hard to hear. They went into "Shake Your Tailfeather" from "Gimme Some Lovin'", and in the middle of the song Taylor talks. Well, forget that. You couldn't hear a word he said. Next song was "Thinking of You". Kelly and me started crying again, and Taylor waved to our section. That was because everyone around us was waving to him all the time, and this girl in front of us kept screaming, "I love you Taylor!" like every 2 god forsakin' seconds. But he didn't mind, he just smiled. They sang a bunch of songs, and right before they switched sets, Taylor got up from his keyboards and walked over to Zac. No one knew what he was doing. Then, he picked up two drumsticks from the floor, and acted like he was drumming on Zac's head in the middle of Zac's song. It was REALLY funny. Then, Zac got up, and Tay sat down. Then, Taylor, the Master Drummer, began hitting those things like there was no tomorrow. He was SO good, too! Zac walked to the end of the stage and took out a squirt gun, and then he threw like a ball or a frisbee into the audience.

After that charade, they all got up and left for a few moments. The set was changed to look like a "Three Car Garage". Isaac was sitting on a couch, Tay was sitting on an arm-chair, and there was a little lamp next to him. Zac was sitting behind his drums. Ike's guitar was switched to acapella guitar, and they sang "Soldier". After that, they sang "Stories", and it was beautiful. Even though all of their voices don't sound the same as they did on 3CG, it was great. Then, they sang "With You In Your Dreams", which, of course was dedicated to their grandmother who passed away. It was beautiful, too. I was crying again and so was Kelly. A few people got out their lighters and everyone swayed to the song. Taylor had a VERY serious expression on his face, and at one point he looked like he was about to cry. He had tears in his eyes. How do I know this? There were HUGE screens showing them on stage the whole time, plus I had binoculars. Everytime that Zac was shown on the screen, the place exploded with shrieks. I guess he was the Man of the Night.

Next, let me tell you, was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Tay and Zac stood up and left, and Isaac was left on stage. He dropped (not literally) the guitar and walked over to Tay's keyboard. Then, he started playing "More Than Anything", off of "Boomerang". I had never heard it before, and it was totally kickin'. It was very slow, and this single light was on Isaac. Everyone was screaming and yelling and crying, so it was kind-of hard to hear the lyrics, but in the beginning he said, "I love you more than anything, than anything I do. And I'd give anything and everything I have just to be with you." He has SUCH beautiful voice! Even my mom said so! Then, Isaac left and the set was changed again. This time, it was almost the same as the first set, but there were more lights. The first song they sang when they all got back was a totally new, never-before-heard song, entitled "Ever Lonely". It was TOTALLY awesome! They had better put it on the new album, or I'll freak.

Honestly, I can't remember what song it was they were singing, but at one point Isaac walked over to Tay and they shared a microphone. It was SO awesome! The camera froze on them and me and Kelly spazzed.

Of course, "MMMBop" was included in the set. Taylor took to the congas, and they were facing our side of the stage, so the whole time he was looking right at us. I looked stupid; I kept waving to him. But so did everyone else, so . . .

Next, they sang "I Will Come To You", I think. I was crying the hardest here. So was Kelly. The reason I was spazzing was because I've seen them sing that SO many times, and I never thought I'd make it to a concert. It was awesome, too. Taylor began swaying with the crowd during the "Nah" part, and in the end when he goes, "I will come to . . . you" he pointed his finger and pointed at each section of the audience.

After that, they sang "Man From Milwaukee", and then they freaked everyone because Taylor said, "You guys have been an awesome audience. Thanks so much, bye." and they all got up and left. We thought that the concert was over, but then you hear Zac's voice. You can't see him, but he said, "Hey, do you guys want us back?!" and then everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs (including Kelly, me, and my sister Katie).

So, of course, they came running back out, and went into "Look At You". Kelly and me had no idea what it was, though, because it was so loud and the intro was different than on "Middle of Nowhere". After they were done with that, they sang the *sob* the last song.

The last song was "Summertime Blues", a cover. It was really cool, but I was depressed when they were singing it because right before the song started, Zac said, "Now this is the last and absolute final song." Taylor was talking, but I didn't know what he was saying. He wanted the audience to sing along when he put the mic out in our section. So he goes, "Come on, sing along!" and everyone goes, "Well, there ain't no cure for the summertime blues, yeah!"

When the song was over, again, I started to cry. Because then, it was REALLY over. Zac and Tay got squirt guns and started blasting everybody. And THEN, guess what they did! THEY SHOOK PEOPLE'S HANDS! ALL THOSE LUCKY STIFFS IN THE FRONT ROW WHO WON TIX! What an outrage. And if you've ever seen the way Tay shakes hands, he doesn't just LIGHTLY shake your hand. He like grabs your whole arm! Well, then Kelly and I watched Hanson walk back stage until you couldn't see them anymore. Then, the over-head lights came on, and everyone piled out.I was SO tired. We'd been standing the ENTIRE time. I NEVER sat down. If you sat down, you couldn't see the stage, and you'd miss something. Right now as I type this, the back of both my legs are SO freakin' sore! And my throught is sore from screaming and singing. And my hearing has returned, but my ears were ringing SO bad after that!

I forgot to tell you about Walker, Hanson's dad. He was recording back-stage from the side, and at one point he got up in Zac's face with the camera. It was cool! And he stood beside Taylor.

We also saw Diana and Eva, they were sitting in the front by the stage. I saw Jessie and Avie at one point, too. They ran down the steps next to the stage. As we were leaving, people were all standing where Hanson had run backstage before. We were trying to beat traffic (didn't work) so we just kept walking back towards the car.

When we were stuck in traffic, waiting with everyone else to get out of the parking lot, you could screams in the distance. It was Hanson, most likely, but I tried to ignore because it made me sad to think about how it was over. A girl was sitting on the roof of her car, and she was blasting MON. That was cool. But she kept cutting off all the songs in the middle of good parts! Finally, we got out of the parking lot, and my point for living was over. 396 days I'd waited for that night, and now it was over. I'd seen Taylor, and Kelly had seen Zac.

It was an amazing show, and Kelly and I will NEVER, EVER forget it. Especially now that I typed all this up!

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.