Scrapbook Saturday – July 22 (pt 2)
Katie 
Hanson RGB Tour – Atlanta
July 2023
Hanson at Parx Casino
To finish off the birthday week/end, we went to see Hanson again in Bensalem, PA, just outside of Philly. We got to the hotel around 3pm and checked in and had just enough time to lounge and get settled before our dinner reservations. The accessibility at this hotel wasn’t great, and when I called for a shower chair we got brought a shower curtain. But after some google translate we managed to get a shower chair which made all the difference!
The hotel was just across the parking lot from the casino and the parking lot was PACKED! We ate at the Beer Garden and then headed over to the XCite Center. We had front row once again, only these seats were designated ADA seats. They took my walker from me upon sitting even though there would have been plenty of room in front of us. We also were told that no one could go right up against the stage, but I had intended to once again sit for most of the show since the stage was level with my eyeballs anyway so there was no way I could really stand in front of it with nothing to hold.
After looking like a mountain man the night before, it appeared Taylor trimmed his beard before the show. Early in the show Isaac asked if there were any Hanson.net members in the crowd and said that this next song would go out to them, as it was from their Continental Breakfast In Bed EP. I had no idea what song from that EP they would play, as really only 1 had regularly made it into their sets and they typically only did it if they had someone with a harmonica to join them – which I didn’t think they had. Well, they ended up going into Don’t Ever Change, which is from Against the World. Isaac did however correct himself after and say that it was from Against the World and the last few years had been a blur.
I was pretty pleased with how varied the setlist was from one night to the next with them being so close and a lot of the crowd going to both shows. Before Write You a Song Isaac started talking again, this time saying the song was written in 2022 to which Zac interjected a “stop stop stop, don’t use dates OR album titles” and suggested he be more vague with his stories. With Zac sick and Taylor sounding a bit scratchy apparently all the on stage banter went to Isaac and he needs a fact checker. (I am available.)
They ended up not doing an acoustic set and not bringing Zac up to the front and commented that he was on a lot of steroids due to the virus he had. They ended up doing I Will Come To You and dedicating it to Cynthia – the co writer who had recently passed away. During Been There Before when trying to get us to sing the “na na”s Isaac made a comment like “I am 95.9% sure you can sing ‘na na’, even babies go ‘na na na na'” I don’t know if I enjoyed the Isaac banter show or not – but most likely due to time constraints they ended up cutting 2 songs from the main set (Watch Over Me and Get The Girl Back – I did see Isaac mouth something to Taylor about Get the Girl Back and him agreeing) and they changed the encore. During Andrew’s Cold as Ice solo he ended up playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” which I’m not sure I noticed him ever doing that before!
Speaking of the encore. The security guy who WAS up front in his chair disappeared and then my nice, safe, I can sit, ADA seat got me BURIED in women. Several tripped over my cane while I was trying to situate myself and they were bum rushing the stage. I honestly thought I was going to have a panic attack because of how crowded in I was. I really do wish that they gave me a heads up – and didn’t essentially take my legs away by not allowing me to have my walker at my seat. (Although I probably would have been fighting the crowd to even attempt to get out so I think where I was probably WAS the safest even though it was not a great situation.) It also turned out that the encore was not supposed to be In The City – it was going to be Taylor soloing Truth into A Little Help From My Friends! But I do think they needed to be off the stage at a certain time and that was why they switched everything up.
After the show the beer garden was hosting an after party but we walked by and decided it was not for us and decided to leave instead. We found where they might come out and just missed Taylor due to being indecisive and watched him mingle with the rest of the crowd before being told it was time to go. (Isaac had apparently come out before we got there.) It’s kind of wild that the next show won’t be until NOVEMBER after last year it was nearly every weekend we had jam packed with shows on tour!
Hanson at Foxwoods
When Hanson added a show at Foxwoods, I was beyond excited! They were last in Connecticut in 2019 for a radio Christmas show and before that they hadn’t done a full show since 2016. The on sale for this show was brutal. When it first went on pre-sale, only a handful of single tickets were available. An hour later, the whole 2nd row opened up and I managed to snag a pair on Taylor’s side and then an hour after that, the whole freaking place opened up and I managed to snag FRONT ROW tickets. I sold the Taylor pair and my heart rate was through the roof for the rest of the day.
Before the show we stopped at Guy Fieri’s for dinner, and then made it inside for the show. I had kept psyching myself out saying that the seats were too far over to be any good, but once we got there, they weren’t so bad. And then the girls next to use asked if we would scoot over more into the middle so they could all be together so we ended up a couple seats closer. When they first came out, Zac had on a jean jacket and after a couple of songs he took it off and was already really sweaty. When they got to the acoustic set and there was no “Go” and had also not been a “Don’t Let Me Down” I started to think that Zac might be sick and they adjusted the setlist accordingly to remove his leads.
Even though I was front row at the CT show in 2016, being front row at a seated CT show was a whole different thing and I kept thinking about how when I was 12, that would have been all I wanted! And now I had it! Well, that was until a small child decided to pop up in front of me and try to wave and give Isaac a card. I think he ended up in front of me for like 4 songs – and even his mother came down at one point. Absolutely ridiculous to take advantage of the fact that I couldn’t stand a whole show due to my disability and get in front of me – and security didn’t bat an eye when I pointed out they didn’t belong. (But when I finally stood for Lost Without Each Other and A Song To Sing security was quick to come tap me on the shoulder and ask where my seat was. Um, you’ve jumped over me and my cane no less than 17 times tonight and now you don’t recognize me because I am standing?)
My suspicions were confirmed when before the encore Zac announced that he had been diagnosed with strep throat 12 minutes before they took the stage. That didn’t stop me from trying to shake Taylor’s hand at the end of the show (and being successful). Guess who’s sitting here with a sore throat nearly a week later?
After the show we stopped by the newly opened Hell’s Kitchen for a night cap – pretty cool looking restaurant but very pricey! Very good desserts though!
O-Town at Patchogue Theater
Wednesday O-Town brought their Pop 2000 tour to Patchogue Theater on Long Island. Weeknights and Long Island don’t usually mix for me, but since it was my birthday I decided to take the day off and go! I also decided to splurge on the $100 t-shirt + selfie option which I hadn’t done at the shows I went to previously. (Though I was a bit too busy with BBMak and Chris Kirkpatrick VIP at those!)
Ryan Cabrera once again opened, and I guess after my critique of his banter, he changed it up a little bit. His birthday was the night before and when he said he was party’d out someone else shouted it was their birthday so I got an indirect Birthday shout out since he said he’d be celebrating their birthday tonight!
Then it was time for BBMak – They once again did the same set as they had been doing. I never did end up seeing the video Mark took of Back Here to see if I went 3 for 3 for being in them or not! I hope that after this tour they’ll be doing some more stuff in the US in the future! Fingers crossed!
Then it was time for O-Town/LFO/Chris Kirkpatrick. For the most part, it was the same setlist but where they had added Sky Dive in MA they ended up doing Giants, which was fun because it came on during my drive and I was thinking about how much I had liked it! They mixed up their banter a bit in the shows too which is always fun, especially their back and forth with Chris Kirkpatrick! Chris also said they were filming something for Netflix – the cameras were around and on stage during the *NSYNC stuff so I am curious to see what that ends up being and if I end up being visible in it or not!
After the show I waited for the selfie line, which I had not done in quite some time. Their ring lights were dead so we were told to have our flash on, but even on auto mine didn’t go off and the pics still came out great! Erik came out first and told me that he hadn’t seen me in a while! I assured him that I was at the Friday and Saturday shows as well but with the selfies costing more I couldn’t do it as often as I would have liked. Jacob was next and noticed that my Birthday sash had the Hanson symbol on it and said that he really liked them. I explained I had made it for my birthday last year when I saw Hanson but this year I was recycling it and sharing my birthday with them. Dan was up next and gave me a big hug and then told me to get 2 redbulls and some coffee for the drive home (which was showing as being nearly 3 hours when I was expecting it to be more like 2!) Trevor also gave me a big hug and was glad I shared my birthday with them and also noted he hadn’t seen me – so I explained to him too I’ve been around! He also told me to drive safe home.
When I got in the car, the GPS kept wanting to push me to the Ferry (which I don’t even think is RUNNING at midnight!) but after fighting it a bit I ended up finding a route that was under 2 hours! And I made it home before 2am! Wooo. I took a half day the next day so I could sleep in a bit after all of the birthday excitement! This Pop 2000 Tour has been SO fun I am sad I won’t be seeing any more shows but I am hopeful at least O-Town will be back in the fall – and maybe I can squeeze in a trip to the Big E.
After Hours with Neil Patrick Harris
While I was at the airport waiting to see Hanson in Arkansas, an ad popped up about a Neil Patrick Harris bottle signing on Long Island on my birthday. Typically I avoid Long Island, but I was already going to be there because O-Town was playing a birthday show, so I signed up and immediately got a “you’re in!” email back. The event was to take place from 4pm-6pm and I ended up leaving around noon in hopes of getting there for 2. Of course, the traffic to get to Long Island is real and I ended up getting there at 3. There were not too many people already in line at the liquor store (us Hanson fans are a different breed when it comes to what time we start to line up) and as it got closer to 4, I was much closer to the front of the line than the back.
Shortly after 4pm the line started moving, NPH had pre-signed some bottles or you could have it signed in front of you. I opted for the pre-signed and told him it was my birthday and I was enjoying all his 50th birthday posts on instagram. He said he was glad I was enjoying it because he never really knows how it will be received and I assured him that I was totally jealous and it looked like so much fun! He thanked me for spending my birthday with him and one of the workers handed me back my phone after he had been taking photos for me to “document the moment”.
Upon heading to the check out to buy my signed bottle ($15, a steal for such a meet and greet!) , she had to scan my ID and upon realizing it was my birthday she gave me a free bottle of prosecco! All in all I was back in the car by 4:20 and ready to drive the what I thought would be 30 minutes to the theater for the O-Town show, that ended up being more like 45 minutes. (Fortunately I was beyond early!)
Book Review: Too Late To Stop Now
Too Late To Stop Now is More Rock N Roll War Stories. This book contains 42 different stories – including such greats as Elton John, Joe Cocker, The Rolling Stones and Elvis Costello and spam from 1974 to 2014! Each Chapter is from a different point in time so you can either read straight through, pick and choose or do a couple every night! Some of these stories may be hard to believe but are all equally fascinating. At one time I wanted to be a music reporter, so it’s fun to see all I was missing out on. Or was I?
I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
More than 40 stories from the glory days of rock’n’roll, featuring Lou Reed, Elton John, Sting and The Clash.
Allan Jones brings stories – many previously unpublished – from the golden days of music reporting. Long nights of booze, drugs and unguarded conversations which include anecdotes, experiences and extravagant behaviour.
– A band’s aftershow party in San Francisco being gatecrashed by cocaine-hungry Hells Angels
– Chrissie Hynde on how rock’n’roll killed The Pretenders
– What happened when Nick Lowe and 20 of his mates flew off to Texas to join the Confederate Air Force
– John Cale on his dark alliance with Lou Reed
Allan Jones remembers a world that once was – one of dark excess and excitement, outrageous deeds and extraordinary talent, featuring legends at both the beginnings and ends of their careers.
Scrapbook Saturday – July 22 (pt 1)
Hanson RGB Tour – Nashville
Pop 2000 Tour – Webster MA
Remember how earlier this month I said I should skip the outdoor summer shows? Well, this one was already in the works before I said that, but it didn’t make me change my mind. The weather kept fluctuating between being really hot or thunderstorming, fortunately any storms held off, but the heat did not. Needing to have just a small clear bag, I ended up leaving my camera home and taking my fan instead which turned out to be the right choice. (And I tend to use my phone more with O-Town because it can handle their running all around better than my camera can because I always forget to look into the settings before the show)
We left very early since it was “day game after a night game” and got to Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagaugchaubunagungamaugg (not kidding) and the venue just as gates were opening. We found a spot in the shade and made a deal that we’d skip the opener Dean Ford and Ryan Cabrera since our seats were in direct sunlight and only head inside for BBMak and O-Town. Where we were seated we could still see the stage anyway (though Ryan had a speaker head for his set) so it wasn’t like we were completely missing out.
When Chris talked about Ryan, he mentioned most of the same things I had been saying when we were in the shade. And then he started talking about things my friend had brought up at VIP the night before! Did we write his hosting script? Sure seemed like it!
When we got to our seats I immediately started feeling really claustrophobic and was glad that I opted to bring the fan. Once I put it on and drank some water I was feeling a lot better. BBMak took the stage and did the same set as they had done the night before (although seemed to have some tech issues with their track on their first song), but Christian was blocked Friday night and Mark and Ste Saturday so it kind of evened itself out. There also was an older couple in front of us that kept kissing and it was so obnoxious and out of place and at one point it seemed like Christian was just staring at them. Their set was: Out Of My Heart, Still on Your Side, Next Time, I Can Tell, More Than Words, Unpredictable, Ghost of You and Me, Back Here.
Then it was time for O-Town! For the most part, their set was the same as Friday night, but after the LFO shoes came on stage, instead of inviting Brad out, they did Sky Dive? Seems like it was a last minute addition. The guys seemed to be really hot on stage – Trevor’s shirt was completely soaked and when I finally stood up for the *NSYNC portion I was surprised with the amount of sweat drips that were all over the stage. At one point Trevor did a jump that ended up breaking his necklace. I saw him grab the necklace off himself and stick it in his pocket, and it seemed like later he was able to pick up whatever charm he had on it and stuck that in his pocket as well. Jacob’s neck seemed so red, I am not sure how they made it through that whole set without incident!
After the show it was pretty hectic with all the VIP options being after the show since it started so early. Security did a good job separating everyone out and we made it to our separate room for Chris VIP which was fortunately air conditioned! Chris talked about Masked Singer again, Celebrity Big Brother, and other random things. It seemed like he didn’t want to stop talking and he had to be pushed to move on to photos and autographs. It’s so nice that he cares to actually spend time with fans and chat than just rushing us through everything to get it over with!
I have one show left on Wednesday and I am not sure yet what type of VIP or photo ops I’ll be doing… but I guess we’ll see!
Pop 2000 Tour – Ridgefield CT
Friday I made my way back to the Ridgefield Playhouse, this time for the Pop 2000 tour. Since the show was so close to my birthday I went all out and ended up doing both BBMak and Chris Kirkpatrick VIP since one was preshow and one was postshow.
I got there at 5:45 for my BBMak VIP and promptly at 5:45 someone from the venue came out and said they were ready for us, which was weird because when is anything ever on time? (And O-Town VIP set to begin at 4:15 had just gone in at 5:30) Turns out they weren’t actually ready for us so we just hung out for a bit (and I was able to hear some of O-Town’s acoustic set and BBMak’s soundcheck while waiting) and then went into the room. The night before, Ste and Mark had not been at the show as they had visa issues – but they came in to the room and told us that they almost didn’t make it to our show either as they had some delays from Manchester to Dublin and had to run through the airport to catch the flight in Dublin to the US. The poor guys must have been exhausted, but you couldn’t tell. They sang “Back Here” for us, did a little Q&A and then did photos and autographs. I had never met them before and they were sweeter than I could have even imagined.
My friends were doing merch for BBMak and Chris, so I sat with them for a bit, answered a couple of questions and then when the theater doors opened I went into get settled and realized my 3 shows at the playhouse this week I had been in the same seat. B 107.
Ryan Cabrera came out first, and I feel like he does the same set every time and I am just kind of over him. Sorry. (Not sorry?) I’d be pretty pumped if he added MMMBop back in to his medley again though…
BBMak was up next and I was sooooo excited for their set and they did not disappoint. I was also surprised how many lyrics I still knew (aka pretty much all of them) when I couldn’t even tell you the last time I had listened to their CD. Back Here was on our tour playlist for Hanson last year but other than that… their set included: Still On Your Side, Next Time, Unpredictable, Ghost of You and Me, More Than Words, Out of My Heart.
Then it was time for O-Town! They did a few of their own songs, then did a few LFO songs with Brad to Honor Rich and Devin, then a couple more songs (which included These Are the Days which had everyone bum rush the stage to get their camera taken and security made no effort to send them back after) and then they went into *NSYNC songs and Chris came out and joined them. They had expanded on the number of *NSYNC songs that they had done, which was perfectly fine by me! They ended their set with All Or Nothing and the guy in front of me – who was facing me and not the stage? ended up giving me a fist bump when I was done singing lol
After it was PURE CHAOS with all the options going on post show. I ended up just hiding in a corner until it was time to go in for Chris’ VIP. They did his photo ops first and then it was time for the VIP Q&A, it was a small group and there weren’t too many questions and then we did photos and autographs. Chris was fantastic, as always.
When we left there was a shaved ice truck outside but it was also raining and we had an early day for our afternoon show the next day so we passed on that.
Scrapbook Saturday – June 2022
Big Time Rush, Mandy Moore, Gaelic Storm, The Masked Singer, Hartford Yard Goats