Katie

Jay & Silent Bob

Wednesday night I made my way to Ridgefield for the Jay and Silent Bob “Aural Sects” tour, I wasn’t entirely sure of what to expect, but it was essentially a live version of them doing a podcast. We had gotten an email the night before saying that there would be no audio or video recording allowed but that photos were ok, but I felt that had to be wrong so I didn’t bring my camera, just my phone, but it turned out that was true.  I still felt a bit awkward taking photos anyway so I only took a handful and they’re not all that great because I felt like they could see me and it was just awkward.

The show started with Kevin playing several voice messages from CT native Justin Long trying to give him topics to talk about with a CT crowd including praying mantis, John Mayer and some local spots. The rest of the night was a lot of them just telling various stories of their travels and their life.

To end the evening, they auditioned 3 audience members and chose 1 to join them on stage to read a comic book with them as the role of Alan Rickman’s Metatron.

Overall the evening was a lot of laughs, a little bit of serious, and a ton of fun.  It sounds like they’ll be trying to do another tour this year revolving around DOGMA as they got the rights back to the movie.

Mets Amazin’ Day

Saturday January 25th we made the trek to Citi Field for Amazin’ Day.  We had gone to the fan fest they had in 2020 and decided to check it out again.  When tickets went on sale there was absolutely no information available about what all would be happening, but it still sold out pretty quickly.  We had 12:30pm entry tickets and arrived to the parking lot around 11:30.  The line seemed pretty long to get in to the rotunda, so we decided we’d line up pretty early to make sure we didn’t spend too much time waiting to be let in.  We were told by staff we could go in an ADA entrance and could wait inside until 12:30 and out of the cold which was nice.  While we were waiting, the screens inside were showing some information about what was happening, including the topics of some of the panels that would be happening so I found one that I thought David Wright would be at and we added it to our agenda for the day.

Our first stop was the Mets Mini Museum and Press Conference Photo – in the press conference room they had some memorabilia together for the concerts at citi field, some player jerseys, Grimace’s glove (it was hilarious how many people were so excited over it, including us!) and a nice little display of some of the post season artifacts – not having watched most of the game, just following box scores it was cool to see all of that up close.  They also had a couple of photo ops set up where you could sit with cut outs of Steve Cohen, David Stearns and Juan Soto as well as stand at the podium leading your own press conference.

Then we tried to figure out how to line up for the autographs, but no one told us we had passed the line as we were looking for the end.  So we had to go all the way back.  The hallway did not have enough room for the traffic and it was a total mess.  When we finally got back to the end, someone tried to cut in between us and then made it seem like I was the problem when I kept knocking into them with my walker.  I mean, maybe it’s because you’re taking up the free space I have to maneuver? Just a thought… once we finally got to the room, there were 4 lines that you were randomly placed into depending on which line was shortest when you got to the front of the line for placement.  Each room had 2-4 players.  We saw Daryl Strawberry walk by when we were waiting so we knew he was in one of the rooms but they were being very secretive and making sure the curtains were closed so you couldn’t see who you were going to get.  We ended up getting to meet Nelson Figueroa and Sean Manaea.

We then made our way up to the Piazza 31 Club for some of the panels.  Gary Cohen was interviewing Steve Cohen, David Stearns and  Carlos Mendoza and we caught the tail end of that.  Next up was the 2015 World Series panel with David Wright, Matt Harvey and Jon Niese.  After realizing that was probably the closest to David I was going to get, we went to the K Corner for the legends photo op, knowing that David was going to be on another panel in another hour or so.

The line for the legends photo op was through the bar in the restaurant.  When we could see who was doing the photos, it was Robin Ventura.  As we got closer, I saw Terry Collins enter the room and they ended up switching places.  Robin went to sit at a table to sign autographs along with Benny Agbayani and Edgardo Alfonso.  So we were able to get autographs from the 3 of them and then a photo that was instantly printed with Terry.  There also was supposed to be a spot to enter to win a chance to see the Mets in San Francisco but we didn’t end up finding that.

After spending most of our time waiting in lines, we decided we’d make our way to the store to see the Warehouse sale and head home.  The only other thing we had wanted to do was the baseball card but it was on the other side of the stadium.  Later I had found out the wait was 2+ hours and I’m not sure we had it in us to wait that much longer.  As the day went on and more and more people were coming in the lines just kept getting longer and longer and the hallways more and more packed.

The store had post season items for 80% off, almost everything else was 50% off and select items were $1, $5 or $10.  I got 2 patches, a pin and a yearbook for $7.  The store was very crowded so I didn’t get to shop like I normally would have, I maybe should have gotten a jersey at 50% off, but oh well.  At the time, I didn’t have a favorite as Pete being signed was in limbo, but as of writing this he is back!  (And when David Stearns was walking through the hallway chants of ‘SIGN PETE!’ were being yelled by all the fans at him, glad it worked out!)

Back to the Island 2025

It’s January, so that means it was time to make my 11th trek to Jamaica for my 12th trip Back to the Island.  Several of my friends went a few days early, I ended up going a day after them – which was a good thing as a winter storm would have canceled my flight from Hartford to Baltimore and delayed the flight from Baltimore to Jamaica by several hours.  Of course, this had my travel anxiety on high alert and when I received emails that my next day travel could also be affected by the storm, I started to panic.  My roommate was already in Orlando and I had 2 options to get there Monday night and join her on the Tuesday morning flight to Jamaica.  4pm via Southwest (my preferred airline) or 8pm via JetBlue.  Not wanting to use more PTO, I opted for JetBlue as both flights were the same price.  In true Katie fashion, about 15 minutes after I paid for the JetBlue flight, it got delayed. (Or maybe it already had been, though I did check on flight aware) It kept getting more and more delayed so I ended up asking my boss if I could leave early and hoped that by some miracle Southwest would let me on the 4pm flight that had now been delayed to 4:30pm.

I got to the airport valet, was the only one there, got the shuttle driver’s well wishes and headed to TSA pre-check.  I got held up due to my liquids, which turned out to be fine, and got to the gate as they were standing up to board.  The gate agent told me that since they were getting ready to board it was deleted from their system and I said that was fine and I’d just settle in at the JetBlue gate for the evening, but tried to pull up the Southwest app on my phone to see if there was anyway what I had tried to purchase earlier was still in limbo somehow while she tried to see if there was anything she could do on her end.  Turns out she could if I was fast – I handed her my ID and (southwest) credit card and she as quickly as she could booked me and handed me my ticket as they were calling for pre-boarders. “go go go!” she told me as I profusely thanked her for saving my day. As I sat on the plane the jetblue flight got delayed AGAIN – not arriving until 2am – but the text said I could get a full refund so I figured I’d deal with that when I landed as I didn’t want to cancel anything until I was on the ground in Orlando.

I landed, my friend picked me up, we got some food and headed to her parent’s place for the night.  I was able to cancel my Hartford to Jamaica Southwest leg no problem.  The JetBlue flight was telling me they’d give me $30 back or a travel credit.  Their chat bot kept telling me they’d give me a credit, until I screenshot the “full refund” text they had sent me.  Finally, everything was all settled and it was time to try and get some sleep before heading back to the airport to head to Jamaica in the morning.  (MCO is one of my least favorite airports so you know I was panicking to willingly go there when I didn’t have to!)

Upon arrival to the airport the next morning, neither my friend or I could get our boarding passes and had to get in a looong help desk line that actually ended up being about 50% luggage. It turns out since neither of us were going back through Orlando on our way home and essentially had 2 one way tickets they needed to make sure we were actually leaving Jamaica. Once we proved that, we were on our way. Other than it being a completely full flight with I believe 18 wheelchairs at last count, it was rather uneventful. We ended up being almost last off and got stuck in a corner for a bit but that meant we were almost the last ones on our shuttle and took off for the resort almost immediately – but with 4 other hotel stops the ride took a couple of hours. (Note to self: It may be worth it to book private transport next year!)

With our extra days we just hung out around the resort – just before we were getting ready to leave we found out that the resort had been sold and would be closing January 23rd, right after the 2 events after ours had ended.  We don’t know what the new owners will be doing and rumors were flying.  Would they just upgrade the resort? Would they level it and buy something else completely?  The first resort we went to in 2013 and 2014 was leveled and a much larger resort was built in its place, too large for us to hold our event. In 2015, we went to Mexico and that didn’t have a private beach so it was not an ideal place. In 2018, 2019 and 2020 we went to the Melia – which has closed since Covid and not reopened so unless we know for sure Jewel will be back open in time, it sounds like we will end up somewhere new.  It also sounds like Island Gigs found out when we did, so hopefully they already had some different resorts in mind, but we’ll see what happens for year #13.

Our gift for Year #12 was a nice blue Stanley with the BTTI logo engraved on both sides.  Every year I say I want my gift to just be a straw, so I finally got one! I was really happy it was blue too.  We spent most of the day in/by the pool and then it was time for show #1!

Show 1

It was no surprise that they started with Back to the Island, as they almost always do.  But when we were guessing and making mock setlists, I am not sure any of us ever would have guessed that they’d follow it up with Make it Out Alive.  We also thought it would be a very Underneath heavy trip, since they just came off of that tour and it really wasn’t.  I do wish we got a bit more members songs than we did – this set only had 1, but it was a more “singles” heavy set – which I always prefer they try to get out of the way early and save the good stuff for the last set. They also invited Phantom Planet on stage for the encore of Island In The Sun. I guess they had just arrived not too much earlier and almost weren’t able to get out due to being based in California with all the fires going on.  It was absolutely surreal following all of that news, everything seemed like it was part of a movie and not real life.  My heart goes out to everyone there and I was very sad to see at least 2 people with CP passed away because they were unable to evacuate.

Zac Solo Show

Zac was first up in the solo shows, and I thought he did a pretty decent job choosing his songs.  Some were similar to his set from last year, but he threw in some changes – Save Me From Myself he said he didn’t play all that often and at only about 20 times I’ll give him that – and The Weight Of Emotion he said he only played a couple of times before which was true.  A few others are his staples – like The Ballad of Seymour Better Times – which he has played every year since he first debuted it, but I think there may be a mutiny if he didn’t play it and have a few in the crowd play a long with their kazoos they brought from home. Overall it didn’t end up being my favorite and he didn’t debut anything new, but it wasn’t terrible by any means.

Show 2

Hanson kicked off Show #2 with their Bob Marley medley they’ve been doing – Three Little Birds and Stir It Up as well as their unofficial BTTI Anthem – Best of Times.  Once again we didn’t get the Underneath show we were expecting – and even got the first appearance of the song One More at BTTI.  This set had more of a mix of album and members songs, though the members songs we did get did tend to be ones that we get more often at these members events.  We also got a song that “had been a minute since they’d played full band” and that it went back almost all the way to the beginning – River – which they hadn’t played full band since… August?  All the rain at that Big Dam Party must have made it slip their minds.  Since my friend wasn’t up for jumping during In the City and especially not in the sand – I decided to jump for her which is something I don’t typically do. And it was exhausting.

Gaming with Zac

We had signed up for games with Zac, but if it was another Mario Kart Marathon, we weren’t going to stay all night.  We were pleasantly surprised to see that he had chosen a new game called BoomerangFU that seemed to go quicker, got more commentary for him and allowed for one more player.  But after 2 rounds people started complaining that they had been practicing Mario Kart, so he switched back to it.  We stuck around to see if we were in the first round to play, but after we weren’t we ended up going to the beach to see what Isaac and Taylor were up to and hung in the way way back with some snacks to see that Family Feud had become Pictionary.  It was a good thing that we did end up over there as after their game ended, Isaac mentioned that Phantom Planet would be playing an acoustic set around the bonfire.  There was a bit of back and forth on whether or not they would be due to if they could get power all the way over there, but they did a completely unplugged no amplification set of Phantom of the Opera, California, Lonely Day and Balisong.

Isaac Solo Show

Isaac’s solo show is always a bit of a wild card, but he seemed to come prepared for this one.  He started off a bit meh for me, I could do without Deeper, but since he wrote it in Brazil and there were quite a few Brazilian fans in attendance he found it appropriate to play.  He then went on to play Being Me – which almost made it on to Red Green Blue and somehow despite it actually being released I’ve managed to hear it 25 times live. He did mention now that it seemed to be finished, it may end up finding its way on to a release.  He then pulled out the words to the next song, said he had played it around 7 times and then went into Ordinary Words – except it was his 3rd time playing it. Did he count the times he was practicing it backstage?  The guitar tech ended up coming out and holding the lyrics sheet for him so he could make it through the song.  I am all for them using lyrics during these performances if it means we get to hear rarer songs.  He also did 3 songs from his Mother Road Sons side project – Mother of Exiles which he had done last year as well as Another Rainy Day in Tulsa and Today is All You Get.  He also got pressured into doing More Than Anything and kind of let us behind the curtain to say that he knew it by heart because he had played it so many times – not that he was really all that good at piano.  I was also glad that one of the songs I has asked for on tour that didn’t end up making an appearance – Lonely Again – made it into his set.

Phantom Planet 

I was looking forward to Phantom Planet’s full set, as it seemed that for tour they did basically the same few songs at each show I went to and I knew they had a lot more material.  I was familiar with maybe half of their set on the beach and really enjoyed it.  Isaac had come out to watch some of it, but ended up getting mobbed by fans shortly after he was spotted.  Alex even ended up crowd surfing which I did not expect to ever see at a Hanson-adjacent concert (and after he had just talked about attempting to crowd surf and landing on the floor and breaking ribs!).  They ended up calling Isaac up pretty early in their set and said he could sing whatever he wanted with them, we thought he would have ended up going to grab Taylor and Zac, but nope, he came back for the end and joined them for California and Big Brat, sans Zac and Taylor.

Games with Isaac and Taylor 

It was time for our night of games with Isaac and Taylor.  They said they’d be calling 10 teams each for a total of 20 for pictionary.  We ended up getting called by Taylor and I was elected our “artist”.  I rolled a “5” which got me the category of “Pop Culture” my friends had already decided they were just going to troll and call out song requests and not really guess – and my choices were either ‘Home Alone’ or ‘Back to the Future’ when Isaac asked if I was ready to draw, I sighed and said ‘As I’m going to be’ and attempted to draw Kevin and his ‘AHHH!’ face.  Except the whole crowd was yelling about monkeys and I knew I was in trouble.  I drew a house – then pointed to the roof and then started to panic. At some point I heard Taylor say “It’s Pop Culture not Hanson Songs!” so I knew they were on their way with our plan and Taylor didn’t like it and then I heard Taylor say “Home Alone?” and I turned and pointed at him and I think he asked me again “It’s home alone?!” and I was like “Yea!” and then Isaac realized that I was trying to draw Kevin with my first attempt.  HOW he got it, I had no idea, but once he said it, everyone realized what I was trying to do.  Pretty much everyone agreed they wouldn’t have really known how to have drawn it either and we all also had no idea other than Taylor reading my mind how the heck he had guessed it.  In the end, Taylor ended up losing to Isaac though it did end in a tie breaker with each of them having to draw. Phantom Planet also joined Isaac’s team for a round.  Some of those cards and what you had to draw… not easy. (And yet others – incredibly simple – all in the luck of the roll of that die for your category!)

Taylor Solo Show

Taylor was by far the solo show winner – even if he did play Save Me.  (He had also mentioned he had looked back to see what he had played in past years and I took that to mean he had looked at my site for that information, whether that be the case or not.) After 3 song requests via artistic endeavors and pestering him about it since September – he did an attempt of Pink Moon on the guitar by himself.  He then went back over to the piano and talked about he thinks about what he’d play if it was his last show ever – which got everyone a bit up in arms. He teased that it wasn’t his last show – he had another one that night, at least.  He also ended up playing Bridges of Stone which has been asked about for YEARS (and was last played about a dozen times on the This Time Around tour 25 years ago) and finished his set out with Lost Without You which is one of the more underplayed songs from Anthem.

Show 3

Somehow we had made it to our final show of the trip.  Isaac had posted a photo of him reading a book called You Never Know and I had asked my friends if it was a clue to a song they’d be playing and they all said no – but hey, maybe Hanson can hide song easter eggs too!  Speechless was thrown in for only the 2nd time at a BTTI ever and after being written off  the top of his head at a previous BTTI and then being reworked for the 2024 Member’s EP – Every Time We Touch was bumbled through for it’s first appearance. This setlist was really all over the place – some less popularly played album songs, some more popularly played members songs – with Change in My Life acapella thrown in for good measure? I’m not sure I could have picked out these songs for you if you gave me a million guesses.

After the last show was Taylor’s Pool Dance Party – we were pretty exhausted by that point, but our room was right by all the partying so even if we did try to go to sleep, we’d hear everything anyway so we stayed awake until Taylor once again ended the evening by jumping into the pool.  He walked past us to leave and we headed to our room to finish up packing.  My shuttle was set to take off at 9:50am so I was trying to get as much done before I went to sleep as I could.

It seemed like nearly everyone was leaving at my time and there were at least 2 buses if not 3, I was lucky enough to be the first on the first bus, but as we were getting ready to leave someone hadn’t settled their charges so we had to wait.  Then when we started moving the bus started making a beeping noise, so the driver pulled over and and got out and then got back in and said nothing.  Not long after it started beeping again and he pulled over to say the radiator needed more water and he was going to get some and it would take 2 minutes.  He then ended up stopping again to pick up someone who worked at the airport.  Sometimes I end up taking a shuttle that leaves an hour earlier to make sure I have enough time to get a wheelchair and get through security and didn’t so I was beginning to second guess myself.  We made it to the airport and they had renovated.  Southwest was all the way on the end and it seemed like they had a lot of workers just waiting with wheelchairs which was a plus.  They took my walker from me and said I could get it at baggage claim in Baltimore.  We went through security but of course not being able to walk without my shoes on caused problems and I had to go to a private room to get my brace swiped and they wouldn’t even let the wheelchair pusher in the room with me.  He seemed really concerned and asked if i was ok and what they did to me once they let him back in to get me.  We got to the gate with plenty of time to spare.  There ended up being about 13 wheelchairs.  We somehow were able to take off early which we thought meant we could land early, but there was another plane on the runway so we had to circle before landing.   Baltimore had wheelchairs waiting, and while I told my pusher I had global entry, he took me to the wheelchair line anyway which was backed up as 3 planes had landed at the same time.  I didn’t push it because I had 3 hours.  Once again Baltimore’s pre-check had no cane, but I got them to let me use my own for as long as I could and then held the TSA agents hand through the metal detector.

The flight to Hartford was only 35% full so we all got our own row which was nice.  Things went smoothly, but as I got off the shuttle to my car I realized that my walker was damaged and the brakes weren’t catching and it was rolling away as I was trying to load things up to get to my car.  I made a claim with Southwest and they sent things to a 3rd party to see if they could fix it.  After working things out with them, it seems like they are going to be sending me a replacement instead.

I’m looking forward to seeing what BTTI26 might have in store for us – will we still be in Jamaica? Will we move back to Negril? Will we venture to another country?

2024 Year in Review

In no particular order:

Met (most) of the Boy Meets World cast
Met Hollywood Darlings – Christine Lakin, Jodie Sweetin & Bevery Mitchell
Front Row for Joey Fatone & AJ McLean – A Legendary Night – Maybe a little too close
Met Matt Rife
Got to see Hanson perform on a TV show from in the studio
David Cook VIP show
Visited Savannah, GA
Met the Savannah Bananas
Met the Party Animals for my 40th birthday
Officially visited North and South Carolina
Met 2gether’s Doug Linus (Kevin Farley)
Met BBMak backstage after being front row at their show
Met Simple Plan
Visited the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and their 1984 exhibit
Went on the field and met the Savannah Bananas and Party Animals at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH
Nominated Hanson for the Rock Hall
Visited the house from A Christmas Story
Met Debra Jo Rupp
Saw Shawn Mendes on his birthday and his return to the stage
Met Walker Burroughs and Kris Allen
Met Chris Kirkpatrick
Went on stage and interviewed Hanson with my friend Andrea
Met Michael J Fox
Met Mets Legends Daryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden and Keith Hernandez
Met Nick Carter, listened to his new music early and had front row tickets for his show
Had front row tickets at Citi Field
Met JC Chasez
Saw &Juliet from front row
Saw my 300th Hanson show (and then some)
Saw Hanson’s limited capacity show from the historic Church Studio in Tulsa, OK
Went on the field and met Savannah Bananas and Party Animals at Citizens Bank Park
Met Andy Grammer after an emotional night seeing his solo show
Met Melissa Joan Hart and Caroline Rhea after a night of comedy
Saw the Hocus Pocus House
Visited Salem
Saw the Northern Lights in Woodstock
Went to Jamaica with Hanson, again. ac

Year In Review – 2024

Most expensive show:
Joey Fatone & AJ McLean VIP, non VIP was Shawn Mendes return to performing live

Least (not free) expensive show:
Kris Allen at the Kate was $40

Free shows:
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, Hanson @ The View, Wilderado, Hanson @ The Gathering Place, 98 Degrees

# artists seen: 87
# unique artists seen: 18
# shows seen in CT: 21
# of shows out of state: 31

Show farthest away: Jamaica out of the US, Tulsa in the US.
Closest show: Fairfield CT
$$ spent on tickets: $5,528.72
Miles traveled: 26200

Top 5 shows of the year?
1.
&Juliet Sing-A-Long with JC Chasez
2.
Hanson Underneath Experience Night 2 Minneapolis 
3.
Hanson Underneath Experience Night 1 Minneapolis
4.
Shawn Mendes
5.
Joey Fatone & AJ McLean

Total number of shows in 2023? 52

First show of the year? Hanson

First show with actual tickets:  Let’s Sing Harry

Last show of the year? Hanson – because Aerosmith got canceled

Most surprising show? &Juliet

Most disappointing? Aerosmith cancellation 🙁 🙁 🙁

Farthest traveled? Back to the Island in Jamaica

States attended shows in? CT, NY, OK, PA, TN, MN, MD, GA

Venue most visited? The Kate & Cain’s are tied

Band seen the most? Hanson

Best new discovery?  Walker Burroughs

Bands seen this year that also broke up this year? I don’t think there was any?

Friends made at shows? I wasn’t very social, yet again

Band members met? Hanson, Jeff Timmons, Drew Lachey, Joey Fatone, BBMak, Tartan Terrors, David Cook, Simple Plan, Chris Kirkpatrick, Nick Carter, Kris Allen, JC Chasez

Best souvenir from a show? I got some picks and some setlists

Longest time in line? I really don’t recall waiting all that long for anything, most were seated and not GA

Shows seen from the barricade [front row]– Joey/AJ, Wilderado, BBMak, Tartan Terrors, David Cook, Hanson TN, Nick Carter, Kris Allen, &Juliet

Most shows in one month? 

January – 6
February – “1”
March – 4
April – 1
May – 3
June – 3
July – 3
August – 5
September – 3
October – 14
November – 7
December – 2

Most shows in one week? BTTI or something in October. 

Biggest crowd?  Either Pink or JT at Hershey, I think that was the biggest venue I was at 

Any drunk encounters? Oh probably… that elmo coat guy in Times Square perhaps

Missed shows:

I skipped Niall Horan because it was too hot and I was having medical issues, I skipped Jon McLaughlin to go see Hanson, I skipped Stephen Kellogg to go see Hanson, I skipped O-Town because I just wasn’t feeling up to driving to Long Island, I skipped Country 925 due to weather and medical issues and Aerosmith canceled on me 🙁

Hanson’s Christmas Ball 2024

Hanson’s two-night Christmas Ball at the historic Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, OK delivered a magical start to the holiday season. Known for their deep roots in Tulsa and their ability to create unforgettable live experiences, the Hanson brothers transformed Cain’s into a festive wonderland on December 13 and 14, drawing fans from near and far.

The first evening set the tone with a perfect blend of holiday classics and Hanson originals. Opening with “Finally It’s Christmas,” the crowd immediately felt the festive energy. Songs like “Little Saint Nick” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” had everyone singing along, while “Someday At Christmas” and “Peace On Earth” brought moments of heartfelt reflection.

The surprises continued with a medley of “Wonderful Christmas Time” and “Come On It’s Christmas,” blending nostalgic cheer with Hanson’s signature sound. The encore featured emotional renditions of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” “Blue Christmas,” and an acapella version of “White Christmas” that showcased their harmonious vocals and left the audience in awe.

Night two offered a similarly festive setlist, keeping the energy high while mixing up a few key moments. Songs like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Run Rudolph Run” added a playful touch, and the encore once again highlighted the timeless charm of “Blue Christmas” and “White Christmas” in an intimate, acapella style.

Despite the similarities in the setlists, Hanson’s charismatic stage presence and the infectious holiday spirit ensured each night felt distinct. Their ability to connect with the audience, from die-hard fan club members to local families and children, created a welcoming, joyful atmosphere.

The Christmas Ball wasn’t just a concert; it was part of a bustling weekend in Tulsa. With Zach Bryan also performing in town and various holiday festivals and conventions, the city was alive with activity. Fans took the opportunity to reconnect with friends, enjoy holiday parades, and soak in the festive energy. Cain’s Ballroom, with its storied history and intimate setting, proved the perfect venue for Hanson’s holiday celebration.

The audience’s attire added to the festive mood, with many fans dressed in holiday sweaters, Santa hats, and sparkling accessories. The warm afternoon weather, which turned chilly in the evening, didn’t dampen spirits but instead added a cozy layer to the event.

Hanson’s Christmas Ball at Cain’s Ballroom exemplified the best of holiday traditions: music, community, and joy. It’s a testament to their enduring appeal and deep connection to Tulsa that they could bring together fans and families for two nights of holiday cheer. Whether you were there for the music, the memories, or simply the magic of the season, the Christmas Ball was an experience to cherish.

 

98° at Foxwoods

98 Degrees delivered an energetic and nostalgic performance Saturday night at Foxwoods, opening for Bell Biv DeVoe. While their set was shorter than their last Foxwoods appearance—likely due to their supporting role—there was no shortage of fan favorites, ensuring a lively atmosphere throughout.

The show opened with a mix of their own hits and well-chosen covers. “Can’t Get Enough” and “Heat It Up” set the tone, showcasing the group’s signature smooth vocals. A particularly fun moment came when they launched into their Bruno Mars cover of “Finesse,” which kept the crowd engaged and moving.

The performance seemed geared towards the 90s pop crowd, and the setlist confirmed this, with energetic renditions of classic pop songs. The loudest cheers came when the group paid tribute to some of the era’s biggest hits. Their covers of Britney Spears’ “Oops!…I Did It Again,” NSYNC’s “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” and Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life” sparked waves of nostalgia, especially with fans singing along. These were standout moments, demonstrating that while 98 Degrees may have been the opening act, their influence in the pop world was undeniable.

They also took the time to sprinkle in a few of their own hits, including “Invisible Man” and “The Hardest Thing,” which held special significance for fans who have followed the group since the late 90s. The most surprising part of the set was their seamless mix of songs. They effortlessly transitioned from their own tracks to covers like Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name,” keeping the energy high and the crowd invested.

The cover medley that featured “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” and “Thong Song” added a playful element to the show, with fans of all ages enjoying the throwback to the late 90s and early 2000s hits. The mixture of R&B, pop, and Latin vibes brought a nice variety to the performance, even though the setlist didn’t linger too long on any one genre.

After about an hour, the group closed their set with the iconic “Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche),” which left fans satisfied but wanting more. Given the circumstances of them being an opening act, it was a solid performance that didn’t overstay its welcome but hit all the right notes for the audience. The upbeat nature of the show, paired with a nostalgia-packed setlist, made it a perfect opening act for Bell Biv DeVoe, and though we left early, the crowd seemed to appreciate the throwback to pop’s golden era.

 

98° Setlist Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT, USA 2024

JC Chasez CD Signing

Shortly after we had gotten tickets to &Juliet, JC announced the next afternoon he’d be doing a CD signing at Barnes and Noble in NYC. I managed to snag a ticket and hoped I could figure out details later and ended up getting a hotel across the street from the &Juliet theater for the night.  The hotel gave us $10 credit due to them charging a $30 destination fee and when I stopped to pick up some water and a snack before getting a ride to Barnes & Noble, I got roped into coming back for some sort of timeshare presentation.  (Tired, about to meet JC AND you trick me by offering me points – recipe for disaster right there).

I had no idea how many tickets were sold, but the line didn’t seem too bad when I got there around 10:30ish.  I bumped into a friend who talked to the staff inside that said I didn’t need to stand in line and could sit inside and wait.  I went inside and they told me to go up to the cafe and he would let the manager know I was there.  I ended up getting a chai latte while I waited, but around 11:30 when I could see fans start coming upstairs to line up and other friends came by to say they had started wrist banding I started to panic and went down the elevator to make sure they still knew I was there.

The staff member at the bottom of the elevator told me that yes, she knew I was there, and I could continue to sit up there, but could I please step off to the side for a moment? Because JC needed to come through and use the elevator to get up to the signing.  I must have looked star struck as anything but we managed to say “hi” to each other.  She said once he went upstairs I could go back up and they’d have a staff member come by to give me my wristband and CD.  And that they did.

The signing started a little bit early and a staff member came and got me and I was at the curtain to enter at 12:01.  There was maybe 6 people in there before me? They were taking our phone and CD and holding purses and/or coats if we wanted.  Our CD got handed to JC and our phone got handed to another staff member to take our photo with him!!!! It was all a blur, everyone was saying how nice it was to meet him, how they had been fans for MMC, etc etc.  He seemed very grateful and kind and sweet and was obliging for anyone who was asking for hugs (I didn’t, not sure why) and was chatting with anyone who had started conversations with him about pretty much any topic it seemed.

After walking out, they cut off our wristband 🙁  I asked if I could keep it after it was cut and was told no, so I took a photo of it instead.  As if it would not have been totally obvious if I found some tape and tried to go through the line again! But I get why they had to do it.

Everything seemed really smoothly run and when we got outside it was about 12:15 and there was still a decent set of lines outside.  I still wasn’t sure how many tickets were sold, but they were not letting a lot of people inside at a time to make sure things didn’t get hectic and overcrowded.

I ended up on a 1:04 train and home at 3:30pm more exhausted than I was after doing 12 Hanson shows.  Go figure.

 

 

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