Back in May Hanson announced what ended up being their last shows of the year in Escanaba/Harris, MI in the upper peninsula.  We bought tickets and booked our flights. The airport there is tiny and there are only 2 flights in and out each day. Delta couldn’t get their act together and here’s what happened from the emails I saved (and who knows if I actually saved all of them)

May 17:
Hartford (9:35am) Detroit (11:29am)
Escanaba (4:00pm) Minneapolis (7:55pm)

May 24:
Hartford (6:00am) Detroit (8:54am) Minneapolis (1:45pm)  
Escanaba (4:00pm) Minneapolis (7:55pm)

May 24: (I made this change to not have so many flights)
Hartford (9:42am) Detroit (1:55pm)
Escanaba (4:00pm) Minneapolis (7:55pm)

July 3:
Hartford (9:42am) Detroit (2:37pm) 
Escanaba (4:00pm) Minneapolis (7:55pm)

August 28:
Hartford (6:00am) Minneapolis (10:25am) 
Escanaba (1:31pm) Minneapolis (8:00pm) 

September 23:
Hartford (6:00am) Minneapolis (10:01am) 
Escanaba (1:08pm) Minneapolis (8:20pm) 

September 30:
Hartford (6:00am) Minneapolis (8:50am)
Escanaba (11:52am) Minneapolis (12:47pm) Atlanta (9:40pm)

September 30: (I made the change to not have so many flights)
Hartford (6:00am) Minneapolis (8:50am)
Escanaba (6:01pm) Detroit (9:55pm) 

In the end, that September 30th email & update stuck, but I did get a couple more emails from Delta confirming it with what appears to be all the same info. (Maybe flight numbers changed?)  Of course, I bought a ticket to see David Cook the night before when I thought I had a 9am flight, but a 6am flight meant I had to miss out on the show.  Fortunately I was able to sell my ticket and meet and greet to a woman who really seemed to appreciate me helping her out, so that helped lessen the blow a bit. (She sent me her M&G photo with a “thanks so much!” message the next day and it melted my cold, dark heart.)

Based on the August changes,  I had been totally willing to wait the 8 hours in MSP if I needed to (I have friends there, they could have taken me and brought me back later!) but Delta was treating it as if it was 2 separate flights and not connected and I wasn’t sure what kind of issues that might cause or if it really would be as simple as just checking in 2 different times.  When I contacted them via the chat they told me that it was either the extra Atlanta layover (please, no!) or going to Detroit instead.  As we were trying to get that all settled… Pet Assistance joined the conversation? They asked if I’d be traveling with a dog, cat or bird.  Just get me to Escanaba and back, I’m not bringing a pet!

After the show we hung out in the hotel since the 8 of us wouldn’t fit comfortably in either of our hotel rooms. We did a snack run to the gift shop in the hotel, which somehow was incredibly cheap and had some pickle flavored chips and “Yooper Bars” which were just chocolate bars with the upper peninsula on them. (I stuck with my baked lays and cream and dr pepper soda)

The next morning we had a late breakfast and just hung around doing more nothing. My friend did contact the GM of the theater and was told I could keep the walker with me for the 2nd show so I was already feeling a bit better about how it would go since I’d be able to have a bit of a barricade around myself.  Isaac had posted on instagram they’d be mixing the setlist up, which we did figure would happen to some extent – and we thought they might go all out being the last show of the year, but also didn’t want to get our hopes up.  When we finished eating a late lunch/early dinner we heard Hanson doing soundcheck of With a Little Help From My Friends and we hoped they weren’t just teasing us.  Some other fans nearby informed us that World Goes Around was sound checked earlier and the day before.  Then they went into Give a Little and I Don’t Want To Go Home but we still weren’t sure if they had plans to put all those songs in the setlist or not.

When they started the show, they mixed it up by starting with Fired Up but then did 2 repeats – A Minute Without You and Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’ so I wasn’t really sure where we were headed. But from there things went off the rails, in the best way possible. Instead of an acoustic set we got a solo from each brother and all the sound checked songs made the cut.  In the end we had 44 songs over 2 nights and 39 of them were unique – and I had thought they’d be pulling from 35 that were rehearsed!  Except now that we know they are capable of doing such a massive shake up and not at a members only event, the bar has been raised!

After the show we got a boozy ice cream drink and hung out for the time change. On top of the daylight saving time confusion, the casino was situated right smack in the middle of the Eastern and Central time zones. The airport was in Eastern and the hotel operates in Eastern so I had forced my phone to not auto update. For some who didn’t make that change, depending on where they were in the casino, the time would change back and forth. We made it to 2nd 1am but didn’t last much longer than that – and the delirious giggles had hit most of us at one point or another.

Sunday all my friends were on the MSP flight and I was alone on the DTW flight so I stayed in the room as long as I could before check out, took myself to breakfast at the restaurant in the casino and then hung out in the lobby watching videos until my 3:30 shuttle.

The Escanaba airport was so tiny, yet has 5 TSA agents for our flight. We ended up having to board the plane using the stairs which did not go very well for me (I’m ok, just a skinned knee) but it was smooth sailing and no flight issues. If Delta wants to just keep up with the drama before the actual travel days, I’ll take it!

Sunday October 1, after months of being nervous over it, I attended Sound on Sound in Bridgeport, CT.  I was out of town during the festival last year, but all the comments on facebook I was reading said that it was absolutely horrible and that worried me a bit for this year.  But John Mayer was headlining, in his hometown, (where we both were born) so I was going to do everything in my power to attend.  I had emailed as soon as it was announced about ADA accommodations and they kept saying that they’d be announced “closer to the show”.  Almost every other festival I’ve attended (though there hasn’t been many as I acknowledge I am not made for them) typically has what they’re going to do laid out when it is announced / before tickets go on sale.  I ended up spending $110 on the closest parking passes, which weren’t even all that close, and the weekend before got confirmation I could park in the ADA lot (I’m curious how much they were charging for that lot as I’m pretty sure I paid too much, but I had to hedge my bets that I’d be as close as possible – especially with the other parking / uber drop off being a 2 mile walk away – something I absolutely would not be able to do!)  Fortunately, waiting to find out if they’d have an ADA Platform only in GA or in VIP as well ended up allowing me to take advantage of a $99 ticket offer for the day for GA tickets when I think they were initially selling for $179.  They ran a LOT of $99 promos so I figured it was not selling as well as they expected – probably due to so many being hesitant that had attended the year before.

We opted to show up a bit after doors opened to try and lessen the lines and the crowds and getting there was pretty smooth.  Of course the accessible entrance was as far away from where we parked as it possibly could be.  But when were able to quickly get our wristbands for access to the ADA platform once we got inside and then went to check it out.  The Friday before we had gotten more rain than the ground could possibly handle (NYC was beyond flooded) and the crew spent half a million dollars adding gravel, hay, and really awful tiles to the ground to cover the mud.  Granted this was probably a whatever they could get last minute – but the “tile” that was on the ground to cover the mud – every single one had a different texture (to trip on) as well as holes in them that my wheels of my walker got stuck in several times.  This was also the only path to get to the ADA platform.  It may have been better than trudging through mud, but not by much.

We watched the tail end of the Gin Blossoms set from the ADA platform and then went to find food.  We also watched Cautious Clay, Margo Price, Mt. Joy, Dispatch and Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals before it was finally time for the acts that we had came for!

Hozier came out and was super adorable with his accent. Through most of his set a drone was going around and a bunch of people were also bouncing beach balls around and he teased that it might be a fun game to try and knock the drone done with the beach balls.  I didn’t see the drone again once he said that so maybe someone was concerned that it might be taken seriously!  He did a 12 song set closing out with his biggest hit, Take Me To Church which obviously got the biggest reception from the crowd and had the most cell phones in the air.  I really enjoyed him and may have to start listening to him more regularly!

Next up was Alanis, whom I had previously seen.  Her intro video appeared to be the same from the last tour I saw her and her set was still predominately Jagged Little Pill songs which was great since that’s really the only album of hers I am super familiar with.  Of course for her, the biggest crowd reactions were for Ironic and You Oughta Know. She paced back and forth across the stage through most of the songs and when she was standing still she was playing with her hands and it was making me very anxious. She also ended up doing a 12 song set.

Then it was time for John! (He told us to call him just John)  He somehow managed to make his stage banter about how every song was somehow about Connecticut. He claimed he wasn’t pandering but I’m not sur I believe him! He commented that the hospital he was born in was “a mile up the road” and while I think it was a bit further than that, you could sense the pride and emotion that he was “home”.  He even told a never before told story about how he got his music education from Bridgeport and when his Dad was principal he would confiscate walkmans and then he and his brothers would check out all the cassettes of the walkmans that weren’t picked back up by the students at the end of the year.  He seemed to fall back a lot on Room for Squares and at one point was feeling a “vibe” with us and swapped out a song for “Why Georgia” and he said it was about how he was in Georgia but not back home in Connecticut.  I was hoping that he’d play No Such Thing early so whoever was there just to hear it would clear out making for less traffic and he did it 3rd. A lot of people also left after he did Your Body is a Wonderland.  He also mentioned that Walt Grace probably was from Groton and worked for Electric Boat and that’s how he decided to make his submarine. (Groton is home to the sub naval base and Electric Boat is one of our companies that makes subs)  A request for 3×5 was done during the encore… and I thought I might have finally been free of a show with Free Fallin’, but nope. It ended up being the final song of the night.

Overall the event was a lot more fun than I was expecting, but not without its challenges mostly due to my disability.  I would consider going again another time, but it sounds like the promoter can’t handle the criticism and is letting a few loud people get to him and doesn’t know if he wants to do it again.

Thursday night 98° kicked off their anniversary tour at the Premier Theater at Foxwoods Casino.  There was also the Wahlburgers grand opening on the other side of the casino so we thought it might have been a pretty boyband heavy night.  Except the boyband centric person we bumped into was actually Johnny Wright, *NSYNC’s manager.  I’m not sure we were expecting that! (We didn’t chat long and didn’t get any info out of him, so please don’t ask lol)

All-4-One opened the night and had all 4 members! (back in March I only saw 3 of them)  They basically did the same set they did back in March but with much less talking in between songs.

Then it was time for 98°!  The first part of the show they seemed to be a little off, they didn’t have command of the crowd (almost everyone was sitting) and things just seemed off.  I think they may have not had enough rehearsal time but it was giving off “Dads called on stage to make a boyband at the talent show” vibes.  Fortunately, about midway through their divas medley things seemed to click a bit more and the rest of the show (where it was more stuff they had done before)  was a lot better.  They did several medleys – they opened with their “Opening Medley” then the y did a “Divas medley” and an “acoustic medley” and a “TRL medley”.  The TRL Medley was probably my favorite and it was definitely Tearin’ Up My Heart that got the most crowd response.

They also had this big screen behind them that was playing different scenic videos and photos of the guys throughout the set that was weird.  I also enjoyed how much Drew was making fun of Nick.  Before the Divas medley Nick asked what was a diva and Drew pointed to Nick! And then Nick made a comment about recording a music video but it was about the wrong song (which the London Bridge was behind them on the screen for the song before, but they all had their backs to it) and then Drew brought it up again later to mock him to which Nick said “I made a mistake.” I don’t think he’ll be making that mistake again, but I’m sure Drew will keep bringing it up for a while because that’s what brothers do.

After the show we lingered a bit and played on the slot machine and I ended up winning $20.  Throw that in the *NSYNC reunion savings bucket…

Initially the Jonas Brothers announced their show at Yankee Stadium as a special one night only show where they’d play all the songs from all their albums (after they had recently done a residency playing them all over 5 nights on Broadway).  Inevitably the “one night only” became “two nights only” when there was such demand – but I am not sure anyone was expecting them to then announce an entire tour doing the same damn thing.  Tickets were up for sale left and right because why would you travel all the way to New York if you weren’t local?  But we stuck with our plan to go and the jury is still out on whether or not we will end up at Mohegan Sun in a couple days to see it again.

When we arrived we were just outside Gate 4.  I overheard some other girls saying more tickets had just been released and when I checked they were front row ADA tickets.  So I thought about it for a second, told my friend I put them in my cart and was going to do it, and she said OK.  We then found out that we needed to enter via Gate 8 and had to go all around the stadium.  This was our fault, we parked where we parked and our original tickets were somewhere between Gate 4 and Gate 2.  However, what happened from there was absolutely the fault of the stadium and absolute miscommunication with their staff and a total lack of signage.  We got to Gate 8 which had a very long line and we were then told that there was actually an accessible entrance.  We went in and were given 2 wristbands for the floor – one because we were on the floor and one because we were in the front row.  And then… no one was available to help us again.  Upon entry into the doors there were stairs, so we went to the elevator.  A whole bunch were taken in before us and we waited a bit only for no one to return, so we took the elevator up ourselves.  We were told “no more stairs” and were on the main concourse – but there WERE more stairs to get to the field and we had no idea where to go.  We asked an usher at the top of the section who ended up calling over another guy who told us to go to the Hard Rock, show them our floor wristband and they’d let us down.  We got to the Hard Rock only to be told that the elevator was broken (there was a private event going on so whether it was broken or they just weren’t allowing us to go in there, I’m not sure.) and we had to go to – GATE 4!  The walk from Gate 4 to 8 was ridiculous enough the first time, I was not about to do it again.  Then everyone else we asked if there was a closer elevator told us something different.  We got taken to an elevator by someone that didn’t even have a down button.  I know generally for baseball games no one is actually going on the field – but Yankee Stadium just had a concert the night before!  We also ended up being told Gate 2 would get us down, but that was even further away from Gate 4.  Knowing that there was no way I could walk that far again, I had my friend carry my walker down the stairs and I slowly went down behind her.  Success. We made it to the field. No thanks to anyone else.

Security had no idea what any of the seats were and there appeared to be no ushers.  When they did come, they gave us seats that didn’t match what I had purchased on the seating chart, so I showed them what I bought and they moved us to where I thought our seats were supposed to be – but then they said if someone else showed up with higher seat numbers we’d need to move.  I mean, fine with me, I bought the aisle seats 15 and 16 so I’m not sure how anyone is going to appear with a larger number!  When the opener took the stage, one of the security guys inside the barricade made one of the security guards outside the barricade to move so I could still see, which I thought was really nice.  Unfortunately, by the time Jonas took the stage, it was a whole different story.

Next to the catwalk there were 2 chairs, then a very too large aisle, and then our seats.  Well, as soon as the guys popped up from the catwalk, people started flooding into the aisles and onto the barricade and on top of me.  I ended up standing up at the barricade because it was either sit and have everyone on top of me and see nothing or stand and hold on to the barricade and hopefully be able to see something.  Finally, like 5 songs in, security decided the aisle needed to be clear which just made everyone try to fill in behind me.  The rest of the night it became a bunch of back and forth with security telling girls to leave, other girls coming in or the same girls just moving in and out of different spots once security pushed them back.  At one time I was told I needed to be off the barricade – but that wasn’t happening as I can’t “free stand” and was not about to sit and have everyone on top of me, that would be a panic attack waiting to happen.  Fortunately he didn’t seem to come back and push the issue.  Security inside the barricade kept making sure I could still see – but I really wanted to be SITTING and able to see as I bought an accessible seat because I can’t stand for extended periods of time.

As for the setlist, they seemed to be going somewhat chronologically with the older albums, with the newer tracks mixed in.  They also seemed to think that Jack was their original “OG” drummer, but I beg to differ.  Then again, It’s About Time wasn’t included at all.  The end of the first half of the show came with Burnin’ Up, and special guest, BIG ROB!  (They also did pretty much everything but “Don’t Charge Me For the Crime”)

Then the screens that were on top of the stage moved down and there started to be a slight drizzle.  At first, it was nice since it was so hot, but as the drops started to intensify we put our ponchos on.  I don’t even know how many people asked where we bought them.  Mine? A Walmart in Atlanta before a Hanson concert.  It ended up absolutely POURING and my shoes ended up soaked.  I didn’t think to try and poncho them as well until it was too late.  Then the 5 minute count down came up on the screen and the rain slowed up.  By the time the guys came back out on stage for part 2, the rain had all but stopped.  It was at intermission we found out one of the girls who was next to us (who was trying really hard to help us out and keep people off of me) was bleeding because the girls during the first set were SO freaking vicious.  Why can’t everyone just stay in their spot!? Why can’t everyone act like decent human beings?!

There seemed to be less crowding during the second set of the show – save for a couple of drunk girls who at one point were actually STANDING ON TOP OF ME.  Her foot was ON my foot. This happened more than once. Security would tell them they couldn’t be in the middle and they’d squeeze back on top of me, then security would walk away and they’d move back and it was just again, back and forth the whole show.  One of them was dancing with security so I don’t know if she actually knew him or if she just made a new friend – as I swear I overheard her asking one of the other security guards if she could do something inappropriate to him and he politely declined.

Since I was in my poncho I was going to try and just take less photos as it was a bit harder to make it work, but then the guys had changed their outfits so I had to take some to document it.  We also got another set of special guests when Kirk Franklin and Jon Bellion joined the guys on stage as well as a choir for Walls.  The teaser article had said something was going to happen during intermission and the guys wouldn’t be on stage for it – so I believe our special guest was actually rain.  (The following night Jimmy Fallon came out to lead the crowd in a sing a long)

During Strangers after they sang, “I just saw the lightning strike” one of them (Joe?) said “HOPE NOT!” because that would have gotten the show shut down. (And I have NO idea how/where we would have taken cover in the event of that happening either)  And just before Turn Right Joe had everyone doing the wave and Nick didn’t seem to pleased because he wanted to say something that was important!

The second set seemed to go on for a really long time so when the guys decided they were going to sit at the end of the catwalk, I decided to sit as well.  Somehow this seemed to alert security and I got asked by at least 3 of them if I was ok.  I mean, yeah, but I’d have been better if I could have been sitting the whole time!  One came over and told me to just turn my chair around so I could see the catwalk, but I was fine just watching the screens for the last handful of songs.

When it was time to leave, we made our way to Gate 4, since that was where we had parked.  That elevator was  in fact working and they had us walk along the edge of the field and past the dug out and into some sort of restaurant before we made our way up and out and came out just where we needed to be.  (Finally, something worked in our favor)

Now I am off to figure out all the ways the stadium violated the ADA and to formally make a complaint.

Friday night, Darius Rucker brought his Starting Fires tour to the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport.  Yes, I went back for the second time in one week.  It was interesting to see the change in approach of bag check, parking, security, etc with the change in fan bases.  Initially I was a bit unsure of heading out to the show with there supposed to be thunderstorms all night and the venue being outside just essentially under a tent, but fortunately the weather held up making for just a humid night.

Opening the show was Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.  The band released a new album, Strangers No More, on June 7th and you can listen to it here.  They played several of the songs off of it while opening the show, including Find Your People, Dance with Everybody (which they appropriately dedicated to the pit up front!), All the Money in the World and Gratitude.   They also played What Would I Do Without You which Drew dedicated to his wife and kids saying if we didn’t like it, he didn’t care because his family did, as well as I Like To Be Me When I’m With You, a cover of Tom Petty’s Runnin’ Down a Dream and closed their set out with Family. (I think I missed keeping track of a couple in the beginning.)   Drew ended the set by saying they would be coming back to the area soon (I’ll have to keep an eye out for that) and that if you didn’t like the music then he hoped you have a good life because we will probably never see you again. My favorite that they did was “Find Your People” which the band also recently performed on CBS Saturday Morning’s Saturday Sessions which you can watch below.

If you’d like to keep up with the band on social media, here’s the links: Twitter  | Facebook | Instagram| Website

Darius took the stage at about 9:15.  I am not really a country fan so I was hopeful he’d be playing some Hootie songs but I ended up pleasantly surprised with his setlist. I also was able to sit for the show and watch on the screens, so I ended up missing out whatever was going on with the show screens in the middle of the stage (that did seem to be pretty cool when I did decide to pop up) but I still had a good time without pushing myself too much.  When he did “Little Pink Houses” I popped up and watched and sang along a bit as it was a song I knew, and then I ended up taking over the aisle seat in my row as no one showed up on either side of me for the duration of the show which gave me a little bit better of a vantage point.

I also had peeked at the setlist ahead of time and knew where the Hootie songs were in the setlist. Imagine my surprise when he was supposed to play the first one and ends up talking about that he lost a bet to Dan Patrick and Fritzy was coming up on stage to sing a couple of songs. I am not sure exactly what happened, but he sang Private Eyes and Your Kiss is on My List with Darius singing backup.  (Even watching the clips from The Dan Patrick show I still am not sure what happened)  Fortunately it was just an addition to the setlist and I don’t think anything was actually removed. [Also at the time of this writing I am not sure if the embedded setlist is actually accurate]

After he repaid his debt, then he went into the first country song he had ever written which was “Let Her Cry” – he then declared it the Summer of the 90s and did I Like It, I Love It, Waterfalls and Poison. I was beginning to know way more songs than I thought I would!

He had Drew Holcomb join him for Don’t Think I Don’t Think About it, then did Hold My Hand, shortly after followed by Only Wanna Be With You.  For the most part, it seemed like the Hootie songs got the biggest reactions of anything that he played.  At least until he did Wagon Wheel at the end of the encore.  I also enjoyed that he did a cover of Valerie as well as No Diggity in the encore.

The only real downside to the night was that I was unable to open my water bottle and no one ended up sitting near me that I could ask for help and now I have a bruise on my hand.  And the other was that I think the bars were over serving some of the people in attendance.  As the show ended and I was trying to make my way to the exits, an incredibly drunk dude just barreled right into me causing me to snap and yell “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE F*CKING GOING” that ended up clearing everyone else nearby away from me for the time being (it wasn’t them I was mad at!)  And the irony is the guy’s shirt said “Shut up liver, you’re fine.”  I doubt it.

As I was leaving I saw some lightning and then it started drizzling and the drops got more frequent as I was loading the walker back into the car.  Fortunately I somehow timed it perfectly and got inside the car before the heavier rain came.  And somehow the rain itself timed it perfectly to only show up as the show ended as I think the fact that there was some lightning would have paused the show or caused it to cut early. (And what would we have done without getting to hear Wagon Wheel? Especially after the guy behind me decided to chant it before every song during the main set?)

Tuesday night Lindsey Stirling kicked off her summer tour with Walk Off the Earth at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheatre in Bridgeport, CT.

Walk Off The Earth opened the night at 8pm and did a variety of covers and originals including Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy, Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It, Wheatus’ Teenage Dirtbag, an amazing cover of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and medley that had to have no less than 15 Beatles songs in it, and a medley around a large odd guitar the entire band played with probably like 10 songs mashed in together.  For their last song they did their latest single My Stupid Mouth and were joined by the Luminati Suns – 2 of the band member’s 3 sons that my Mom had told me about because they were on Kelly and Mark (Or was it Ryan then?) and they reminded her of “little Hanson”.

At 9:15 Lindsey took the stage and got a few minutes in before we lost sound to her violin and the dancers all left the stage.  Whatever the problem was seemed to be corrected and they picked back up where they left off, only for it to happen again during the next song.  Lindsey went over to her mic on the side of the stage which also didn’t seem to be on. A decent amount of time went on with no one in the crowd really knowing what was going on, and Lindsey seemed embarrassed but was giving us heart hands and then started doing charades of a sky diver in the middle of the stage.  When sound seemed to come back on, they decided they’d start with The Arena for the next song and Lindsey mentioned they don’t teach you how to deal with that in performance school, probably because there is no performance school.  I read that a fuse was blown or perhaps there were computer issues but I’m really not sure what it was that knocked out the PA twice within a period of 2 songs but fortunately after that point things went on without a hitch so whatever was wrong must have been properly corrected.   Another point within the show Lindsey joked that we had made it through about 8 songs and the PA was fine so she had a good feeling for the rest of the night.  She had caught a cold in Europe and was coughing quite a lot, hopefully she will be ok.

I was front row for this show and while it was nice to be that close, the speakers on the edge of the stage led to me missing out on being able to see some things.  At one point there was a dog on stage, but because of the angle I was at, I could barely see him.  Whenever Lindsey went up the risers in the center of the stage, I could only see the top of her head over the speakers/monitors.  So while front row might be great for some shows, I learned it’s not great for all and I probably would have been able to see more from a few rows back.  Also, everyone sat for the entirety of her show anyway, so I would have been fine if I opted to sit anywhere else, but sometimes that front row ticket is right there and right next to all the high priced VIP and you just have to snag it.

For “The Upside” she was joined by a member of the audience, Offbeat Bryce, for a special performance.  Bryce joined her on stage playing a kazoo for the song after winning a contest. Overall the show was a fun time and I always love seeing Lindsey’s energy and now her acrobatics with the ring being added that she swings from and plays violin from. I was also incredibly impressed that she was able to keep up with all that she does being sick! Definitely very impressive.

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!

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!

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.