Hanson

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.

 

Underneath Experience Nashville

Nashville October 30

We weren’t sure what we were going to get going into this show, and Hanson was coming off a long run at Disney and then a trip up to New York City. They had never played this venue before so we didn’t know the ADA set up either.  Well, it ended up right up front to the left side of the stage and was roped off at an angle so we would actually be able to see the stage and not be blocked by the standing fans. It sounds like anyone behind about 3rd row couldn’t see much at all due to how low the stage was to the ground so it was a bit of a role reversal and of my friend group I was the only one happy with the venue.

Zac came out wearing glasses, which I think were Ray Bans with cameras in them, so who knows what all he ended up recording.   We had a surprise for Taylor’s solo which was a request for 2 bad ass individuals in the building – Lost Without You! (But still no Pink Moon).  During Cecilia we tried to mimic Zac’s hand claps and I think he saw us failing and laughing at ourselves. The pattern (still) makes no sense!

We went to Taylor’s after party for about 45 minutes and then ended up getting some late night Taco Bell.

Nashville October 31

For Halloween we weren’t sure if Hanson would dress up or not, but most of my group did (I went as Hanson’s character on The Masked Singer – a Russian Doll) but I was happy to see that Phantom Planet all came out in Skeleton shirts and gloves!

Honestly this set was exactly the same as most of the rest – NO PINK MOON – no Taylor solo at all or even on the setlist and they seemed to fly through it.  The show was super quick and really nothing of note to mention except that they were late to the stage perhaps in part due to the fire alarms going off.  Security did nothing when the lights started flashing and the music turned off and then the lights stopped flashing.  Maybe this is a common false alarm that happens there? I was surprised they didn’t even have Halloween shirts or attempt a Halloween-y song during the set.

Pre-show we had done VIP with Phantom Planet and Alex mentioned that most of the band and crew as well as himself had some sort of illness going on, but afterwards we decided to try our luck at meeting the band anyway to try and get photos with them in our costumes.  Venue security was absolutely over us and said they would not come out and kept trying to kick us off the property.    We opted to leave and go to Cook Out for some food before they decided to call the police.

Underneath Experience Atlanta

Atlanta October 21

I flew to Atlanta after work and everything went fine until we landed and they said we needed to stay seated for paramedics to arrive. Then they started having us get off because they weren’t there yet. When it was about to be my turn, they said the paramedics had arrived and we needed to sit and wait again. Then they had gotten rid of all the wheelchairs and I had to wait for them to track down new ones. Once that was done, I waited for my friend at baggage claim and then we realized Uber was a liar and the times they quote are way off.

Atlanta October 22

The first show in Atlanta was Zac’s 39th birthday.  We had intended to get there a bit earlier to trade bracelets in the line, but all the uber wait estimates were lies, so we ended up getting there a bit closer to doors than we actually wanted to.  About halfway through the show I found myself zoning out, wondering why I was even there (aside from it being Zac’s birthday)  the cake after Zac’s solo seemed a bit anticlimactic, but considering it came during the show and not at the end it probably was in their best interest NOT to smash it in his face and make a mess of the stage while they were still needing to use it.  Then, Taylor’s solo kind of turned everything around for me. (No, it wasn’t Pink Moon) We were hoping when he sat down at the piano it may be “The Luckiest” which has been on setlists and constantly skipped and my friend had asked him about it in Pittsburgh – but it was not. He ended up saying, “You won’t get this from Taylor very often. The three of us fight all the time. Like a lot. But that doesn’t mean you don’t love each other. Cheers to all the people that drive you crazy that you love. If you get to have anything with anybody for more than 3 decades, it’s worth fighting for, even if you have to fight over it. Cheers to everybody that is putting in the time for the fight” and went in to A Song to Sing.  Isaac joined him for a verse and then Zac, but for whatever reason they stopped singing and the crowd took over and it was like nothing I had heard before. I’m not one to get goosebumps but WOW.  After the show people closer to the front were mentioning that Taylor may have been crying during it. He was pretty sappy, and also informed us that the reason Matthew Sweet was no longer on the tour was that he had had a stroke.  There is a GoFundMe out there to help raise money for his medical and recovery expenses.  After the solo I was re-invigorated, but the rest of the set was more of the same.

While we had tickets to Taylor’s dance party, we opted to not go.  We waited outside a bit to chat with some friends (one of which was also having a birthday!) and ended up calling an uber right around when Taylor took the stage for his DJ set – as they were piping some of the music outside.  Keep in mind if you’re going to a future show – check if there is No Re-entry – it seemed like there were several girls who left and couldn’t get back in. (This is probably due to the fact that they don’t want to reset the security checkpoints) We had also seen this at some previous shows as well.

Atlanta October 23

For the electric show I was a bit worried going in as we had 2nd row balcony instead of my preferred first and the girls in front of us stood for a lot of the acoustic show and we assumed the electric show would lead to even more standing but to my surprise it was way more chill and I had a great view.  Again – nothing really different in the setlist.  Taylor did no solo (still no Pink Moon!) and the setlist didn’t even have a spot for it this time so maybe we freaked him out mentioning Pink Moon / The Luckiest to him.  I have one set of shows left.  Will I hear it?  For the encore, all of Phantom Planet joined Hanson again for Lost Without Each Other and it looked like they were having a lot of fun.

After the show we opted to not wait by the buses as we decided we needed to be up at 5am to get me to the airport in time for my flight.  While waiting in the hotel lobby for our DoorDash to come (another app with time estimates that were mostly lies) Phantom Planet ended up checking in so that was pretty cool.

Underneath Experience Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh October 18

In the morning, I hopped on a train at Penn Station to Harrisburg, PA.  My friend picked me up and we headed to Pittsburgh.  Since we had been driving in day of, we relaxed a bit and got to the venue during John Calvin Abney’s set since all of us had already seen him at an RGB show (and me a couple of nights before).  While the setlist said Isaac’s solo was going to be Hand in Hand, he ended up doing River because Pittsburgh has a lot of rivers.  Zac did Broken Angel and Taylor disappointed me once again by playing Save Me.  Again, it was a very similar setlist to previous shows.  (It may be harder to mix things up as much as they’d like because it’s 2 nights and twice as many songs to remember?)   Zac once again was annoyed with Isaac needing to tune and started to go on about how it would be if drums needed tuning and if he just tightened them before songs.

After the show we went outside to wait for the after party, saw Isaac and Zac get on the bus and waved.  Zac ended up leaving and we weren’t sure what happened to Isaac as we went inside for the party but Taylor has been playing the same DJ set pretty much every show so I am not sure we will end up going to the other 2 that we have tickets for… Once again we left before 1am. (We are OLD Taylor… how do you do it?!)

Pittsburgh October 19

Night 2 was a special one – it was my 300th Hanson show!  On the train on the way to PA I ended up ordering 3 0 0 balloons to hold up during the show.  I ended up deciding to do it during MMMBop because I knew that one was going to for sure end up played.  However, I could have really had my pick as the setlist was still pretty similar.  We DID get an additional Isaac solo where he called a “special guest” – a guy came up from the audience and then Isaac called his girlfriend on stage as well.  I’m sure you can guess what happened next – he proposed and she said yes and Isaac sang For Your Love for them.  I think that is the first time I’ve witnessed an engagement during a show – but there was another one I think before they hit the stage in DE?

During MMMBop I ended up holding up the balloons (with a little help from my friends) and it seemed like it took forever for anyone to notice – but once Taylor did he pointed and gave me a thumbs up and then a salute.  We were pretty excited and then before If Only he actually said to give it up for 300 shows and pointed me out in the balcony and said something about how he didn’t even know if he had been to 300 shows.

After the show we waited by the bus and I was able to get photos with all 3 of them and my balloons. The highlight though was Taylor telling me he uses my site (hansonstage) to see what he’s played before and also just said “wow”.  But still no Pink Moon.  I requested it to Taylor via bracelet, he said they were having some issues putting it together… I’m not hopeful that I’ll end up hearing it.

Underneath Experience New York City

New York October 15

We got into the city the afternoon before the shows and ended up wanting to get Italian and decided to go to Becco, owned by Lidia and Joe Bastianich. The food was absolutely delicious and to our surprise, Lidia herself was there and dining as well! We had hoped to continue the celebrity sightings and were not disappointed as the days went on.

New York October 16

Before the show we ended up going for Italian again, since we weren’t able to get any pasta at Becco. This time we tried Carmine’s and got some pasta and chicken parm.

Then it was time for the acoustic show. For this show I opted to sit in the ADA section once I saw I’d be able to have a pretty decent view of Zac due to the acoustic setup.  Shortly after Hanson’s set started I saw Kate McKinnon make her way up to the balcony and join 3 friends. The venue was a service black hole and somehow the only message that came through was that Liam from One Direction had died. Not sure what to do with myself I ended up just watching Kate enjoying herself.  I had gotten a lot of questions about if she really was a fan or not and based on how many songs she was singing along to, I would say that yes, she is legitimately a fan. Hanson added “Go” to the setlist for her after she had mentioned on the Today show it was her favorite song of theirs.

This was also John Calvin Abney’s first show subbing in for Matthew Sweet who couldn’t continue the tour. He joined the guys on harmonica for Dressed in Brown Eyes. The set was pretty similar to Baltimore – but Zac solo’d Broken Angel and Taylor solo’d… Crazy Beautiful? Which was an odd choice since they’d likely be playing it the next night.

After the show was Taylor’s after party where they left me in ADA all alone and were actually telling my friends they couldn’t stand with me. I’m all for following the rules but… for the after party? We stayed for almost an hour and spotted Natalie Morales. We hit Times Square to see the 11:57-midnight art gallery which was pretty cool! There also seemed to be way more people around late night than on our afternoon pass through.

New York October 17

For the electric show I decided it would probably be best to sit in the seat I had paid extra for. Except no one knew how to work the lift. (Might I add my seat was sold as being “accessible”) one of the staff carried Toaster up the stairs and told me to “sit anywhere” by the time Phantom Planet was over, another staff member told me I needed to be in my assigned seat – which I had asked about when I was told to sit anywhere! I also got asked 4 or 5 times if I wanted to go to ADA. If the platform didn’t completely block my view of Zac when they are in their traditional set up maybe I would have considered it.

Before Penny and Me, Isaac needed to tune, and I think Zac is getting a bit fed up with it so he started singing “The Tuning Song” while Isaac tuned his guitar.  Again the setlist was pretty similar to Baltimore – but for the encore they added a mic to center stage and taped down some lyrics.  I got excited thinking it would be something new, and technically it was, as they had all of Phantom Planet join them for Lost Without Each Other – the lyrics were for Alex.  Also of note, Andrew from Phantom Planet played Zac’s left handed drums even though he is a righty and the bass player that I had seen previously, while at the show, was not playing, they had Sam who played bass on Underneath performing with them.

After the show we waited outside for a bit, saw Zac leave and get on the bus, then we believe attempt to open the bus window, which led a guy near us to immediately put his phone up by the window and the window then closed.  We left before anyone else had come out.  Then I had a strange encounter with a man in a red Elmo skin jacket who came up to me with his arms out and then started blowing a whistle.  Only in New York…

Oh! I almost forgot, I had another celebrity sighting – Mark Hudson!  AND STILL NO PINK MOON.

Underneath Experience Baltimore

Baltimore October 11

The Baltimore Underneath Experience show was a bit similar to Minneapolis, but they decided to add in Madeline and A Minute Without You.  Isaac and Zac’s solos were different – Isaac did River with his Only Wanna Be With You cover and Zac did the members only song Good Days.  Taylor didn’t end up having a solo – they did an acapella rendition of Change in my Life which was an unrehearsed audience request instead.  Taylor was late to the show and missed the Meet and Greet because his bus had a flat tire.  He seemed to be a bit off – tripping over things on the stage, flubbing lyrics more often than usual – he must not have had enough time to get his head in the game so to speak.  I’m glad at least that the songs were in addition to and not removed, but they wouldn’t have been my first choice to put back into the set.  I was bummed that they still didn’t bring Matthew Sweet out for Underneath – Taylor had said in MN that they likely would – but now Matthew has unfortunately had to cancel his remaining dates on the tour due to illness.

Baltimore October 12 

Night 2 was an interesting one for sure.  We last minute ended up bringing a friend of a friend to what we found out was her 2nd Hanson show (she had gone before in ’98) so we spent a lot of the car ride filling her in on things.  4 songs into Hanson’s set and a bunch of people were pointing to something in the crowd.  Taylor noticed and stopped and asked what was going on, called for security and they jumped over the barricade to help a girl that had passed out get out of the crowd.  Zac was teasing that it was Taylor’s voice that made her fall over. (I don’t think he knows how to handle stuff like that and instead chooses to crack jokes)   Compared to MN we lost “World Goes Around” and got “Waiting for This” instead – total downgrade. They took out the weird acoustic bit of Never Let Go and I Will Come To You – but instead Taylor solo’ed Never Let Go and then they did an acoustic version of Weird.  (So would that still make it the weird acoustic bit? I guess so) Before that started, there was more commotion in the crowd and it seemed like someone may have vomited as the girls around the hole that had formed in the crowd were shouting something about needing something cleaned up.  Later I found out that someone had a nose bleed and it was a lot of blood on the floor.  I can’t recall seeing a show stopped due to 1 crowd emergency, let alone 2. (And this was my 296th Hanson show!)  They also pulled “World’s On Fire” from the set and we ended up with a Get the Girl Back / If Only / Fired Up / In The City / Lost Without Each Other last handful of songs – I guess they thought Baltimore wanted a festival setlist inspired work out?  This setlist also ended up being longer than MN but I’d prefer quality over quantity. AND STILL NO PINK MOON.

 

Hanson Underneath:Experience Tour – Minneapolis

Thursday and Friday I was in Minneapolis, MN to see Hanson kick off their Underneath:Experience tour.  For this tour every city gets 2 shows – with night one being acoustic and night two being electric.  Opening for the tour on acoustic night is Matthew Sweet, who co-wrote Underneath with Hanson and opening on electric night is Phantom Planet – their bass player Sam played bass on Underneath.

After a whirlwind trip to PA for the P!nk show, I headed up to the airport and was absolutely ready to nap on the plane.  This plane had a closet on board for mobility devices, so my walker (toaster) got to ride on the plane with me for the first time! Plane napping didn’t go so well as I had a too tall guy in the seat next to me and couldn’t really get comfortable with us battling for space.

I arrived at the hotel, got dinner and was ready to fall asleep. I started to watch The Masked Singer episode but fell asleep about halfway through.

Thursday morning I had a lazy day until I decided to get in line for the show.  Please note that the rest of this review is going to have show and setlist spoilers so if you’re looking to not know what is happening this tour, you probably should X out and come back later.

For the Thursday show I was triple booked – I “had” to watch the Savannah Bananas draft to see what cities they’d be going to in 2025 and then I “had” to keep an eye on the Mets game as it was a do or die game for the wild card.  The bananas stream went into Matthew Sweet’s set, but it was so mellow I was glad to have a bit of a distraction.  When I was looking at the Mets score, it was 0-0 for a long time, and then I saw the Brewers go up 2-0 and I figured it was over (even though it was the 7th) but then my app just kept showing the Mets scoring runs in the 9th and they ended up winning.  (Seriously if you don’t want show spoilers – leave!)

After Hanson’s Church show over the weekend, I figured that about half of that set would make its way into the acoustic set – and it did.  I absolutely love the slowed down acoustic Runaway Run so I am very glad that it made the setlist.  They also brought back solos – Isaac did Hand in Hand, Zac did The Walk (which is one of my favorites but also timed itself poorly with the baseball game so I was distracted) and Taylor did Every Word I Say which a couple of my friends had asked him to play.  I on the other hand asked him to NOT play a song – and am happy to report he did not.  Will it stick for the rest of my shows? We’ll see.  Highlights included Teach Your Children with the 3 of them with Isaac on guitar around the center mic, Cory Wong joining them for Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’ and I Was Born being acoustic.

Once the show was over it was time for DJ Taylor and the after party.  Doors were supposed to be at 10:30 and it would start at 11, but due to technical difficulties it didn’t start until closer to 11:30.  I didn’t last very long – the room seemed crammed and after a few songs I made my way to chat with some people in the back and then headed outside as my friends said they were going to grab some pizza.  I could hear all the songs from outside and couldn’t see Taylor even when I was inside so pretty much the same experience, but with friends!

I had found out that Hanson was going to be on the radio at 8:30am Friday morning.  I set my alarm, it went off, and next thing I knew it was 9am and I had missed it.  I guess I was tired?

I got in line for the show early-ish and was very much so looking forward to Phantom Planet’s set.  I recognized more songs than I thought I would (ie more than just ‘California’) and they were a lot of fun and seemed really impressed with the crowd interaction and the singing that they had us do.

Then it was time for the electric set! I had a new spot for this show, so the setlist was not below me.  I was glad that I didn’t see anything ahead of time because the setlist was full of surprises and when I am 🫨 multiple times during a setlist you KNOW it’s good.  They opened with Optimistic, which I expected based on the church show.  Minus points for Taylor being on the acoustic guitar during Dancing in the Wind and not electric to throw it back to 2004.  There also seemed to be a bit of a “World” theme going on with the show – Where’s the Love – it makes the world go round and round – World Goes Around… later in the set we were treated to a cover of Everybody Wants to Rule the World (sort of a medley/mashup with Crazy Beautiful – which Isaac later told us was somewhat inspired by the Tears for Fears song) and World’s on Fire.  I also liked how they did the “old” penny and me – sort of tweaked it with the emphasis on the “Singing along to Feelin’ Alright” like they do in the new version – and then went into a cover of Feelin’ Alright so we really WERE singing along.

The only part I would have maaybbbe changed was the “acoustic” set within the electric set – Never Let Go and I Will Come To You.  We’ll see how they switch things around.  Overall throughout the 2 nights they did all of the main songs from Underneath with the exception of Misery and Lullabelle.  I would not be surprised to see Lullabelle pop up as a Zac solo when he starts doing them again (he skipped them in Chicago in Detroit).  Of the bonus tracks, there’s still 3 more that need to find their way into the sets and I’m hoping they will at my future shows.

We once again did not get Pink Moon – Zac said Taylor wasn’t really liking how it was going but it WOULD be coming during the tour. I told him I’d be going to half of the shows and he promised I would hear it.  He did end up doing in Chicago, so I am optimistic. (no pun intended)

After the show we waited by the bus for what seemed like forever (it didn’t help that I was in shorts and the temperature dropped a LOT from when we went into the show until we got out) but Zac and Isaac came out and we were able to get photos with them and chat for a bit.  Taylor had left earlier in an uber with one of his daughters and just waved to everyone.

I am a lot more excited about this tour now than I was – I said I would only allow duplicates of Penny and Me (Moonlight one night, OG the other) and MMMBop and that was the only duplicates they were.  A lot of covers, even though most were throw backs and a good mix of songs in the setlist. It’ll be fun to see how the setlist evolves (or not) over the course of the month at the rest of my shows.  (I have not yet decided if I’ll be doing separate reviews or putting them all into one catch all at the end… we’ll see how I’m feeling and if I have a lot more to say or not!)

Hanson at the Church Studio

Friday I made another trek to Tulsa, this time for a special, limited, members only event. They were returning to the historic church studio where they recorded underneath acoustic 20 years ago.

Hurricane Helene was disrupting a lot of travel plans (and ended up doing a lot of destruction and my heart goes out to all of those who have been affected, the footage from it is just unbelievable) but fortunately with a layover in Chicago on the way in, I made it with no issues. While I still made it with barely any time before boarding the 2nd flight it was a lot less close than it was last month. Still, not sure I’ll do a layover that short again.
Upon my arrival we had dinner at the Tavern and hit up Antoinette’s for pie night. After our silly and delirious hit us early, we figured it was best to get to sleep early.
Saturday we were in the first session of the shows and it was weird to be up and getting ready for a 1pm show.  The staff at the church studio & museum were so wonderful.  When they saw I had my walker (toaster) and knew there was equipment on the path from the elevator to the room the show was in, they measured toaster and then the hallway to make sure id have space and not have to formulate a plan b.
We ended up 2nd row by Zac (ear plugs IN even it was supposed to be mostly acoustic). They did a mix of songs from Underneath and not, some throwback covers and despite what Isaac may have said – no songs they hadn’t played before.
The 2nd half of the show, after annoying us all with with you in your dreams, was more electric with Zac “promising” to play the drums lightly (is there really any such thing?)
After the show we went across the street for some BBQ and we may just have to add that to our regular rotation as it was delicious!
We then wandered the neighborhood a bit – there was a quirky crafty shop and a record store. A woman had come by and asked us to visit her hippy boho shop which I was ready to do – until we saw it was closed.
By the time we finished that the 2nd show was getting out so I was able to find out if both sets were the same (they were). Taylor came out and was taking photos so I asked him “still no pink moon?” And he said there was some curve balls that morning and they’ll do it on tour. I also asked if he could please cut with you in your dreams from the set and just replace it with pink moon. He seemed surprised to hear me say that and I’m not sure my opinion holds any weight, but you never know.
We went back to Antoinette’s to see if they had funnel cake (they did not) and instead got some snacks (I got a brownie) before heading back to the room.
Sunday we had a lazy morning as we all had booked later flights. When we arrived at the airport, Taylor came in shortly after and told us safe travels home – to which we said… and same to you.. but not home? To New York? And he said yes to New York.
Well, turns out to New York was through Washington DC and they all 3 were on the same flight as me and then were at the gate next to mine back home once we landed there.  Here’s hoping their ride was a bit less bumpy than mine was!

Hanson at TN Valley Fair

One day I had decided I was going to really focus and get all of my work done early. And then I realized that a new Hanson show was announced at the TN Valley Fair in Knoxville, TN and then I realized that I had just spent $700+ on 6 front row seats before asking any of my friends if they were even interested. Turns out most of them were in, and plans commenced.

I flew in to Nashville Thursday afternoon, which when I got to the airport it had no gate listed, but eventually some staff members came and realized the mistake and the screens were corrected and the flight was otherwise uneventful. My friend picked me up at the airport, we got lunch and then went back to her place to decide what to do in the evening and opted to check out a nearby resort and ended up seeing a Halloween light show, having dinner and riding a boat ride that doubled as a silent disco. It was my first time doing a silent disco and it was a lot of fun and definitely something I’d consider doing again. Later in the evening the rest of our crew arrived, we made a rough plan for the next day and went to bed.

Friday we headed from Nashville to Knoxville with a stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch and of course Buc-ees to load up on snacks. We then made our way to the fairgrounds, which apparently was built on nothing but hills and they had no accessible parking spots anyway. When we kept asking, every lot near where we wanted to be was for vendors. Finally we found a lot that said the giant concrete hill was “accessible” because it was concrete and not grass.  I think they missed the part of ADA where the parking spots are supposed to be flat? We slowly made our way to the stage, finally finding a first aid golf cart that was willing to give me a ride the last bit of the way there.  We ended up bumping into Taylor and chatting for a bit and getting a photo and then headed inside to our seats.  Apparently none of the ushers/security there knew how to count… but after some drama turns out, we were right and knew better than they did what seats were sold.

Before the show we had made a mock setlist and we were pretty close, but they did end up throwing in a few surprises – Look at You, Can’t Stop and Hey that we weren’t expecting.  The show was a lot of fun, the crowd had a ton of energy and all the ridiculousness we had to go through to get there was forgotten.  After the show we waited over by the van, but it was straight up teeniebopper land with people screaming for ‘Zachary’ – when he came over he quickly did some photos and I was able to snag him for one – but he didn’t stick around for very long.  I’m not sure if anyone else came out as they were closing the building we needed to exit through so we got told to leave – but we did manage to get someone to track down the first aid golf cart again and get us back to the car.  I wanted to take a picture of how ridiculous the “accessible” parking was, but I had forgotten.

Sunday night I ended up returning the rental car, “stealing” a car with a staff member, getting dropped off at the terminal, grabbing a wheelchair and heading to the gate. But not before my Buc-ees snacks needed an extra inspection… Upon arrival at the gate I was told that the plane held 175 people but would only have 23 on board and that we’d all get our own row (and then some) and we had to make sure to spread out for weight and balances.

Hanson at The Big Dam Party

 

When I was doing some Hanson concert math, I realized that if I added in this one off show in Tulsa, my 300th show would be Zac’s birthday on tour, provided they didn’t add any other shows in between.  Then they did end up adding a show in between and well, at that point I had already booked this trip and while I could have backed out – once you’ve given yourself a Hanson concert, can you really take it away from yourself?

I had hoped to fly Southwest both ways, but they didn’t have any flights to get me home so I did a Southwest/American split.  I took an afternoon flight to Chicago, which had an hour and 20 minutes for a layover.  Except no wheelchairs came and by the time they did show up, I had 30 minutes to get to the other gate and then I was left up at the top of the jet bridge and by the time a pusher actually came, she said ‘oh girl, you don’t have much time’, I mean… I know but is there anything I can do about it when I’m at the mercy of other people and there’s no one nearby to even flag down to call someone to help me? We got to the gate for the connecting flight to Tulsa with *9* minutes to spare and no chance to stop for food or the bathroom.  For the most part, the flight was otherwise uneventful but we did have to wait for lightning to pass once we landed because the ground crew had taken cover.  Uber wanted $50 to get me to the hotel and Lyft wanted only $20, so for the weekend my allegiance was with Lyft. I also ordered door dash to show up shortly after I thought I’d be checked in and settled and they didn’t bring half of my order so that was fun. (We have the worst luck with DoorDash/UberEats in Tulsa!)

Saturday morning I was pretty lazy, but ended up heading outside to hit up Ida Red for some Hanson merch and Antoinette’s for some snacks and to also see just how hot it was and how long I’d want to sit in it at the park before the show. I also ordered some lunch and timed it out perfectly to do it all in one trip.  I ended up deciding to try and get to The Gathering Place around 4.  I was hoping I could convince my Lyft driver to break the rules and drop me off in a closer parking lot than the designated drop off, and he agreed!  As soon as we spotted the largest rubber duck he went into the lot and I told them I was just hopping out and no one had a problem with that.  I found the stage and realized it was down a giant hill so I parked myself at the top because I wasn’t sure I could make it down on my own, and once I found out it might start raining I didn’t want to end up stuck down there if I had to run for cover.

At 5, Joleen Brown took the stage.  She had won The Big Show Off that happened earlier this year and Zac Hanson was a judge. She did a 30 minute set and I think the weather was really messing with her – the sun was bright and shining right at the stage, but she powered through!

It then started drizzling and I debated if I should go find a tent or stay where I was, and once I committed to the poncho it started coming down a lot harder and I was mildly regretting my decisions but had to stick it out at that point.  I also somehow didn’t put the poncho on right and my left leg was getting soaked but my right was fine?  I think it was because I tried to hide my arms inside as well.  Fortunately my new shorts that I was hoping would dry quickly, did.  At 7 when it was still raining (and some thunder and lightning too) we were told that the show was going to still happen but would be delayed.  The rain seemed to let up a little bit after 8 and the stage started to get set up for Hanson.  I took my poncho off, but it ended up starting to rain again and the radar was showing until 11 so I kept it on – but was hoping I’d have enough breaks in the weather to get some photos! (Which I did, but haven’t gotten them off the camera yet)  I also found out that having a cosmic brownie in the middle of a Hanson concert takes it to a whole other level, thanks to my friend Keena and her daughters who decided to share a snack with me.

The setlist was a bit of what I was expecting for a festival show with a couple of hometown covers thrown in – Livin’ on Tulsa Time and Never Been to Spain.  I do think some of the set got cut short due to the delay, but I unfortunately haven’t seen a setlist from the stage to know what was missing.  I thought that they might have finished with If Only – and was a bit surprised it was Get the Girl Back (unless it was a last minute change due to a wet stage?)

After the show I met up with my friends Jon and Adam, got to see the giant duck from the front and they walked me to the parking lot which was FOREVER away, so I am glad that I got my Lyft driver to break the rules! Jon ended up driving me back to the hotel because the spot to wait for ride share was very dark!

Sunday I woke up, ate the rest of my snacks, packed, and then grabbed a Lyft to the airport.  As soon as I entered the airport, I got an alert that my flight was delayed by about 15 minutes. I had a decent layover in Charlotte, so I figured if it stayed that way, I should be fine.  At the gate they told us it was a small plane and all roller bags would need to be tagged and if you had less than 30 minutes of a layover, they would check it to your final destination as waiting for the bags would hold them up and the bags would move to the plane much faster than the passengers would.  The gate agent also thought we’d be able to make the 10 minutes the flight was late up in the air.

I was optimistic until we were getting ready to land and were told that Charlotte airport had instituted a ground stop and we were unable to land there and they wanted us to circle until 6:45pm.  The captain said we didn’t have enough fuel to do that so we were going to circle for 10 minutes and see if we could land then or we would have to divert to Columbia, SC.  After the 10 minutes we were told the ground stop was until 7:30pm and we’d need to divert to refuel.  They had us stay on the plane for a bit, and told anyone if they got off they were terminating their trip and would have to find their own way back. A few people opted to try and get rental cars to get back to Charlotte.  My 8pm flight to Hartford got pushed to 9:30 so I figured I’d still be ok and would wait it out.  They then told us the ground stop was extended to 8:30pm and let us get off the plane. Of course my walker was nowhere to be found so they got me a wheelchair to get inside.  I was able to see some fireworks while we waited.  There were several other diverted planes, one of which got canceled until the next morning, but eventually we were told we would be boarding again.  Of course, there was no one around to push the wheelchair so I had to steady myself with my suitcase and slowly make my way back out to the plane.  It took a bit for us to finally take off, but in that time my flight got pushed to 10pm and then 11pm.  I got to Charlotte around 10pm and by then, my flight was going to take off at midnight and get me back to CT at 2am.  Most of the food places were starting to close, but my wheelchair pusher told me what ones were open 24 hours so I could get some dinner. (or lunch? I don’t even know)

The gate agent ended up giving me an upgrade to the extra leg room seats and I ended up having the row all to myself.  The captain thought we’d land earlier than 2am and make up some time in the air, but even though he did get us on the ground at about 1:45am, the grounds crew was not ready for us so we had to wait.  I got the valet shuttle to my car and got home around 3am – with a stop for McDonalds… for… dinner?

Fortunately I had Monday off due to the Labor Day holiday and was able to sleep in (I don’t think I actually fell asleep until around 5am) and not have to worry about doing much of anything.  It’s always an adventure… and now I am trying to wrap this up and get it posted before I head out for my next trip…

 

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