Concert

Underneath Experience Nashville

Katie November 10, 2024 No Comments

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

Katie November 10, 2024 No Comments

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

Katie November 10, 2024 No Comments

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

Katie November 10, 2024 No Comments

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

Katie November 10, 2024 No Comments

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

Katie October 9, 2024 No Comments

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!)