BTTI 16: Hanson Show #3

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Then it was time for the final night and final show 🙁 Again we weren’t sure what to expect but ended up getting another mix of rarer tracks and fan club songs with a few singles thrown in for good measure. Although none of the full band songs got me anything that I hadn’t heard live before I did think that they were some pretty solid setlists.  I think that this was the best year yet, but I can’t exactly tell you why.  Maybe just the overall feeling, the new resort, etc.  And you can’t accuse me of saying that every year because last year I came home not sure if I ever wanted to go again.  This year I am all ready to book whenever it is announced! (Not that there ever was a doubt I’d have ended up there this year…)

Tragic Symphony
Thinking Bout Somethin
And I Waited
Man From Milwaukee
Runaway Run
Already Home
Watch Over Me
Call Out My Name (acoustic)
Never Let Go (acoustic)
A Song To Sing (acoustic)
Yearbook
Musical Ride
Great Divide
Minute Without You
Scream And Be Free
Cut Right Through Me
Penny and Me
Get The Girl Back
MMMBop
Fired Up / In The City
Roller Coaster Love / Whole Lotta Love

Encore:
Back To The Island
Happy Birthday Andrew

BTTI 16: Hanson Solo Sets

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One of the exclusive events at Back to the Island is that each band member does a solo show performance.  Isaac has had the best set (in my opinion) the last 2 years running so I was interested to see if he would win again this year.  At first, I thought he did, but now that I have had some time to sit back and take it all in, I am giving the title to Zac this year.

Zac was up first and seemed to have grown a lot over the past few years with his solo sets. The first year was a bit awkward but he seems to be able to hold it on his own now.  He did need to google some lyrics – which made everyone laugh because he was on Isaac’s case so much last year about messing up!  He also came on stage with his hair down but half way through his set decided it was too humid and he had to pull it back.  I was impressed he lasted even a few songs, I wouldn’t have!   A highlight was Zac playing Lucy – something he had never played before. He has sung it, but never actually *played* it.

Give Me Your Best Shot
Juliet
I Am
Broken Angel
Lucy
Bittersweet
On and On
No Sleep For Banditos
Get So Low
Up All Night

Taylor had the 2nd solo set and was probably my 2nd favorite. (Maybe even close to a tie with Zac?) While his set was not funny, or goofy or full of mess ups, he had a solid setlist. I liked that he played Take Our Chances – a song he said was 10 years old but still relevant.  Having him do Look At You solo was really fun to hear as well. And Weird is one of my favorites so I loved that he included that in his set as well!  He did start Voice In  The Chorus and then decided to not play it and the setlist also had One More on the list and he opted to not play that either.

Every Word I Say
Kiss Me When You Come Home
Crazy Beautiful
Take Our Chances
Look At You
Dying To Be Alive
Weird
Ive Been Down
Sunny Day

Isaac was the last of the solo shows and he came with no setlist and was instead taking requests from the audience. I loved this approach, even though he did not play what I had yelled out. Maybe next year?  Some say that this made him come off as unrehearsed – but I am not sure how he could have rehearsed every song, ever and still took requests so he would come off as polished.  He also decided to play a song that he wrote when he was 14 that had never been recorded or played live before. (That was my ONE for the week!) I am pretty sure this is the song that the instrumental is played during TTMON. It was called “A Life Without You” and he said he wrote it about 2 weeks after More Than Anything for the same girl.  Another highlight of his set was playing Smile and Sometimes again – since that was the mess up from the year before.  He explained that we say one song and his brain thinks we said another and that it happened again when someone requested a song (Lonely Again) and his brain decided we wanted Leave the Light On.   The worst part about Isaac’s set was that he was very, very late to start (I think by an hour) I thought this may have been due to the photos running over – but I hear they were done by 4pm and his set wasn’t scheduled to start until 5:30pm.  Guess we can blame Ike for Hanson time.

Best of Times
Two Tears
A Life Without You
So Lovely
Leave the Light On
Next Train
Being Me
Grace Unknown
More Than Anything
Smile
Sometimes
River

BTTI 16: Hanson Show #2

 

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Hanson Show #2  was originally billed as an acoustic show but rumors started swirling it would instead be a covers show.  I had figured that some of the covers from the Roots & Rock N Roll Tour would make their way into the sets but didn’t realize it would be an entire set.  I was worried that 2 of the 3 shows would turn into a Roots & Rock N Roll Tour – Jamaica – so I thought this was a happy medium so those of us that did go to the tour didn’t feel like it was the same thing over again, but those that missed the tour still got a taste of it.  They did throw in a couple songs they didn’t do on the tour – like starting the set with Gimme Some Lovin which was awesome.

During I Believe In A Thing Called Love, Zac climbed up the stage rafters right over the handicapped section which was awesome! Of course, it happened so fast and unexpected that I didn’t manage to get any photos of it. (And I had started recording video and then  stopped, which I am of course now kicking myself over!)

(This set also got bumped a day because there was a pretty bad rain / thunderstorm going on.  At first we thought we’d just enjoy the show in our bathing suits, but once I saw lightning I had a feeling that was going to put a stop to things.  Zac ended up coming to the stage to talk to those of us who were already waiting and let us know that it was canceled and they were working on a schedule for the next day.)

Gimme Some Lovin
Twist and Shout / Shake a Tail Feather
I Want To Take You Higher
Hold On Im Coming
You May Be Right
Movin Out
Remember the Time
I Want You Back
Oh Darling
Teach Your Children (acapella)
Change In My Life (acapella)
In A Little While (acoustic)
Thinking Out Loud
God Only Knows
Stand By Me
Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard
Cecelia
Chain of Fools
Signed Sealed Delivered Im Yours
Dancing In The Streets
Desire
I Believe In A Thing Called Love

Encore:
Kate
Its a Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock N Roll)

BTTI 16: Special Guests

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This year the special guests were Paul McDonald and Parachute.  I was very excited for Paul to be a guest again and while I hadn’t seen Parachute live before I had heard great things so I was looking forward to their performance as well!

Due to the thunderstorm the night before, Paul’s set got bumped to 8pm instead of 10pm.  He did most of the tracks off his new EP, Slow Rising as well as a couple of newer tracks.  One of the new ones, Something I Don’t Already Know, had me near tears… he got so into it as well… and to top it off, someone in the crowd yelled “FUCK THAT BITCH” perfectly timed as the song ended. I hope that ends up on YouTube and I think Paul does too…

For his last song he did some Bob Marley Three Little Birds with some MMMBop mixed in for good measure.

Paul’s set had me so emotional, I don’t really remember much of Parachute’s set.  The lead singer, Will, is a Hanson Fan Boy and was talking about how much he loved Lost Without Each Other and hoped they would play it.  When he was informed that they did it last night, he was bummed that they did and there would be no repeats – but happy for us that there would be no repeats.  I think he may have also flown in only for their set because we didn’t see him around before or after (and so he missed out singing on stage with Hanson the last night!)   They did a cover of Jason DeRulo’s Want To Want Me and also did Forever & Always which he said he wrote while they were on tour with Kelly Clarkson and he sent the song to his sister and she got mad because it made her cry. They also did Ghost. And maybe eventually I will come across the set from someone else 😉

New Lovers
Slow Rising
Never Get Over You
Once You Were Mine
Over & Over
Something I Don’t Already Know
Modern Hearts
Come On
Bright Lights
Renegades
Three Little Birds / MMMBop

BTTI 16: Hanson Show #1

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The first night of the event was the Welcome show.  I managed to get front row for this show and had no idea what to expect.  In the past we had been given themes for the shows or we were asked to vote on songs we would like to hear, but this year we didn’t have any of that so it would be a surprise.  The set was a mix of Members Only songs and some of the lesser played Hanson songs as well.  The set had almost no covers which was a bit of a surprise – but the reasoning behind that became obvious a couple days later 😉

The guys are a lot more loose during these events that are for Hanson.net Members, they goof off and make up silly songs and this show was no exception. Hand In Hand went from “I’m not going to sit around just waiting for you to get over this all” to “I’m not going to sit around just waiting for you to see star wars” and Isaac may have mentioned a few spoilers before they sang it. I haven’t seen it yet but I probably won’t realize what he spoiled until I do get around to seeing it.

Since last year we had “Sand In My Crevice” this year they mentioned it was nice to not have that problem but somehow I think the made up song turned into something about Zac’s butt crack? I’m not really sure. It was hard to hear some of the vocals due to where I was sitting at times.

Overall I thought that this show was a nice mix, a little bummed it had nothing I had never heard in it, but thought it was a great welcome to the island show.
Back To The Island
Dance Like You Don’t Care
Waiting For This
Heartbreaker
I’ve Got Soul
Been There Before
Underneath (acoustic)
Love Song (acoustic)
Go (acoustic)
Strong Enough To Break (acoustic)
Tonight
Juliet
Got a Hold On Me
Hand in Hand
You Never Know
You Cant Stop Us
Tearing It Down
If Only
Lost Without Each Other
Sound of Light

Encore:
White Collar Crime

Throwback Thursday: Matt Wertz 4/6/07

Headliner: Matt Wertz
Opener(s): N/A
Venue: Borders Books Boston MA
Cost: $0

Setlist:
Marianne
Carolina
The Way I Feel
Red Meets Blue
Like the Last Time

Recap:

Matt Wertz was going to be opening up for SK6ers that evening, but was doing an instore performance at Borders Books in Boston so we headed to the city early to check it out.  I had heard a bit of Matt in Jen’s car because she had been playing him since she found out that he’d be opening.  I bought his CD and got a photo with him and have now seen him a handful more times since!

Throwback Thursday: Hanson 3/2/07

Headliner: Hanson
Opener(s): The Cringe
Venue: Toad’s Place
Cost: $28

Setlist:

Great Divide
Been There Before
Lost Without Each Other
This Time Around
You Never Know
Georgia
Go
Dying To Be Alive
Ive Been Down
The Walk
Blue Sky
Wheres The Love
Running Man
MMMBop
Penny and Me
Feeling Alright
Your Illusion
Tearing It Down
Something Going Round
Watch Over Me
Rock N Roll Razorblade

Recap:

This show was part of a small preview tour promoting their album “The Walk” before it was released. This was also one of the few shows they had performed “Tearing It Down” at live, that is until it was brought out of the vault on the Roots and Rock N Roll tour this past fall. These are probably some of the most The Walk heavy setlists they have ever done, since as of late they do very few songs from this album live.  I remember being very excited that they did Feeling Alright during this show.

And it must be noted that the opener wins for worst Hanson opener – EVER.  The Cringe lived up to their name.  This is also Rachael Ray’s husband’s band.  I think they were originally supposed to be playing in a smaller room at the venue but for whatever reason ended up getting added as Hanson’s opener instead.

2015 Year in Review

Most expensive show:
As it has been for the past 3 years – Hanson Back to the Island event.  Not including BTTI, NKOTB was $124.

Least (not free) expensive show:
Jon McLaughlin was $33 and the least expensive ticket of the year

Free shows:
80s Extravaganza, Hanson (x2), Counting Crows, Tony Lucca, All 4 One, Sugar Ray

# artists seen: 86
# unique artists seen: 42
# shows seen in CT:   19
# of shows out of state: 27

Show farthest away: Hanson in Morrison, CO
Closest show:   Lee DeWyze, Stephen Kellogg or Jon McLaughlin in Fairfield
$$ spent on tickets:   $2,923.48
Miles traveled: 8,603.10

Top 6 shows of the year?
Zacs Birthday show in New Orleans
Hanson/Blues Traveler at Red Rocks
Hanson’s BTTI Christmas set
Isaac’s solo set at BTTI
David Cook Infinity Hall
Nick Jonas at Mohegan

Total number of shows in 2015? 46

First show of the year?
Hanson in Cancun

First show with actual tickets:
80s Extravaganza

Last show of the year?
TIC Christmas Show

Most surprising show?
Hanson at Red Rocks – JC CHASEZ!

Most disappointing?
Pentatonix at Oakdale or KTUphoria

Farthest traveled?
1,984 miles to Colorado

States attended shows in?
Mexico, CT, OK, NY, CO, LA, TX

Venue most visited?
Mohegan Sun Arena – 8 shows

Band seen the most?
Hanson – 12 times

Best new discovery?
Culture Club – even though they’re not quite “new” ha

Bands seen this year that also broke up this year?
I think for once I have no answer to this!

Friends made at shows?
Made a bunch of friends at the Hanson shows this year!

Band members met?
Hanson x2, David Cook x2, Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Jason DeRulo, Tony Lucca, Paul McDonald, Andrew Ripp, Zac Hanson, Isaac Hanson, Jon McLaughlin

Best souvenir from a show?
I got a pick at the Red Rocks show

Longest time in line?
I really didn’t spend too much time in line for any show. Probably Hanson in New Orleans the 2nd night?

Shows seen from the barricade [front row]–
Hanson in Cancun, NKOTB (kind of), Tony Lucca

Most shows in one month?
January – 5
February – 2
March – 1
April – 1
May – 4
June – 1
July – 4
August – 2
September – 4 (and all at Mohegan Sun!)
October – 6
November – 3
December  –  1

October wins!

Most shows in one week?
Back To The Island was 5.  I also did 4 Hanson shows back-to-back-to-back-to-back

Biggest crowd?
I think Jones Beach was probably the most – KTUphoria

Any drunk encounters?
None that stick out… was a funny drunk guy in front of me for part of the TIC Christmas show… dancing with his pretzel… lol

 

December 12 – TIC All Star Christmas

Saturday night was TIC’s Annual All Star Christmas.  It was a nice change from the past 2 years – 2 years ago I almost missed the show due to a crazy snow storm and last year there were flurries.  This year my car told me it was the mid-60s as I was driving to the show!

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Opening the show was CT’s own American Idol Winner Nick Fradiani! He did several songs that should be on his new album and even had his Dad in his band with him!

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Next up was Charlie Puth. He seems to be blowing up lately. He mentioned he was 24 and then went on to say that one of his songs he was not going to say who it was about and that he was “pulling a Carly Simon” and that the parents in the audience would get what he meant. I’m not a parent and totally knew what he meant… His songs seem to have and older throwback feel to them which I liked… but I’m not sure I like Charlie himself.

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One of the guys from the Bachelorette was on hand to help TIC’s Gina J introduce Nate Ruess to the stage. I didn’t realize how many of his songs I was familiar with.  He had a lot of energy but I just can’t get into his voice.  He also did Rocket Man which he said was as close to a Christmas song as he had but I’m not sure how he made that connection?

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After Nate was Rachel Platten. I had never seen her before so I was surprised to see she was a Mandy Moore type with her belly button showing. I also never would have guessed that she was older than me. She came off a bit young on stage – getting so excited during one of her songs tha the phones lit up looked so pretty like a Christmas tree! I do like her 2 singles though, Fight Song and Stand By You.  She mentioned she’d be coming to CT on her tour in the spring but I am not seeing a CT date. I’d probably check her out again if she did come through.

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The Band Perry was up next.  For some reason their set up was all done squished to the other side of the stage. This was also when the row in front of me decided to show up and dance around all drunk and block most of my view. I enjoyed their set. They did a few new songs – Live Forever – after If I Die Young which was pretty funny. And one that they said they had never done live before at all so we were their guinea pigs.

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I planned on leaving mid-way through Rob Thomas’ set because I didn’t think I’d like him and wanted to not get stuck in the parking lot for 30-45 minutes after the show (what can I say, I’m getting old and wanted to get to sleep at a decent hour)  But a quick check of TIC’s twitter feed implied that Nick might be coming out to sing with Rob, so instead I figured I’d better stick around at least to see that.  I have to say though that I was very impressed with Rob. He has amazing stage presence and I really enjoyed his set.  He did have Nick come out to sing “Bright Lights” with him – although for most of it Rob just kind of sat back and let Nick have the stage which was really cool.  You could tell how excited Nick was to be sharing the stage with him and once it was done Nick said “BUCKET LIST!” and made a check mark.  I think Rob still had a couple more songs to go, but I snuck out after that – and I was not the only one.

Overall TIC put together another great line up for this show and I think it is the first time there had not been an an artist I’ve seen before in the line up!

I didn’t keep track of setlists but did try to piece them together later – so if you were there and know that I got it horribly wrong – please let me know!

Nick Fradiani Setlist
(some new songs)
Beautiful Life

Charlie Puth Setlist
Some Type of Love
One Call Away
I Won’t Tell A Soul
Marvin Gaye
See You Again

Nate Ruess Setlist
Nothing Without Love
Carry On
Great Big Storm
Just Give Me A Reason
Rocket Man
We Are Young
Harsh Lights
Some Nights

The Band Perry Setlist
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
If I Die Young
Live Forever
?New Song
Done
(Might be missing a song)

Rachel Platten Setlist
Beating Me Up
Lone Ranger
Better Place
You Don’t Know My Heart
Stand By You
Fight Song

Rob Thomas Setlist 
Give Me the Meltdown
Lonely No More
Her Diamonds
Let’s Dance
3 A.M.
Hold on Forever
Someday
Streetcorner Symphony
A New York Christmas
Bright Lights w/ Nick Fradiani
Smooth
(I left before his set was over so there may have been another song or two)

 

My #RnRTour Stats

I had promised to post some more of a breakdown of my stats from the shows I went to on this fall’s Hanson tour – and here it is! All stats are courtesy of the database at hansonstage.com, which also happens to be my website 🙂

I learned over this tour that their definition of “rare” and mine differs. While they did throw in some songs that they don’t play very often live, other than the covers, they didn’t throw in any originals that I had never heard before.

I did 6 shows:

October 16, 2015 New York, NY Irving Plaza
October 17, 2015 New York, NY Irving Plaza
October 22, 2015 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
October 23, 2015 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
October 24, 2015 Dallas, TX House of Blues
October 25, 2015 Dallas, TX House of Blues

I heard 151 songs live
I heard 60 unique songs live
(14 new songs I had never before heard)

Middle of Nowhere
7/13 tracks

This Time Around
4/13 tracks

Underneath
6/14 tracks

The Walk
3/13 tracks

Shout It Out
5/12 tracks

ANTHEM
7/13 tracks

Roots and Rock N Roll EP
5/5 tracks

Sound of Light
Roller Coaster Love – 3

Cover
God Only Knows – 3
Kate – 1
Love Me – 1
Teach Your Children – 2
Signed Sealed Delivered Im Yours – 3
Desire – 3
Never Been To Spain – 3
I Want To Take You Higher – 3
Cecelia – 3
Hold On Im Coming – 3
Twist and Shout – 3
Dancing In The Streets – 3
Stand By Me – 3
Whole Lotta Love – 3
You May Be Right – 3
Movin Out – 3
High Voltage – 1
Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard – 3
Chain of Fools – 3
Delta Lady – 1

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