Hanson ROCKS!!!

(Written 8.45pm 13/12/04)

Hmmm...let's see, how many times I have told my story of going for the Hanson show to close frineds?

Well, let me see...1, 3, 5! % people have heard my story and how I fell in love with HAnson
all over again on the night of 9th December 2004 at Hard Rock Cafe :D

I arrived at Hard Rock a little afte 10pm ( a bit later than planned after having dinner
with some losers, see previous blog for more details:P), and surprisingly, I actually managed to get a
good standing spot. The thing is Hanson performed in the middle of a square surrounded by 4 reserved
counter where people can sit and drink, and I got to stand at the corner of one of the right counter.

From my view I got to see mostly their back & side profiles, but due to a really big storoke of luck
(maybe the Guy up there really likes me & i never knew?:P), I actually got to see Taylor and Zac very very
clearly most of the show:)...

Tay's keyboards was facing the counter that I was leaning on so ya, everytime he was doing his thing
and tinkling them ivories, I got to see his face very very clearly...down to the 2-3 strands of hair that
was hanging loose from his ponytail:P And yes, for every every single person who ever thought
what a good-looking guy he is, YES I can confirm he is THAT gorgeous:)

ANd that was one of the things that struck me:P Hanson really do look good, if not better, than in their pictures:P

Ok ok, tell you the truth, the 3 things that ran through my mind when I first saw them (really up close
actually because, surprisingly lucky of me, I was standing beside the entrance to the square they were
performing:P), in this particular order, was:

1) They are taller than I thought :)

2) Damn! They are so damn good-looking!!! I can't believe it!!! I thought it is just photos that
have been made to look flattering (you never know with these artistes do you? It just might
be loads of make-up and stuff:P) but these guys are super-cute!!! :)

3) They are so so so so so so so much more talented than I give them credit for (and THAT is saying a lot
cuz I have puji their talents until cannot be puji anymore:P)

Anyway, back to how I actually got to see them clearly most of the show:P
Zac (who surprisingly was the favourite that night, lotsa "ZAC!!!!" screams) got a lot a lot
of screams:P especially from the people who were sitting behind teh back counter, so I guess to accomidate them
Zac turned around in his swivel chair and sat in that position the whole noght , so lucky me!
He was facing me the whole night :)...

The only HAnson I couldn't see much of (mostly his side profile:P) was Isaac, who incidentally is my
favourite HAnson ( my love for guitar playing guys started with him :)), so I thought it was a pity
I cant really see him playing his guitar...especially when he did his guitar solo, but I am not complaining,
cuz it was a great show all the same :)...

WOuld have been better if there weren't so much screams though (rolls my eyes..)
I mean seriously, you come to watch them PERFORM and sing songs, shouldnt you be
LISTENING to them while they were playing?
Did I scream??? OF course, but not DURING the songs! :P I screamed in between-lah...I want to
hear them sing live man! But unfortunately this sentiment is not shared by waht, 99% of the crowd,
so there I was straining to hear them sing & play their instruments above all the "ZAc!!!" "Taylor!!!" of
the night....

While most noise and screams were annoying, the comments from the girls beside me was just plain cute & funny:P
You remember that from my angle I could see Zac very very clearly the whole night?
So the girls beside me (whose fav HAnson is probably ZAc, if he wasnt before, he sure was that night:P) could
see him clearly as well, so practically the whole night, I could hear (said quite breathlessly)

"Oh my Gosh!!! He's SOOOOOOO cute!!! COmel SIAL!!!! Nak cubit-cubit!!!!!"

( And yes I do admit that Zac with his constant smile, messy hair & rocker attitude when playing
the drums - really "feng tau" in action I tell you:P, is very irresistible, and yes those chubby
baby fat that hasnt gone away do make one want to cubit-cubit him:P AT the very least, I think he will
be very nice to hug:) Very teddy-bearish:))

BUt despite the screams and such, it was a great show, and those guys can really really play live :)
They sound really good and there are not much glitches ( like suara sumbang, not enough breath:P etc)
that you might sometimes hear in live performances :)...

They covered materials from all three albums, "Middle of Nowhere", "This Time Around" and also
the newest album "Underneath". As I had hoped, it was largely an acoustic show, which gave several
songs a different twist as compared to the album version :).

Some highlights of the show for me included :

"You Never Know"
- This is the 1st song from "This Time Around", and it has always been a so-so Hanson
song to me. It's considered a mid-tempo song, no too fast & not too slow either, but when they
performed this song live that night, my reaction was :"WOah!!!!!"
They totally "rocked" up the song and yes, this was one of the Zac "feng tau" moments :)
Taylor's intro on the piano gave it a really Motown feel and for awhile I thought they
were gonna do a cover song from the Jerry Lee Lewis or Elvis Presly era, but when they got
into this song, it totally blew my mind :P Suffice to say, I now see this particular song
from Hanson in a totally new light ;)

"Where's The Love"
- Yup, before the Black-Eyed Peas made this song, Hanson has already asked this million-dollar
question, "Where's The Love?" :) It was the follow-up single after MMMBop in 1997 from their 1st album...
This was another song that I didnt recognize instantly (that's why I was hoping for an acoustic set,
to hear the songs in a different way ;)), and though it was sung acoustically. but the head-bopping,
feet-tapping factor was still there :)....and I suppose, the question and the lyrics is still, perhaps even more so,
relevant today in 2004 than in 1997...

* Sample Where's The Love lyrics (and YES they wrote this too when they were THAT young:P I told you these guys are talented!):
" Where's the right in, all of our fighting? Look at what we're doing?
Where's the Love? It's not enough, it makes the world go round and round..
Dark clouds all around, lightning rain pouring down, waiting for the bright light to get through,
You've got to change your point of view, if you want the skies blue..."

The funny thing about this performance was that Ike (Isaac) actually forgot to sing the song (the above lyrics :P)
on time...I was waiting and wondering "Why hasn't he started singing?" when I saw him giving Tay this weird kinda smile
and I knew:p He forgot his lyrics...but they covered it up very very nicely...they just finished playing that particular
bar before repeating it and going into the bridge of the song:P SO actually to someone who is not familiar with the song it won't
sound wrong at all:P

"Ain't No Sunshine"

- This is a cover song, I am no really sure who sings it but I know it's an old, bluesy rock song :)
ANd you know what? This was probably the song I enjoyed the most simply because I could HEAR them:P
People weren't singing along and sceaming as much because they didn't know the song haha:P...
I really really liked this song :) More so because Ike did the lead vocals, and you know what?
He really shone as a lead vocalist :)
A lot of people don't know this, but Ike and Zac has sang lead in their songs, not just Taylor.
I always knew Ike has a great voice, but I think live it really shows how strong and, uhm, Man his vocals are :)
So when he sang this song...oooh,shivers :) You can practically FEEL his pain baby cuz there
'aint no sunshine when she goes away...' ;)

And I love love love the keyboard & guitar solo on this song! Love love love it...

The way Tay was concentrating on the keyboard when he did his solo? It reminded me of Maksim:P and there
were those strands of blond locks that were touching the keyboard....This fellow is gorgeous I tell
you, I cannot imagine how handsome his son Ezra will be when he grows up (especially when Tay's wife Natalie is
actually a model, gosh the child is blessed with beautiful genes!:P)

"Where Do You Go"

- This is fron the 3rd album, and is the kind of song that kind of grows on you...
It was not an instant favourite of mine, but soon I found myself singing along to the
chorus and I was gone by then:P

It was a highlight for me, because even though I couldnt really hear much of this song, it was the 1st time I saw,
and the only time that night, that all the 3 brothers all played the guitar together :)
For me, the girl with the penchant & soft spot for guitar playing guys,
to see all 3 Hansons playing guitar together? Ahhhh....heaven :)

Other songs that were played included :
"MMMBop" (which got the most screams:P),

"Deeper" ( Ike showcasing his mettle on lead vocals again ;)),

"If Only" (Instantly recognisable when Tay played on the harmonica)

"This Time Around" (Anthemic but not enough punch as compared to the performance
in their "UNderneathe Acoustic Show", I think its the crowd, too much screaming
so they can't really feel the song to sing along:P)

"Underneath" ( Zac plays the harmonica and gets a lot a lot of screams:P)
"Love Song" ( Another Ike song which I thought was a surprise choice, but the beauty of the poignant lyrics were lost amidst the screams :( Agh!!! Damn those screamsters!)

"Lost Without Each Other" (ROck Rock Rock!!! :D)

"With You in Your Dreams" (Written for their late grandmother...great crowd song when Tay
asked us to sing along at the "Oh Oh " part..but again, poignancy of song..lost in screams:P)

and as an encore performance, "A Song To Sing", a great great ballad to sing
acoustically and live :)...

I think there were other songs...maybe I forgot I can't remember:P

ANother highlight of the night, though not courtesy of HAnson:P was when I heard the
girl behind me said :
"Hey their music is good-lah. I want to get their album"

Instant gratification I tell you to hear that and to know that at least this once,
Hanson's music speaks for itself, as it always has done for me ;).

End of the show..nope I did not get to hugs any of them :P I did not any of their
autographs either, but I did get to shake Tay's hands when they left via the entrance
beside me:p And YES I did wash my hand when I went back and bathe that night :P
I AM NOT and refuse to be THAT kind of scary die-hard fan :P

Ahh...Hanson :) In a sense, watching them live is a dream come true, and yet also the end of a dream:P
A bit complicated to explain but then...

I know how it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but you know when you are a fan of someone,
you always imagine how will it be if you met them, what will you say to them, what will
they say to you, whether they will take an instant liking to you, marry you etc etc haha:P...

You always know that it is impossible, but then, you just keep dreaming, because you haven't
meet them yet:p

BUt then you do meet them, and none of what you imagined happens, and after that you can't dream
anymore because...it just doesn't happen:P

NOt that I am overly disappointed because of course imagination and daydreams are stii just that,
but well, like I said...when a dream comes true, it is also the death of that dream:P

Ahh...Hanson :)
If ony the world would give them half a chance, and hear what I hear... perhaps there
will be more blogs just like this :P

I HAVE to watch another Hanson show (hopefully with a better crowd:P), and in the meantime...
let's keep my fingers crossed that the next singer-songwriter that comes to our shores will
be a certain guy who shares my birthday called John Mayer ;)...Now THAT'S another person
I can write several blogs about:P....