The day before the concert, August 14, was spent in Hershey, showing it to Tracey, a new friend of my daughter, Beth, whom we met at the concert in Washington. (She's from Maryland) We ate lunch at Isaac's, a restaurant which is on Lucy Avenue!!! We checked out the local hotels to no avail. Later Friday night we went past another hotel not as close to Hershey, and as we came around the rear of the hotel we saw first a tan tour bus, then to our left a light blue bus with a star on the side!!! We knew this was the place!!! (Final results..the crew was there not Hanson) (perhaps they came later, we don't know) But we did knock on the door of the bus because we saw one of the 'roadies' get on board. We asked if we could look at the inside, and he said "yes". So on we went. He had extremely long, wavy hair (dark brown) and his name began with an 'H', but we don't remember it. (If anyone knows please e-mail me). The girls looked all around in the back and said they saw water guns, as well as toys for a small child. Beth said she saw a necklace and rings that she is sure belonged to Taylor!! That was a neat experience, to at least get an idea of what Hanson's bus must look like. There was a t.v. right behind the driver's seat and a Nintendo 64. Saturday was a damp and cloudy day, but that didn't discourage our enthusiasm.

We don't know if Hanson went to the park or not, one rumor was that they went around 9 Friday night. We left for the concert at one (a 20 minute drive!). There were already about 200 people there. This venue is a stadium which is open on the sides by the stage, but later in the day (just before sound check) a truck was moved to the side of the stage to block our vision, and then security made everyone move to the end of the stadium opposite to the stage. They also threatened to arrest anyone hanging around the backstage area and the road where the bus would drive into the stadium. They told us no signs would be allowed and that cameras would be confiscated. Believing that this would apply to eveyone, we took signs and cameras back to the car. We were disappointed that some people were allowed in with their signs, and also cameras were snuck in, however I did see security confiscating cameras if they saw them!

The time passed quickly until the gates opened..listening to the sound check (and a new cover song "Sunshine of Your Love", an old Cream hit), and watching t.v. interviews. I saw adults with an "Adults Like Hanson Too" sign and went to say 'Hi'. Met Kris, whom you know, and Becky, who had driven from Maine. Also someone from Canada, whose name I don't remember (I'm awful that way, sorry!). She and Kris were interviewed by one of our radio stations. This morning (Sunday) another station showed their report (backed up with "Sunshine of Your Love") and there I was, in the background of an interview. (UGH!)

The gates opened at 6:25 and we slowly began filing in, as they WERE checking everyone at that point. We found our seats (section 27, row A) and began waiting! At 8 Admiral Twin came on and did their half hour. At 8:30 the crew began setting up for Hanson, with, of course, chants of "Hanson, Hanson, Hanson" from the crowd. We knew they'd be on at about 8:55, and then, there they were. The songs were pretty much the same as everyone else has reported. The addition of "Sunshine of Your Love" (this was great, a really driving song that they really got into), and "Money" this time. They did not do "Sometimes". The crowd was wild..nearly a sellout of 25,000 minus maybe a few hundred. The encore was "Look At You"..I LOVE that one!, and "Summertime Blues". As Ike played keyboard, it was Taylor who held the mike to the audience, and he did so about 4 or 5 times across the stage. It seemed to me that they played that song much longer than at Washington, there was super crowd response!! Too bad for those who believed them when they said they were done and left before the encore. They sprayed their super shooters some more, and at one point Taylor jumped down off the stage and threw his water bottle over the crowd!!!! There was a space between the stage and the crowd so he was safe. They also threw water balloons. The very last thing was the a capplella of "Weird", that certainly proved their harmonizing ability. I think they are sounding a little different that way as Zac's voice is now getting deeper; the growth and development of their voices is wonderful to hear.

Ike wore his black shirt with white vertical stripes, a white t-shirt underneath, and what looked like jeans and sneakers. He did a wonderful job on "More Than Anything" and the crowd was quieter so we could hear him.. The crowd was also fairly quiet for "With You in Your Dreams", the screaming occured when they thought the song was over (but wasn't). No tight white t-shirt to see this time. :( Taylor wore a white shirt over a blue t-shirt..the shirt came off after the Three Car Garage set. He wore pants that looked to be blue velour, and definitely weren't baggies. Zac wore a burgundy shirt and khackis. The light up drumsticks were great!!

I had thought our seats were a bit closer and didn't bring my binoculars (duh!), so my close-up inpressions aren't too great. Becky, from Maine, was right behind us and had her binoculars up for the whole concert! I do know that I could HEAR them much better than at Washington, because of the stadium arrangement (there weren't 15,000 screamers behind us this time!). I hope they enjoyed us as an audience as much as we enjoyed them! And then it was over.

The best part?..in two days we have NINTH row seats on the floor for Philadelphia. I KNOW I don't need those binoculars then! So today (Sunday) is emotional drain day, as we sit and remember last night, but look forward to Tuesday night. The girls won't be talking much today with what is left of their voices. There are some good video shots from the news that will help us remember, too. I sure enjoy Hanson's concerts, and am looking forward to next summer when they go on tour with new songs that I know will be wonderful. I joined MOE Friday night by "net, so hope that speeds things up, rather than the 8 weeks it took for Beth's stuff to come. Oh, we saw Ashley, but he already had his group together..appeared to be a family, to go backstage. Next time???