Well, it's been three years since I first saw Hanson live. Didn't have a site at the time, so I never did write up a real review of the experiences I had. But I can still remember every detail, because it was such a profound experience for me. So better late than never, here are my memories of the Albertane Tour.

When the tour dates were released for Albertane, I was devastated. Not only were there very few dates at first, but Hanson wasn't going to be playing in ANY city, much less state, close to me at all. I had completely fallen in love with those guys the winter before and had *counted* on getting to see them when they toured. Yes, I was completely heartbroken, to say the least.

I lamented this fact to all of my online Hanson buddies. They sympathized, and the ones who had no chance for a show either wallowed in misery with me. All except one. She played devil's advocate. Wasn't there any way I could go to Atlanta? .... No. Too far, plus I had already scheduled and paid for a vacation for that particular week. What about DC? ..... DC?? Was she crazy? That was seven and a half hours away, I couldn't go to DC for a concert! ....Or could I? I will never forget what this particular friend told me, and Susan, if you're still out there, THANK YOU, MAN. She knew how much I, like all of the other people who dearly love ITZ, had needed to see them. She told me to make sure I didn't have any regrets after it was all over. I thought about that a lot over the next few days and realized she was right. Seeing Hanson in person was very important to me, and by gosh, I was NOT going to let this one and only (or so I thought) chance pass me by!

So, I made plans to TRY for tickets. I signed up for the venue website, and as luck would have it, if you were a member of their mailing list, you got to purchase tickets online the day before they went on sale to the public. I was sick with worry the morning of the sale. I had heard the horror stories of people who had had NO chance for tickets in some of the other cities. They were selling out in such a short time. I went to the website at precisely 10:00 and my hands were wet with sweat for 15-20 minutes while my computer connected with their busy site. As each minute crept by, I felt that my chance for tickets was getting slimmer and slimmer. But finally, the screen popped up, asking me how many tickets I wanted to buy and how much I wanted to spend. I was terrified I would push the wrong buttons because my hands were shaking like leaves. But finally, after triple checking the information, I pushed "send" and life was good! I could expect my tickets in the mail in a week or so.

Originally I had planned to go to the show with a couple of local folks who LIKED Hanson but weren't FANATICS like myself. But their plans were changing, and they needed to back out unless I couldn't find anyone else to go with. I went straight to an online pal who lived *fairly* close by in the scheme of things, if you can call four hours close, and told her of the situation. We had one of those "are you thinking what I'm thinking" conversations, and we got it worked out so that she would be coming with me! This was going to be better than I expected. I would be attending this most important show with someone else who "got it"!

Time passed quickly since I was moving to a new house right in the midst of all this, and just a week after I got all moved in, it was show time! I drove to a point a couple of hours away where my friend Regina would be meeting me, and we were on our way! We had plenty to talk about and the drive didn't seem long at all. Except for the fact that I got a speeding ticket! My one and only ticket ever! I was annoyed at myself for not paying better attention, but naive me thought that perhaps later I could rouse some sympathy from someone about my terrible luck and they might let me backstage later on at the concert! Ha! I told you I was naive about that, didn't I?

So, we get to our hotel and it was CRAWLING with concert-goers. It was so packed that we couldn't even check in right away. It was really quite a festive atmosphere with so many fans gathered together. It was awesome to see so many people wearing Hanson t-shirts, all in one place. We went to eat, came back and finally got our room key, changed into our concert clothes that we had agonized over for weeks, and headed out to the venue to try to hear the soundcheck.

When we arrived at the Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge, were we in for a shockeroo. Even though it was HOURS before the concert, traffic was backed up a "fer piece". As we got closer, I could see that the little security guy was telling folks to turn around and come back later. I told Regina that there was NO WAY I was missing that soundcheck. I repeated this statement over and over as one by one the cars in front of me drove up past the guard, turned, and came back in my direction. Our turn with the security guard came, and he told me to turn around and come back later. I tried explaining that I had driven for seven and a half hours, and attempted playing my trump card about the speeding ticket, but to no avail. He kindly told me I would have to turn around straight ahead and come back later. I pulled up to the spot where I was to turn around, and decided to...keep right on driving! Normally I am a law abiding, follow the rules type of gal, but this was important! Besides, I had already gotten a speeding ticket, and the security guy was too busy telling everyone else to turn around and come again to even look at me, so what did I have to lose? So, we went right on up and found a parking space beside all of the others who had ignored the guy or sweet talked someone else at another point of entry.

Regina and I walked around a bit and checked the place out. The Nissan was a HUGE outdoor amphitheater, and we were parked in a fairly deserted, shady, grassy spot right beside a barbed wire fence, and we could see the tall grassy hill that formed the top of the lawn area of the venue. We decided to head over to the other side of the area, and when we did we saw QUITE a crowd already gathered, buying shirts and other merchandise. There were all sorts of teenagers and young girls with their favorite brothers' name written all over them with markers and such. Girls with signs. A few guys sprinkled in here and there. We lined up to get tour programs and shirts. While there, the white van carrying Hanson drove right by, causing ear-splitting screams to erupt around us. Regina and I simply grinned at each other.

Once our merchandise was paid for, we decided the din of the throngs of girls singing MmmBop at the top of their lungs was not for us, so we took our purchases back to the car. As we did so, we started to hear some things happening on the other side of the hill. The soundcheck!

When I heard those voices, and realized my wonderful guys that I loved so much were right there, right over the hill, I was overwhelmed. I stood at the fence and closed my eyes and just listened. And all of the turmoil that I had gone through to get there...the worry about tickets, the explanations to my family about why I NEEDED to drive so far away for such an event, the speeding ticket...all of it fell away, and I was in heaven, just listening. I can't really even describe the feeling in words, but just let me say that if all I would have gotten to do the whole evening was listen to that soundcheck, then it was worth it all. Sometimes Taylor would talk, but I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, and every time he did, you could hear the girls on the other side screaming "I love you Taylor!!". LOL All part of the experience. Finally we heard nothing coming from over the hill, so we watched as workers would come to the top and cause the girls to scream with all their might since they thought it was Isaac, Taylor, or Zac up there. I am sure they were getting a real kick out of that! LOL

We had a couple more hours to kill till it was time for the gates to open, so we stood around people-watching while the crowd grew and grew...and GREW. At last it was time for the gates to open. I told Regina I would meet her at our seats if we got separated. The crowd was HUGE. I don't think I'd ever been to an event quite that big before, or since. Regina and I had each sneaked in a disposable camera, and security was searching bags big time. But they didn't give us a second look since we weren't typical teens, haha.

It took us a good long while to get to our seats since we had to shuffle along with the crowd. When we finally got to them, they were decent enough, I thought, not real close but certainly better than the lawn. As I looked back at the virtual SEA of people on the lawn, I felt really badly for them, not being close enough to see very well.

At last, it was time for the show to begin! The opening act was Admiral Twin, a band also from Tulsa. They were really good. I wound up going out later and buying their album. There were a few folks around who were rude and actually booed Admiral Twin for no other reason than because they weren't Hanson. Sheesh. But of course we were all there for one reason, and that WAS to see Hanson, so when Admiral Twin finished their set, there were lots of cheers and screams. There were giant screens on both sides of the stage, and the cameras panned the audience so we could see ourselves up there.

It was almost time for Hanson to come out, and I started thinking...what IF I had come all that way and I was wrong about them, that they weren't really as good as I thought they were? Was I going to be let down like I usually was when I had gone to so many other concerts in the past and the artist didn't quite measure up to what they put out with all of the help of the recording studio? What if Taylor WASN'T as gorgeous as he looked in pictures? LOL

My worries were dashed away forever when I heard the first notes of "Gimme Some Lovin'" emanating from the speakers. My heart started to pound and my knees grew weak. The big silver curtain dropped, and there they were, my wonderful guys I had grown to admire and love! They were real, and they were good, SO good. And Taylor? Well, he was even BETTER than pictures. :)

I had been reading every single review of the concerts that had taken place before this one, so I knew what to expect....and when Taylor came to that little solo part in "Shake A Tail Feather", my hands were shaking like LEAVES and I swear right at that moment I understood all those silly girls I had seen in film clips, passing out from excitement when they witnessed Elvis or the Beatles. Me, of all people, the one who had scoffed openly at anyone who got just a bit too excited about a band!

The entire show flew by. Hanson sang almost every song from MON, and lots of songs from 3CG, as well as a few covers. They were wonderful, and they rocked. I was not disappointed. Not even for an instant. Because I was about halfway up the venue, I had brought binoculars...the better to see Taylor with, my dear. I didn't MEAN to be selfish, but I am afraid to say I let Regina look through them for a minute, then the rest of the time I stood there in awe, watching Taylor through them. He always has captivated my every ounce of attention, from the minute I first laid eyes on him on their Meet Hanson special back in November. He may have been only 15, but he was full of soul, full of passion, and he was so, so beautiful with those golden locks of hair. ::weeps::

I honestly don't remember too much about Isaac and Zac, unfortunately, but I do remember when they would show Zac on the big screens, he got more screams than the other two. LOL And they rock, too, that's for sure. Oh yes, and Isaac's solo, "More Than Anything". Very beautiful. I love Isaac. :)

So basically I stood there gazing at Taylor, completely rocking out to their music, soaking it all in. And then all too soon, it was over. I just sat there for a while, my ears ringing, amazed by the whole experience. We then chatted with some friends we had met, then went back to the hotel to relive it all again.

The next day we made the long journey back home, and I stopped by a photo development place to get my pictures done. I held back tears when the guy showed me that not ONE of them turned out. Not one. :( Turns out that Regina's didn't either. I guess ITZ might have looked like ants in the pictures had they come out, but it would have still been cool to have them as mementos.

I was on cloud nine for a few weeks after the show, and there were a couple of things that were especially cool to me after the fact. Remember I mentioned I couldn't go to the Atlanta show because I had already paid for a vacation? Well, just days after the concert, I went BACK to DC for that little trip. And there were a few Hansony highlights I always recall from it. One was we passed right by our hotel and the exit to the Nissan Pavilion on the way there and back on the interstate, which brought all those wonderful feelings rushing back to me. Another was when I toured the Smithsonian, I looked at a display of guitars that were featured in a later issue of MOE, so I was standing RIGHT THERE where Taylor must have stood just days before. And, when I was at the Ford Theater, wearing my concert shirt, a teen came up to me and commented on it and she almost FREAKED OUT on me when I told her I had JUST seen Hanson live a few days before. I thought she was going to go into hysterics on me. That was kind of fun. LOL

So, my very first Hanson concert was one I will always treasure in my memories. And, luckily, it was only the beginning! Because a couple weeks later, lo and behold, they added more concert dates! WOOHOO!!!

Just a couple of weeks after returning from DC, I was absolutely stunned and elated to find out Hanson was adding another set of shows to their tour since the first set was going so well! And, as luck would have it, one of the shows was only three hours away, in Cincinnati, Ohio! Woohoo!

Again, the tickets were the first challenge. Every other person I knew of was going to be going, so I was even more worried about getting decent tickets this time than last time. I arranged for someone to call from their cell phone while I called from the regular phone to see who could get through first on the day the tickets went on sale. But once again, I was able to procure tickets early from the internet. They were okay seats, so I decided to take them, and try for even better ones by calling the venue the day of the official sale. I did that and got better seats, and wound up selling my first set to some people who only had lawn seats to begin with, so we were all happy campers.

So, the day of the show dawned, and I drove to Cinci to meet up with Regina and some other friends of ours. We had quite a gathering hanging out at the hotel, and went to eat and then on to the venue for the soundcheck. When we arrived, the soundcheck had already started. This time we had to stand directly out in the blazing heat instead of a shady little grassy area, but still, it was sweet. We even got to hear them playing "Sunshine of Your Love". After the soundcheck, since there was nothing but sun and HOT, it was a little hard to wait in the unbelievable line. At first security came out and warned against cameras. I had brought my GOOD camera this time, but thought, HUH, they won't check MY stuff, I look like an innocent adult. But they continued to warn and began to sound MEAN about it, so I started thinking how I'd hate to have my expensive camera confiscated, so I made the decision to take it back to the car, reluctantly. As SOON as I got back to my place in line, a friend informed me that not three minutes after I left for the parking lot, security had changed its mind and said as long as one didn't have a zoom lens on the camera, it was okay. SHEESH. I trotted happily BACK to the car to retrieve my camera, and looked forward to being able to snap away without fearing my personal property would be snatched!

After hours in the withering heat, at last the gates opened and we were allowed to herd into Riverbend. We decided to walk around and hunt for the MOE person who would be handing out backstage passes. Two of my companions knew who to look for, since they had been so lucky as to receive such passes a few weeks before. We walked all around Riverbend many times, to no avail. Later we spoke to a friend who informed us that he had seen us turn around and head back in the opposite direction JUST before the pass guy appeared. DANG! So close, yet so far.

We wound up with autographs from Admiral Twin, which was pretty cool. They are really nice guys and a great band. :) Finally it was time to take our seats.

We were seated so that we could see the semis that had pulled up to the stage to unload Hanson's equipment and remained parked there. After a while, as Admiral Twin played, we began to notice FEET running back and forth under the trucks. Soon, a Frisbee landed on the ground. We realized after a while that Taylor and a roadie were playing Frisbee back there! It was so EXCITING! :) For some reason I looked away for a split second and at that VERY time, Taylor ran out from behind the truck JUST for an instant. My companions saw him, and I MISSED him! I pouted for a good fifteen minutes because of my bad timing. LOL In a bit, the two tired of their game and we watched as Admiral Twin finished their set.

A little about the Cinci crowd that night....there were TONS of guys there. Men and boys. More there than at any other show I attended before or since. And later, during the show, they were rocking out just as much as the female population. That was extremely cool. On the downside, it was a pretty rude bunch of folks, at least right around where we were seated. During the show, they would stand up in their seats and didn't care if they blocked the person behind them or not....same thing with those ANNOYING signs, which I always thought were a dumb idea anyway. And the security was NO help about that. If a person complained, they acted as if they had no control over anything that went on. But luckily during the show, some really nice lady beside me saw that I had to keep moving around trying to get a good view, so she tapped me on the shoulder and told me I could come over and stand on the other side of her. Ahhh, I will always love that woman, I got the PERFECT Taylor view because of her.

Now, on to the show. Ahhhh...this was by far one of THE best Hanson concerts I have been to, and at the time I am typing this review up three years later, I have been to eleven of their shows. And I still consider Cinci one of the best. Every single time I have seen them, the guys give it their all, they sing and play beautifully, they rock out, they have a good time. But at this particular concert, it was just that they sang, played, and rocked out even more than usual, and they seemed to be having an even better time than before. The guys seemed to talk a lot more to the audience, and they had a great time up on stage with the super soakers! Zac even took the opportunity to dump an entire bottle of water all over Taylor. Man, was I sorry that I had used up EVERY bit of my film by that point. That lovely gray t-shirt was REALLY wet! LOL Again, it was incredibly sad when it was over. I THOUGHT that was going to be it for sure this time.

After the show, we met back up with our little crowd, deciding to wait in the parking lot for the bus to go by. Perhaps we would get to catch a glimpse of them as they drove past! We waited for a long time, and finally we saw the bus approaching! We were SO excited, but once it pulled up, we could see that it contained only the driver. He backed up into the venue again. Who knows what he was doing? Meanwhile, a guy in a car drove up and told us that Hanson was right next door in the water park next to the amphitheater, which we could see easily from the parking area where we stood. Shyeah, RIGHT, we thought. Just another schmuck thinking he was getting one over on us. We'd seen this type of thing before, people making things up just to see what they could stir up. He was probably just trying to get us to move so we would miss Hanson going by in their bus.

But as we stood there, we began to see shapes moving around over at the water park, which had closed hours before. Could it be? I raced to get my binoculars out of the car. I studied the forms going up the gigantic water slide in the dimly lit park....could it be? OMG, YES! It was them! After studying the distant forms through the binoculars for a few minutes, I would make out Taylor...Isaac...Zac....and others. All making their way up the steps with innertubes. We stood watching for a while, until someone from security started rounding everyone out of the parking lot. It was hard, but we had to go.

The next morning, I leaped out of bed, took Regina's and my film down to the one hour photo, and YES! This time our pictures turned out. We were so happy, because we thought this was going to be it for us on the Hanson concerts. But again.....that wasn't how it turned out at all!

A few weeks later, Regina mentioned the Cleveland show and how our other friends were going to attend. I really didn't think much about it, until I saw in the paper that one could get front row seats to that show through a ticket broker, and that got me to thinking. IF I could have excellent seats...I wanted to go again!

So....to make a VERY long story short, tickets were obtained for a very high price, but we had seventh row, our best yet on this tour.

At last the day of the show arrived, and I made the trip to Regina's house, where she took over the driving as we headed for Cleveland, or more accurately, Cuyahoga Falls.

The day was cloudy and chilly, and we stopped at a rest area to get ready for the show, since we were not staying at a hotel this time, but instead staying with a friend who we were not going to see until show time. One very weird thing that will always stand out in my mind: This rest stop did not have real mirrors. Instead, it had just ......um, polished metal to serve as "mirrors". How the heck is a person supposed to get ready for a Hanson concert in front of polished metal????!!?? Not easy, but I did it. (Little did I know that in the future I would even get ready for a concert in the stairwell of a parking garage at Universal Studios, right in front of a security camera. But I digress...)

When we arrived at the venue, we had to wait in a line at the gate behind all the other cars. Soon, we were allowed to park. As soon as we stepped from the car, we could hear the sound check-Magic Carpet Ride! I was in heaven! That was my favorite cover during the Albertane Tour!

Regina and I found a covered area to stand under while it sprinkled rain. Then closer to showtime, it stopped the drizzling, and we stood in line and chatted with other concertgoers. At long last we were allowed into the venue itself, and we headed to our seats to see what they would be like. Man! We were close. There were six rows of folding chairs right against the stage, and our row was the very first row of permanent seats. There was a rail right in front of us that would prevent us from getting right up to the stage itself, but we were happy. It was the closest seats we had had thus far. Later, that pesky rail would prove to be a life saver for us. We would not get crushed by fellow fans, and we would have an perfect view of the stage since the people in the first six rows were busy bunching up right against the stage.

Regina and I visited with some friends that we were meeting up with, walked around trying in vain to find the MOE person with the backstage passes, and then went to our seats to await the moment! We couldn't help but note with amusement the contrast in outfits of some of the younger concert goers. The evening was rather on the cool side, yet we had a wide variety of clothing, ranging from skimpy spaghetti strap tees (pity the girls wearing THOSE, I am sure they froze every important body part off) to people dressed in fuzzy parkas.

Finally Admiral Twin took the stage. We enjoyed them as usual, but couldn't help but be excited when they were done with their awesome show because our third and final time of seeing Hanson was about to commence! As I realized the show was minutes away and Taylor would be standing right in front of me, just mere feet away, I almost began to feel sick with the excitement of it all!

Soon, the familiar notes of Gimme Some Lovin'/Shake a Tail Feather, began...the silver curtain dropped, and right in front of me stood Taylor Hanson, bigger than life. I am sure I was unable to breathe for a while. The first few songs passed in a fog as I tried to comprehend that I was THISCLOSE to my favorite man in the world. ::ahh, heaven!::

It was incredible being so close. I spent a lot of time letting this fact sink in. There were some gals in front of us a bit that had come armed with signs. We're talking major signs...they had a SERIES of them, in fact, hooked together with those silver ring thingies so as to keep them organized, and they seemed to have certain signs for different points in the concert. Fortunately, a man directly in front of me decided he was tired of looking at the back of posterboard, so he threw bits of pretzel at the girls to get their attention, and they finally put those annoying things down. I hate signs! I applaud venues that don't allow them.

Anyway, signs and brain-numbing awe aside, it was another wonderful show. We could actually see looks pass between Isaac, Zac, and Taylor on the stage....the music was incredible as always. Isaac had the sweetest smile ever on his face after his lovely solo. Taylor stayed fully clothed until the very very end of the evening. Too chilly to be taking off that overshirt too early! LOL. The a capella ending that has become a trademark of all Hanson concerts was gorgeous. OH! And, *during* the show, I had the feeling I was being watched. I tore my eyes off of Taylor for a second, and realized that Zac, and later Isaac, was staring straight at me and Regina. Just staring. Don't know why. But I decided not to mention it to anyone since I knew it would sound like one of those "our eyes met across the crowded room" stories. (It wasn't like THAT anyway, but still!) BUT, on the way home the next day, Regina asked ME if I had seen them staring. So, it wasn't my imagination! I guess we just kind of stood out since we are not teenagers, and we were right there in essentially the first row after the MOB of people in the folding chairs, which by the way, were strewn all about and cast aside as soon as Hanson came out on stage. Taylor didn't stare at us, though, darn the luck! We noticed that he spent most of his time so into his music, eyes closed much of the time, that he didn't have TIME to be looking around at the crowd. LOL

There was one bad thing that happened. Regina had her camera snatched by an evil security guard! Luckily it was only a disposable. I had my good one again, but put it away once hers got taken. The worst thing was, the NICE security guy who stood right beside of us all evening would turn his head and act as if he didn't see us snapping away taking pics, but the mean one came RACING from up front to get it, just to throw his weight around, I'm sure. Hmph!

But, back to the important things in life............it was so good to hear my favorite songs sung live by my sweet angel guys one more time. I will never forget it as long as I live.

Once the show was over, we met back up with our other friends, bought a few more souvenirs, and rode back to our friend K's house, listening to Snowed In and reminiscing about all of the fun we had had on this tour, knowing that this was really it for us.

So....the high of seeing Hanson lasted a long while, and the anticipation of seeing them the NEXT time around started growing. Who knew that we would have to endure two years and a VERY long drought before it would happen again? But when it DID happen again in 2000 and 2001, it was even MORE than I could have expected!