Before recounting my most recent Hansony adventure, I must back track. I must say that prior to the show, I had my doubts.
Yes, I said it out loud. I had *doubts*.
But TH! I hear readers cry. How could you?
It's true. I had *doubts*, my friends. I sincerely wondered - at many points, I'm afraid - what the heck I was doing. What was I *thinking*? I'd been there many times before. In the heat - in the crowd. In the midst of that heaving throng filled with glitter & boas & tank tops. I'd been there through it all. For 7 years - at malls, radio station events, concerts all over the country - even in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I'd been there before. Voting on all the polls, on TRL. Everything.
But this time around, I had doubts. Part of me, just didn't 'feel it'. 'It's all happening' - one of the lines from my favorite movie, Almost Famous, just didn't seem to matter. It saddens me to write that. To write that such an important, happy part of my life had waned in such a fashion. But it's true.
However, TLS was coming up & I was more than thrilled to see her. After all, she has been my partner in crime for many, many years - and one of my closest friends. So I was definitely excited to see her!! :)
But I still had those doubts about the show itself. :(
So off we trek, up to Cleveland, hours before the show. It was sunny & hot & crowded. My 'sensible' shoes that I'd worn to prevent any injury rubbed a massive blister on my right heel in mere minutes. It was windy & my hair became a matted mess. There was feathers whipping in the wind & seagulls hovering everywhere. I felt silly. My stomach hurt. Those doubts kept nagging me & nagging me.
We waited for quite some time by the radio station tent in hopes of a glimpse, but the scheduled interview was at the last minute *rescheduled* to back stage. The threat of so many fans out & all, more than likely. A tiny part of me wanted to hurl myself in Lake Erie to cool off. Or just drive home & call it a day!! Isn't that strange?
Then, showtime. And they strode out - on time for a change - to an overwhelming cheer from the sold-out crowd. Squeals & hollers & claps. And something odd happened.
I smiled. And I clapped. And then... I felt 'it'.
It wasn't until the music began, I felt some stirring of something. Like an amnesia patient, slowly recovering a brief glimpse of a past life. I felt 'it'. That feeling one gets from hearing that music. Those harmonies & melodies that make your heart skip a beat & take your breath away!
WHAT a show! Several songs off Underneath, TTA, MON. Covers that blew us away. They each even did a solo. The passion & talent they poured on that stage was unbelievable. The 3 of them played & sung their hearts out. :)
And Taylor! 'Crazy Beautiful' with his shaggy hair & beautiful smile. He *loves* the music - it just burst from him. His sockless feet even held me in thrall for a time or two. LOL. And the way he bounces that leg - even holding it up, stock still - in his excitement. :)
And Isaac! Who graciously wore his white shirt & tie (no doubt, TLS & my thoughts were indeed chanelled to him!). WHAT the singer he has become - and guitarist! Where has Isaac been hiding all this time?! LOL.
And Zac! Looking sweet in his yellow shirt & head-banging his tame, shorn head to 'You Never Know'.
That feeling was there - 'it' was back, rushing over me like a tidal wave. And what a thrill. :D
Of course, we went back after the show & stood vigil with the throng of die-hards. We stood & stood, and finally, the Fairy God, Taylor himself appeared. Thanking us all - apologizing they didn't have time to sign stuff or do pictures, but wanting to thank us, just the same. And he even made his way through the crowd - shaking each & every person's hand.
If it had been raining, he'd have surely melted. That's how sweet he truly is. :)
Then Zac appeared, and he sweetly posed for photos with each & every person.
Isaac started to come over, but was soon met by a militant faction of the fans who rushed him, so he, probably in fear of his safety, skulked back to the van! Drat!
TLS & I made the journey back to mine afterwards. She had obligations today, and had to leave quite early. I really loved spending time with her, it's too bad she had to leave so soon!
So all in all, a good time, even if it began quite different. 'Everything changes,' Taylor once said, and that's so very true. Perhaps things *do* change.
But.. Canton Saturday, though - and Cinci later. Maybe things really don't change much at all! :)
Cleveland Ohio
Great American Ribfest
Monday, May 31, 2004
It has been a long time since I did any real heavy duty traveling to see Hanson. But earlier this spring, on a high after seeing "Penny and Me" for the first time on VH1, I decided it would be a *fabulous* idea to drive hundreds of miles. So, since my buddy TH lives in the area, we planned to attend the Cleveland Ribfest on Memorial Day and got reserved tickets for the event.
On the way there I began to think it wasn't such a fabulous idea after all.
Such a long, long drive...such a short time I could spend visiting on the trip since I had other pressing obligations...stressing out over miscellaneous other things. My long drive to the show was not full of the excitement of things to come, but instead I was beating myself up for getting a lame idea like this.
But at last I arrived at TH's home and we chatted and got ready to hit the road for Cleveland. I began to look forward to it then, since I was so close. :)
We got to the venue and were a little surprised to find that there was plenty of parking available. Hmmm. And the crowd didn't seem that big. Hmmm again. Not to worry though..it was fairly early when we arrived, and in time the crowd really picked up. By showtime the reserved seats were full and there was a large crowd of people in the standing room only area too.
TH and I checked the place out and decided to indulge in a little of the delicious food there was to offer at the Fest. It was a bit hard to eat under the covered area when the seagull feathers or whatever it was that continuously circulated through the air came our way. Weird! Then we had heard that Hanson would be appearing in one of the radio station tents. First we heard they would do autographs, then that was scratched and we heard they would just appear and do an interview from the tent. We lurked around waiting to see what might happen, but it was much ado about nothing. The guys wound up doing an interview from their dressing room, which we got to hear at the amphitheater. I did feel sorry for all the poor girls who had stood there for a long time waiting for nothing.
Soon it was time for finding our seats. We weren't right up front or anything, but not too far back, and we could see great, so we were pretty excited. One thing that ticked us off......we had been responsible little citizens and TH had called to check on cameras for the venue. Absolutely NOT! she was told. So, recalling camera headaches from Cincinnati in the fall, we left ours in the car. BUT, people had cameras out all over the place in plain sight. AND there was a guy actually going around selling disposables for the venue. So we had no choice but to buy one of those crappy things and hope for the best. While our GOOD cameras lay uselessly in the car. There *would* have been some awesome shots. ::sigh::
So then, it was 6:00 and time for our babies to come out on stage! WOOHOO! They looked incredible!
Taylor, oh Taylor...he was ethereal in his blue button down shirt to match those wonderful blue eyes. AND, he had left a few of the top buttons undone. ::sizzle:: The HAIR...oh my. Sometimes Taylor is just so beautiful I can't find words and last night was one of those times. He makes me hurt sometimes, he is so gorgeous. Taylor wound up changing shirts during the show AND after the show he had on yet another one. Quite the little diva is our Taylor! Woohoo!
Oh, and YUMMINESS! Isaac walked out with a white button down shirt and one of those ties of his. It was a bit crooked aand his shirt was a bit rumpled, and my gosh, didn't he look sexy! I've decided I must one day go out partying with Isaac and indulge in all sorts of vices with him. Grrrrowl! He is just so very handsome.
And, the best part of the whole Taylor/Isaac wardrobe thing for me that night were the jeans they had on. They looked like they had on the same pair and my gosh they looked simply edible in them. All night I was transfixed by the way the guys looked, just sitting there in those jeans. ::fans self:: I want those pants when they are ready to pitch them. I would see that they are well taken care of! LOL
Let me say this....remember that Doublemint Gum slogan, "Double your pleasure, double your fun"? Trust me, having two hot young studly Hanson brothers to freak out over is even more fun than one. >;-)
And of course I can't forget Zachary. He was looking very good in a bright yellow t-shirt. And his hair was all tame and not sticking out in all sorts of crazy directions for a change! As for the show, I have to say that it rocked. I love those guys. I remembered almost as soon as they hit the stage why I drove all that way. They are so worth it. The high I get from seeing and hearing them play is indescribable. They played a lot of things from Underneath and a few oldies from TTA and MON. For this show they also did some covers. I was totally thrilled when they sang "Ain't No Sunshine". They did "Summertime Blues" and "Rip It Up". They each had a solo. Taylor did "Crazy Beautiful", and Isaac and Zac sang songs I had never heard. And to wrap things up they played "Lost Without Each Other", my official favorite of all the new songs.
Just a couple of concert peeves:
Peeve 1: Guys, don't wear baseball caps to a concert. They really block a person's view when you turn your head and bob back and forth continuously chattering to others.
Peeve 2: The camera thing I already mentioned.
Peeve 3: Finding out the next morning that for a mere $20 I could have purchased a copy of Underneath and received an opportunity for a meet and greet. But then, I looked like shit that night anyhow, so maybe it was for the best. LOL
But enough griping. After the show TH and I hurried to spend the rest of our Ribfest tickets, then we walked to the bus area. We got many glimpses of the guys going back and forth doing various things after their meet and greets. (See above peeve.) At long last Taylor decided to come over and be his usual sweet self and greet the waiting diehard fans. He is SO beautiful. ::sigh:: After he went down the line, Zac appeared. He decided to stay a while. He even posed with as many fans as wanted pictures taken with him! (See above comment about me looking like shit and you can guess whether I participated or not.) I was DYING for Isaac to come out but when he did, he took one look at the way the group sort of surged forward (not me, I promise!) and he got this "NO way" look on his face. And he didn't come over. Dang! Much later they all piled into a van, and left. Wahhh!
This show was magnificent. I am so glad I did drive all that way, because it was so worth it, and I am envious of TH because she gets to go to the Canton show over the weekend. Ah, but the tour is only just beginning, and I am sure I will have my butt at other shows this summer.