Fired Up

As some of you know, I'm not much of a music person. I have near-zero musical talent, can't sing and just jump up and down to imitate dancing. That doesn't stop me from playing Rock Band to pretend I can play guitar, singing when I'm home alone, and dancing when no-one's watching.

But I love Hanson. I've talked about them before, and I stand with my convictions. They are, simply, an incredible band. They've grown so much in the last 21 years, maturing and developing both their voices, talents and songs.

When they announced their newest World Tour to promote their new album, Anthem, I checked to see if there was a Vancouver date included. Claire had bought me tickets to see them in January 2012 at the Vogue Theatre on Granville Street as my Christmas present the month before, and we had seen them again in the summer of that same year at the outdoor free concerts that were part of the summer carnival in Vancouver, the PNE. The Anthem tour was dated for October 2nd, again in the wonderful setting of the Vogue and I grabbed tickets from the box office the day they went on sale.

It was an amazing night! I arrived super early to get in line, turning up at 3pm for an event that had the doors opening at 7pm! I chatted to some of the others waiting, and discovered that most of them were there for the Members Only Early Access. So when they were all let in, Claire and I were at the head of the line!

The opening act was David Ryan Harris. I can't admit to having ever heard of him before, but I'm delighted to have heard of him now. His set was entirely on acoustic guitar. I really liked his stuff, and he was hilariously funny on stage between songs. About halfway through his set, he was commenting that "my wife and I", at which point he was cut off with an audible "WHAT!" from a lady in the front row, resulting in a good laugh from everyone.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the main act. Hanson rocked the stage, opening with Fired Up and a few tracks from their new album, but mixing in all the old classics throughout their set, including Mmmm-Bop and One Second. I was delighted to hear some of my favourites like Give a Little, Thinkin' About Something, and Waiting For This.

By the halfway point, I think I had rubbed my fingertips off from all the finger-snapping[1], I thought my wrist was broken from the clapping and I was convinced I'd have massive leg pain this morning from the ridiculous amount of jumping I was doing. The sweat was running down my temples and small of my back, and, once the music stopped, I realised my ears were ringing, but I loved every second of it!

Given what I discussed in my previous blog post, I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with the level of engery for the whole night, but my body taught me otherwise, and proved once again that I don't have to stop doing anything I love just because my brain has decided to not play by the rules.

At the end of the night, I even to to fist bump Taylor, which was awesome! He and Isaac did a quick run along the stage, shaking hands with as many as possible. Isaac only managed to get one half of the stage done, but Taylor swept back to the side I was on, and I jumped forward for a quick "Thank You". I might have fanboyed a little.

Speaking of fanboys, there were noticeably more males in the audience this year over January 2012. I even spoke to one who was here because he had heard the new album and was suitably impressed enough to grab tickets to check them out. He only knew them from MMMBop years ago, but liked what he heard on their new stuff. Good to see!

I wil forever love their music and wear their t-shirts and my new hoodie I got on Wednesday night. I get mocked briefly for it, but people stop pretty quickly once they realise I'm not being ironic, or I manage to convince them to listen to a track or two.
I look forward to seeing them every time they play Vancouver.

[1]- I checked my fingers the following morning, and my index finger definitely felt smoother than the others! Also, my legs and ears were fine, which is always a good sign.

 

In Response To Your Question...

My taste in music has never been in line with the other kids of my social circle. In secondary school I enjoyed the musical stylings of Garth Brooks and Bryan Adams. The second through seventh CDs I ever bought were Garth Brooks. It was a box set. The first had been the soundtrack to Grosse Pointe Blank.

Anyway, the point is, I've always enjoyed music that isn't exactly topping the charts in Ireland. I don't think "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" counts, as even Bryan Adams hates that song now from what I've heard.

A while ago I discussed my amazing discovery that the Xbox 360 is female. This accurate assumption is based on the fact that she can multitask, playing games and music at the same time! While describing the life changing effects this revelation had on me, I casually mentioned that I was now used to playing games listening to such artists as Chesney Hawkes and Hanson. Amongst the hundreds of comments that followed this controversial and groundbreaking blog post, my good friend Lynn questioned "Hanson AND Chesney Hawkes? Did you buy them ironically". I shall now explain.

Chesney Hawkes is easy. "I Am The One And Only" is a guilty love of mine. At home, when Claire is still at work, I love singing Chesneys one hit wonder at the top of my lungs... or, at least, slightly above an inaudible murmur.

Hanson is a little more difficult. For well over a decade I joined any sane minded individual in cringing at the sound of an "mmm-bop" or the sight of a pack of long, blond haired males. The mere mention of Hanson was enough to make me laugh. And Claire agreed with me.

Until last year when someone mentioned them in one of the many, many blogs she reads. More specifically, they mentioned a particular documentary series made by the band themselves called Strong Enough To Break. The entire thing is up on YouTube by the boys themselves in an epic series of 12 posts! It is well worth watching, telling the story of how Hanson evolved from the teenyboppers they were at the time of their breakout number one hit to the pop rock grownups they are today.

Claire spent a fair length of time telling me and anyone who would listen how cool Hanson suddenly were, but we all ignored her. Then she got hold of the latest two albums, 2004's Underneath, and 2007's The Walk and got them onto her iPod. Thus followed an unavoidable exposure to the works of Hanson on any car journey that lasted longer than three minutes.

Not that it actually took that long. I found myself humming along to the tracks before we had left city limits. Penny and Me quickly became one of my favourite tracks to listen to while walking, cooking, or, yes, even playing Xbox. Crazy Beautiful, Misery and Georgia are also fantastic tracks, but honestly, it's just trying to pick from an incredible bunch. There are few artists, Messers Brooks and Adams included, that have entire albums that I enjoy listening to. Hanson almost has two. I leave out the last track from Underneath as it includes a hidden track, causing it to also include five minutes of silence. Annoying if you have your iPod in your back pocket and would rather not have to fish it out to move onto the next track.

In the end, music is for your soul. It needs to be felt within you, not just listened to. As much as MMMBop reminds me of teeny-boppers and terrible taste, Hanson makes me smile, hum, sing, and dance (when no-one's looking). Their stuff won't be for everyone, but it deserves to be heard by a lot more people than it is currently. Give them a chance. Listen to their most recent works. If you don't like them, that's fine. Just don't ignore them based on a single from 1997. Instead, try out their latest single "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'" from their newest, just released album, Shout It Out.

I have no excuse for Chesney Hawkes. Sorry.