Hanson finally came to Fresno!

It only took them 16 years to come here... but better late than never. ♥

Hanson played an acoustic set at the World Sports Cafe, this past Sunday, June 23rd (courtesy of Y101). Two other bands were on the bill (Parachute and Honor By August) but Hanson was the main focus for many... and the main only reason why I went.

I love Hanson. Mmhmm, and I am not afraid to admit it. I have loved Hanson since I was 11 years old and I have never been ashamed of doing so. ♥

I have no clue why Hanson has never played Fresno before? We have a few places here that would suit them perfectly... we even have a Fair that happens ever year in October, that would also be perfect for the lovely trio. I was a little (okay, a lot) shocked to find out that they were playing at the World Sports Cafe. It's a restaurant/cafe, for crying out loud! 

The basics: Y101 announced the show last Monday. I wasn't awake at 8am, nor was I listening to the radio. I found out a little before noon, on good ol' Facebook. I scrolled down and saw a picture of Hanson on my news feed... my eyes briefly skimmed over "Y101 Unplugged show Sunday June 23rd..." I scrolled down a bit more... and then my brain finally registered what I had just read/saw. I flipped the f*ck out. I went back and fully read the announcement... "1st come 1st serve." THAT made me flip out even harder. I know how Fansons are. Trust me, I know. Hanson... at a place that small... no one knew the capacity, hardly any questions were being answered... first come, first served... show started at 1pm and doors opened at 11am. I knew we would HAVE to get there ridiculously early. I was NOT going to miss this. No way in hell. People were saying they were going to get there at 6am. Fansons! Turns out, people started lining up around 12am Sunday. Then came more Fansons at 4am...6am... 8am...

We were part of the 8am squad. Mmhmm, 8am. I was freaking out because I wanted to get there around 7:30... hey, I knew what I was in for. We got there a little after 8, maybe like 8:15-ish? There were about 30 or so people there already. It wasn't as bad as I thought.  We were guaranteed a spot inside and that's all that mattered at that point. People kept coming... and coming. I'd say about 100 people were in line before 9:30am. 250 - 300 around the time the doors opened. I'm not kidding. That's what I was expecting... but I expected that to occur much earlier. They had to bring out the wrist bands for fear of going over the capacity. The capacity was 400, by the way. They should've said from the beginning. No way that place holds 400. Maybe if they did standing room only?

So, can I just say that I am freaking glad we got there when we did? We were in the perfect spot. A little before 10am, one of the people in charge (or one of the helpers to the people in charge) told a few of us to move up (or move down) a little bit and/or to move our stuff to the side briefly, because they were coming through that way. "Who's on their way?" "Hanson." We all thought, 'Yeah, right. Don't do that to us." 10am. A black van pulls up in front of me... I'm like the ONLY person who noticed Taylor Hanson sitting in the passenger seat (some lady was driving). I quietly told my Mother, "Taylor Hanson is inside that van..." He got out. People went nuts. Not overly nuts, but they were screaming and pulling out cameras. There Taylor Hanson stood... no more than maybe 5 ft away. He stopped and made brief convo with the crowd for a minute or two...

This happened. For real. ♥

Taylor Hanson made my right hand shake. I am seriously surprised my 3 pictures of him did not turn out blurry. Actually, I was shaking in general. Certain bands and people in them have that kind of effect on me. This did not surprise me one bit. Tears may have been or may not have been shed, as well. All of this after Taylor walked through that side door thing, of course. How old am I? 11? Geez. That's okay, because I was not alone. There were people also in their late 20s-early 30s shaking and getting all misty-eyed, as well. Hey, it happens, okay? Ha! Then, a few seconds after Taylor went inside, an SUV drove up. Zac and Isaac were in the backseat. They rolled down their windows and waved to the people around. I yelled, "HI ISAAC!!!" he smiled, waved, and said, "Hi!" Yep, mmhmm, Isaac Hanson waved and spoke to me. I was, again, a semi-mess. Hush.

So after waiting in line for what seemed like forever... and talking to fellow boy band lovers (they were talking about *NSYNC, Five, O-Town, etc) for what seemed like forever... we were finally let in. That was an absolute mess. It should've been standing room only. It wasn't. That place wanted to capitalize on the hundreds of fans waiting for the show, so they had tables out and in order to secure a table you had to buy either a drink or an entree. About an hour or so later, they realized that they'd shot themselves in the foot with that decision. I could talk more about that, but I won't. We had a good spot but it could have been better.

The "fans"... yes, I put that in quotes. From what I could see and hear... the level of fandom was split down the middle at almost 50/50. There were the fans who have loved them since 1997... and have stayed with them... fans who appreciate more than just "MMMBop". The rest of the fans were fans of theirs during the "MMMBop" days... and were only around for the "Middle of Nowhere" album. It happens, and that's okay. But for those who are in the latter category, I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for you, because you have missed out on about 5 solid albums that are filled with loads of great songs... songs that are much better than "MMMBop". Not to mention, a Christmas album, some live albums and a few EPs. Oh, and I can't forget about the heap ton of "fan club only" songs.

Which brings me to this little story: I was drinking way too much Dr. Pepper which led to 3 trips to the lovely restroom. After round 2, I was annoyed at the chatter I kept hearing while waiting in line. Round 3 was fun... muahahaha!! I can't deal with the "I'm only here because I want to hear "MMMBop", "I just like MMMBop", "OMG do you think they'll play "MMMBop?" people. I can't. I might smile for the most part... but no, I can't. I was talking to about 8 or so girls and the topic was the set list. I told them, "I reeeeaaaally hope they play "Penny & Me". I'd also love to hear "In the City" but I know that won't happen." Those chicks looked at me like I was an alien or something. Those girls: "I don't know those songs." Blah, blah, blah, "Omg MMMBop!" blah, blah, blahhhh, "What if they don't play MMMBop?!" So, I did my duty, washed my hands... "Oh, and I'm sorry to tell you, they don't play 'MMMBop' anymore..." HAHAHA!!!!! I have never seen that many mortified looks in my life. I thought they were going to kill themselves. "Dude. Of course they're going to play "MMMBop"... give me a break. But they do have other songs, ya know..." Yes, they could've killed me, but I couldn't help it. That was too easy.

Show time. Hanson took the invisible stage (they were on floor level sitting on stools) around 2:25pm. They opened the acoustic set with "Fired Up", which is a song from their new album, Anthem (which came out last Tuesday, I'll write a review soon!) I love that song!! It's one of my favorites off the album! It got the crowd going. Hell, they could've read the phone book and it would've got the crowd going. Next up was "Where's the Love"... it was 1997 all over again. It was precious. Absolutely precious. "Precious" was the word of the day... or at least for the duration of their set. It was amazing. Pop/rock songs stripped down, unplugged... and they still managed to rock and get the crowd dancing and going nuts. It was amazing. "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'" was next... I absolutely adore that song. I can safely say that about half of the fans in attendance felt the same way. Song #4 (which is also my favorite number, by the way) was... wait for it... "Penny & Me". PENNY & ME!!!!!!!!!!!! ♥ OMG I died. I went into total friggin' fangirl mode. It was disgusting... and amazing... all at the same time. They were talking before the song, about Zac rocking out too much while pounding on his box (no drums, pounding on a wooden box thing), about the vibe of the room, Fresno, etc. Anyway, Isaac started to briefly play the intro to "P&M" and I yelled, "OH MY GAWD!!!!!" And it was loud. No shame. Nope, none whatsoever. Next up was "Cut Right Through Me", another song from Anthem. "MMMBop" was next and the place completely erupted. I think the fans were singing louder than they were. That was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The guys were full of smiles. Almost the entire time. I also think they were absolutely shocked... I don't know if they had only expected 50 people to be there or what... but they looked surprised, grateful... ecstatic... and absolutely adorable. I used to be a Taylor girl with Isaac tendencies... but I've been a Zac girl for a while now... haha! Actually, I'm just a Hanson girl, because dammit, I love them all. I refuse to even pick one. *Fangirl moment over, back to the set* "Get the Girl Back" was next, which is their first and current single from Anthem. The crowd went wild for that one, too. Fully equipped with the cute little hand clap. The set ended with "Waiting For This" (from the album, Shout It Out)... the crowd was still loving every second of it. Then it was over. Bam. Just like that. Is that even legal? How dare they. Haha! 8 songs... and roughly 38 minutes or so. But those 38 minutes were probably the best 38 minutes of my life. That was the greatest thing I've ever witnessed. I'm not even kidding. 

 A nice girl let me take a picture of her set list :)

I've been to a lot of concerts and "shows"... but this one, I can't even explain this one. I mean, I couldn't even sleep that night. I think I finally fell asleep around 5am? This day and this show... this 38 minute show, was the greatest thing ever. I don't care what anyone says, Hanson is a great f*ckin' band and I love them. Plugged in or unplugged, their live shows friggin' rock. They celebrated their 21st "birthday" this year and they're still going strong. Personally, I think they are better than ever. Hanson forever ♥

Peace, Love, & Hanson,

~Lizzy Lepp

-P.S. This also happened, after the show.

 Zac was driving!

See ya, Ike! Come back soon!