Pop band Hanson, who rose to fame in the 1990s, are still going strong. But now the three brothers — Isaac, Taylor and Zac — are all grown up (youngest, Zac was a pre-teen when the band’s hit “MMMBop” charted; this year he and his wife had their second son) and, though still pop-savvy, have more magnanimous goals than mere pop stardom. Enter Hanson’s Shout It Out tour, which arrived in Asheville today.
From a press release: “HANSON is proud to announce the first two legs of their North American tour in support of their highly anticipated fifth record, Shout It Out. The announcement of the tour follows a whirlwind week of excitement for the band’s debut single, “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’” which was released to digital outlets Friday in conjunction with the premiere network television performance of the song on the Late Show with David Letterman, and the music video debut on Myspace, garnering praise from fans and critics alike including Perez Hilton, MTV, Entertainment Weekly, Absolute Punk and Salon. The video, featuring “Weird” Al Yankovic, was viewed over a million times in the first few days of release, and is still rising. The exuberant homage to classic film The Blues Brothers, recreates an iconic scene where the band’s soulful music incites over 300 people to dance in the street.”
The tour combines with the brothers’ ongoing Take The Walk campaign where, at each tour stop, they walk one mile barefoot with their fans. The walk raises awareness about poverty and AIDS in Africa where many children can’t afford footware. Fans walk barefoot in solidarity with those misfortunate children; each walker also pledges to donate $1 to a cause such as fighting AIDS, building schools or donating shoes. Hanson has teamed with TOMS Shoes, a company which donates a pair of shoes to a needy child for each pair sold. Many fans at today’s walk — which left The Orange Peel around 3 p.m. — were wearing TOMS shoes.
Info about the walk came via Twitter: “join us for the walk at the orange peel today! 2:30, C U there -Taylor.”
Hanson plays the Orange Peel tonight. 8 p.m., Rooney opens. Tickets are $28 at the door and are still available.
Head to the source to view photos from the walk!