Day 461 of James Bishop’s daily video blog was titled “Best Day Ever.”
In it, Bishop walks on the sidewalk outside his UK flat, birds chirp in the background, the sun shines and he can hardly speak.
After more than a year of daily video pleas to his favorite band Hanson, he learned that the Tulsa trio definitely will not play at his July 28 wedding to Jennie Tripp.
So why is this man smiling?
“Is there anything better than Hanson at my wedding?” the grinning 26-year-old asks the camera he’s pointed at his face. “Yes! Hanson at my honeymoon!”
The uberfan created a website, YouTube channel, blog site and Twitter feed dedicated to #hansonatmywedding, and filled it with daily requests to the band.
Tripp and Bishop were engaged Jan. 19 of last year and the “Hanson at My Wedding” drive started about a month later. Bishop wanted to surprise his bride-to-be with a gig from his (and her) favorite band, he told the Tulsa World back in March.
Now that’s some serious commitment. News outlets from Oxford, England, to Brazil and even right here in Tulsa were curious and reported on #hansonatmywedding. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of videos were made.
Hanson’s reply?
Silence.
At least, until Day 461: Monday, May 21, 2012.
A YouTube video shows the three Hanson brothers huddled in front of a computer screen. The video’s title: “Hanson @ My Honeymoon: Day 1.”
“We have this problem,” said Zac Hanson. “For a while now, we’ve known that we’ve been committed to play another concert on that day, that wedding day.”
That, they admit, and the fact that the only weddings they’ll play are their own.
“What if we gave them a really nice gift?” he asked his brothers. “I’m guessing probably the nicest gift you can get from someone who really doesn’t know you.”
Chimed in Isaac, “… ‘From someone who doesn’t know you’ is probably the key part …”
Zac, Taylor and Isaac start a finger drum roll on the desk in front of them … Then make an announcement.
No, it’s not a Hanson-themed toaster or his-and-her Hanson tees.
“Bishop and Jennie, can we play your … honeymoon?” asked Isaac.
Zac clarified, “Not your real honeymoon.”
“No, that would be creepy,” finished Isaac.
“Your second honeymoon!” said Zac.
With that, they announced that they’ll fly Bishop and Tripp to the band’s five-day island party and pay for their stay at Hanson’s “Back to the Island” retreat, January in Jamaica.
“We admire your dedication,” said Taylor. “And now we’re giving it back to you … We’re waiting for your reply.”
From half a planet away, it was nearly instantaneous.
“I had to leave the house,” Bishop said in his video response. Slowly, a smile envelopes his face as his mouth widens in shock. “Jennie’s there, and she still doesn’t know anything about this. Holy moly … I’m going to Jamaica! You’re generosity is unbelievable,” he told the Hansons.
“Dreams come true, people; if you try hard enough, you can get anything done!”
Except, maybe keeping a secret this epic from your bride-to-be.
But that hasn’t stopped him from trying that, either.
He tweeted: “I won’t be telling Jennie about @hansonmusic’s incredible gift until the big day. Well, I won’t be telling her, I’ll leave that to the guys!” he said, referencing the video.
Bishop said he and longtime friend Chris Douch began a social media drive because “we are both writers and performers who have very little money, and thought, ‘We can’t pay them in dollars, but we can pay them in our time.’ After all, time is money and money is time …” he told the Tulsa World back in March.
He tweeted Monday, “In case you were wondering, I’m on cloud 9!”
Followers of the feed went nuts at the news, congratulating the to-be-weds: “My favorite band is better than yours. Hats off to @hansonmusic for being good sports and doing ‘Hanson At My Honeymoon’ for @BishopandDouch,” wrote Zees84.
Wrote KireinaHitz after seeing the video exchanges: “I’m crying!!! really, really Bishop congrats!! you deserve it!! and Hanson, YOU’RE THE BEST BAND EVER.”
Indeed, “it’s not a bad replacement!!” replied the official Hanson at My Wedding Twitter feed, then added a new hashtag: #hansonatmyhoneymoon.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=269&articleid=20120522_269_D1_CUTLIN933794