Renowned For Sound

The first thing I thought when I walked through the doors of Sydney’s Enmore Theatre last night for a skip through nineties pop nostalgia was, ‘Well, you’ve gotta given these boys some serious credit for this”. The pop landscape is a ruthless one and it’s been more unforgiving to bands with a lot more commercial weight behind them than sibling trio Hanson. Yet, in a world where bands come and go and reality shows turn out stars so quickly, as if the world was about to come to a sudden halt, Hanson have matured gracefully into a powerful threesome that seem to have gained more credibility as the years have rolled by. As far as success goes, the road has been very well travelled for the Oklahoma brothers. While success for Taylor, Isaac and Zac was at its peak in the nineties with hits like Where’s The Love and MMMBop, they have retained fans and industry respect as seasoned musicians, performers and songwriters over the past 22 years with early studio albums like Middle of Nowhere, mid-career highlights like This Time Around and more recent records like 2010’s Shout It Out. The lads have also dabbled in Motown/Soul recently with the release of new album Anthem, gaining a wider fan base as they take the new collection on the road to fans around the globe. Having already blown away the crowds at Brisbane’s Tivoli Threate and the Gold Coast’s Coolangatta Hotel earlier this week, the wheels were well oiled by the time the trio took to the staged last night at The Enmore Threatre, a venue well experiences in hosting bands from the nineties over the years with Aqua, Vengaboys and most recently 5ive all setting up shop at the Newtown venue and drawing the masses. Last night was no different with the intimate venue overflowing with fans; crowds of teenage girls packing the venue all ready to take a selfie with the band and sing along to some of pops staple hits. Without an inch of floors space spared by the time the band took to the stage at just after 9pm with the appropriate Fired Up which also serves the new album as its opening track before launching into I’ve Got Soul, a nod the predominant style heard on the latest studio collection, and the mammoth Where’s The Love which was, along with MMMBop, an unsurprising highlight of the night. The opening of the show successfully had the crowd worked into an early sweat as they danced and sang along with the band at a deafening volume. There wasn’t much of the Hanson back catalogue left untouched last night as the band were on top form and delivered a strong 25-song set for the sold out crowd in Sydney, touching on early commercial songs right through to the band’s latest studio effort with tracks like the lead single Get the Girl Back, with its Motown-esque vibe filling up the venue, and Juliet which saw Taylor swap his usual piano embraced position on stage with brother Zac on drums for the memorable addition to the set. You also could not really ask much more from a band when it comes to stage time – performing non-stop for a solid 2 hours and while Taylor took the lead vocal lead for the majority of the set in his front-man role, Zac was given some time to shine on tracks like Scream and Be Free and his solo performance of the yet to be released track Get So Low. Isaac also delivered a memorable performance of the rollicking Hand In Hand during the solo centre of the night. While new songs like You Can’t Stop Us Now with its We Will Rock You-esque drum beat and the summer road-trip feel of Penny & Me were welcomed by the crowd who lapped up every moment that they were in the presence of pop royalty, particularly as Taylor neared the front rows to gasping fans and when Zac released his flowing locks to the hollers and squeals from the over-excited teenage girls in the audience, the golden oldies were the key crowd-pleasers within the set. The cheers were almost unbearable as the band launched into early up-tempo highlight Where’s The Love and MMMBop which showed up further down the set with almost everyone in the venue raising their camera phones in the air to get a snapshot of the nights key moments. The audience gushed over the ballads just as much; Weird was an obvious scene stealer within the set, as was the mid-section of the set-list as each member took to the stage alone to perform a number for the crowd. We were also treated to a cover of the Bee Gees hit Too Much Heaven by the trio who stood centre stage around a microphone, delivering an acapella version of iconic ballad to their adoring fans. Although the band started out in almost bubble-gum-pop territory in the early nineties, Taylor, Isaac and Zac have made the successful transition from teenybopper pop stars to fully-fledged musicians who have retained and gained a very loyal fan-base over these past 22 years in the business. The lads deliver a powerful set and have a sturdy catalogue to fuel a very memorable performance. Set List: Fired Up I’ve Got Soul Where’s The Love Scream And Be Free Thinking Of You You Can’t Stop Us Now On And On Weird Too Much Heaven Hand In Hand Get So Low A Song To Sing Juliet You Never Know Tragic Symphony Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’ Waiting For This A Minute Without You Penny & Me Give A Little MMMBop Get The Girl Back Something Going Round Encore: This Time Around In The City

Mix 1023

Joda, Soda, Snowy and our lucky prize winner Bernadette headed down to SA Brewing to meet and greet Hanson!

Bernadette won the prize for being “Adelaide Biggest Hanson Fan”. She told us:

“In 2005 I met Hanson out the front of the Mix 102.3 station, after getting there at 1am in the morning. We tried to follow them in my car but they pulled over and told us to stop following them. I LOVE HANSON SO MUCH, It would be the best 30th birthday gift if I could have a beer with Hanson.”

Isaac and Taylor from the band proved very knowledgeable on beer and even brought along some of their own beer Mmmhops for everyone to try!
Read more at

b-side scene

After having my name ticked off the door list, I sheepishly join the two lines that are growing from the pavement and converging into one dense line at the bottom of the stairs.

It’s a Wednesday night at the Cooly Hotel and having worked all day and battled thick peak hour traffic from Brisbane, I’d normally have gone for comfortable shoes.

But not tonight.

From past experience, height is necessary.

Surveying the others in the lines, I’m satisfied with my selection of Camper wedge heels, but then am suddenly flooded with a feeling of apprehension and a knotted fire burning within. Claustrophobia perhaps? Or nerves?

The lines begin to swell forward and it’s not long before I’m up the stairs and inside a large, dimly lit open room, with a bar in the rear and an illuminated but still, set stage.

Without thinking I head for the far side of the stage where it’s less crowded.

A fifth row position with uninterrupted views of the grand piano, drums and mic stand, where I know the guitarist will be, is mine.

Right on 8:30pm, the support act Adam Martin takes the stage and warms us up.

But adding to my apprehension and confusion are the conversations happening around me from women in their 30s sharing photos of babies and talking about toy trucks. Something I’m used to in other circumstances but not really at concerts and the like.

Their stories are cut short as we’re hit by a deafening high pitched roar that swarms the crowd as Hanson bound on stage and take up their expected instruments, with Taylor grabbing his mic and moving to centre stage.

An explosion of soulful and unstoppable Hanson rock ’n’ roll permeates the room and my body. Finding it hard to be in the moment and believe that I’m at my fourth Hanson concert since 1997, I realise I have to decide whether I’m going to be an onlooker or return the energy and enthusiasm.

It feels so foreign from my daily life, but as soon as I give over to the beat, the lyrics, the riff and melody, I realise that the fire burning inside is excitement. I’m Fired Up! And don’t want to be anywhere else.

As the first Australian Hanson concert of the Anthem Tour to have a fan voted set list, we were in for over two hours of surprises.

Following Fired Up, the first set included:

Where’s the love
And I waited
This time around
Crazy beautiful
If only

Switching to an acoustic set, we were treated to:

Weird
Wish that I was there
Save me

The third set saw their energy levels go one better and Hanson engage more with the crowd between songs, introducing:

Juliet
Lost without you
Been there before
Penny and me
Georgia
A minute without you

Whilst, Fired Up, Weird and Juliet were highlights for me thus far, Taylor then announced that the next song was a rarity.

“We’ve never performed this song before in Australia. But voted by you, this next song is Cried/Cry,” Taylor said.

Immediately I was transported to my teenage bedroom of 1997 and saw myself enjoying the ‘I will come to you’ single b-side song, Cry/Cried.

Thinking ‘Bout Something and Give a Little from their 2012 Shout It Out album release followed, before they gave the 20-odd males in the room some advice on how to Get the Girl Back when they, the guys, occasionally blow it with their girl.

The set closed with MMMBop and Lost Without Each Other before the guys returned for an encore with You Can’t Stop Us from their latest release, Anthem, and Man from Milwaukee from their 1997 Middle of Nowhere album. I was in rock ’n’ roll power-pop heaven!

With their final bow, the crowd made an agreement with Hanson that we’d all come back and support them when they return for another tour.

Count me in, but I can’t help but feel fired up and inspired to do more than just that.

Although it’s been a few years since I embraced my inner gypsy, somehow packing away my Thermomix and cookie-cutter 9-5 job for a few months on the road myself is very appealing.

Chasing live music across America for a few months and staying alive to the 13 year old dreamer inside might just be worth diggin’ my hot heels in for.

May the Rock Be With You 

Just shy of two years ago I saw Hanson at this same venue and it was absolutely chock a block then, and from everything I’ve heard tonight will be no different. Here promoting their new album ‘Anthem’ the boys are back to perform, to entertain, and to once again hopefully shut those people up that may just still be a little stuck in 1997…

Adam Martin got the job of supporting tonight and although it’s always a tough job, he actually did quite well to engage the crowd in particular with his early cover of ‘Wonderwall’ that got people singing along. Throwing in smattering of originals in between the covers were crowd friendly enough to keep people interested for what is to come. Overall he had a good sound and good presence on stage for his short set.

Now, before the show even starts the atmosphere in here is electric, there’s a vibe and it’s amazing. Hanson means so much to those that have come out tonight and you can just tell that this night will be something special.

OK, I now officially can’t hear anything. The deafening screams I’m hearing right now are nothing short of astounding. This band is loved. I mean seriously loved by those here, it’s like nothing I’ve heard in a long time. As they grace the stage all dressed in black and waste absolutely no time in busting into the opener for the show and the first track from ‘Anthem’ we get ‘Fired Up’ and it is on. This is a show that tonight will not only surprise many but impress more and I’m not even joking when I say that the screams have been constant throughout this entire first song. What I love about Hanson as I’ve followed their career is watching them evolve into these absolutely astounding musicians and song writers, they have crafted their music to how they want and deliver it in a means that the ‘fansons’ that have been there since 1997 still have something to get excited over. Oh and I don’t just mean the women, I consider myself somewhat in that category too, yeah I’m not scared to admit I like Hanson.

‘I’ve Got Soul’ sums up what the band are all about these days as they dive straight into an old school favourite of ‘Where’s The Love?’ and the eruption was nothing short of staggering. Back to Anthem with ‘Scream and Be Free’ which got them going even more with some fun crowd participation, then into ‘Thinking of You’ which was a favourite but not as much as when the thumping drums of ‘You Can’t Stop Us’ happened and with Zac taking the lead on the vocals this song just raised the roof. Wow. As the entire stage is vacated to an audible interlude this early on I’m not sure what we’re in for here but let’s see as I’m sure it’ll be something cool. Oh here we go. Three acoustic guitars and three Hanson brothers take the stage as a sea of phones get lifted to capture this moment of fandom where they explain how they wrote some of these songs purely for their fan club which is amazing to hear as a fan of bands and music in general that a band takes the time to do something like this. Hearing a song like ‘On and On’ like this tonight is pretty amazing as not all those here would know it so it’s a nice live experience which will stick. As the acoustic guitars get put away and I get deafened purely by the fact that Zac took his hair out of its ponytail and I feel like Hanson can do absolutely no wrong tonight and I’m ok with that. Right now they’re playing ‘Weird’ and every single person here tonight knows it and is shouting the lyrics back to the stage, it’s seriously something to witness. Putting the guitars away they gather around one microphone to pay homage to the Bee Gees and sing the song ‘Too Much Heaven’ completely acapella and it’s nothing short of astounding. Two words. Vocal. Talent.

The band vacates the stage and leaves Isaac there with an acoustic guitar as the solos begin, he gives us a song called ‘Hand In Hand’ which was great, then taking it in turns, Zac gets his solo with a yet to be released song as he takes to the piano to give us a taste of ‘Get So Low’. Screams get louder as it’s time for Taylor’s solo… throwing in a big piano ballad ‘A Song to Sing’ which was as powerful as you’d want and expect. This part of the show to me just showed how each brother can hold their own and not have to ‘hide’ behind a band, but can play a song solo and it be flawless.

The entire band returns to the stage as Taylor jumps behind the drums and Zac takes lead vocals and piano for ‘Juliet’ from Anthem and watching the waving arms is testament to the fact that this is a new crowd favourite, then as ‘You Never Know’ gets a run along with ‘Tragic Symphony’ the mood subdued a little but not for long as Zac belts the cowbell signifying ‘Thinking’ bout Somethin’’ from previous album ‘Shout It Out’ and you can tell that this crowd knows their Hanson, they know the newer stuff, they aren’t stuck in a time warp and it’s something fun to be a part of, it continues with ‘Waiting For This’ from the same album… Whoa… The ground started shaking when ‘A Minute Without You’ happened… That was nuts. Actual nuts. What a song that is, and amazing to hear it tonight. Yes!!! ‘Penny & Me’ from my favourite Hanson album ‘Underneath’ which as you could imagine got a lot of love and sounded perfect as the harmonies these guys are known for shine through superbly and don’t miss even one bit, but now it’s finally a song for the five of us guys in the audience ‘Give a Little’ is up and is funky, plus any song with a key change is a winner in my books as you should all know by now.

My eardrums just completely punctured… Thanks for the warning guys… Yeah it’s ‘MMMbop’ and fuck you if you don’t like this song right now, this is awesome. This matured version of the song shows that with some age between the song and now that they can still play it and you know what? It’s actually a damn catchy song still. Hang on I just need to get into it for a minute. That. Was. Fun. Of course it was by far the biggest song of the night.

Jumping back from 1997 to 2014 and the first single from ‘Anthem’ with ‘Get The Girl Back’ as a sea of glow sticks are held aloft, which reminds me of a story when I saw Bon Jovi in 2001 in New Jersey and the glow stick plan during ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ let’s just say I’ll tell you the story of my failed glow stick timing another time… but back to Hanson, and it’s funny putting this song directly after ‘MMMbop’ to see the contrast and what is interesting is there really isn’t much difference. Hanson have always delivered songs that are catchy, that are relatable and are just damn fun. I seriously love this band for what they do and continue to do.

‘Something Going Round’ keeps the vibe up as the band leaves the stage only to return very quickly for a well-deserved encore. Oh sweet, ‘This Time Around’ I wasn’t sure if we’d get this but here it is!! That’s such a big song and in this live environment is perfect, such a build, and such a fan favourite. Then to close the show we are ‘In The City’ and this is the perfect rocker this far into the set and to go out on a high. Instruments down, cheers and adulation that have to be heard to be believed, and the promise of a return soon, and why wouldn’t they?, they absolutely owned tonight and in fact owned the country as the Hanson love is deep and will be ongoing, mark my words.

In summary: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again in no uncertain terms, throw away your preconceived notions of Hanson and just go to a show and witness one of the most entertaining and musically perfect live shows from ANY band you’ll ever see. I’m even more impressed than I was two years ago oh and also a little more deaf…

Essential Information

Venue: The Enmore Theatre – Sydney

Date: August 8, 2014

Supports: Adam Martin

Website: www.hanson.net

Photos by Peter Coates – Inside Edge photography – check out our full photo gallery HERE

Set List:
Fired Up
I’ve Got Soul
Where’s the Love
Scream And Be Free
Thinking of You
You Can’t Stop Us
On and On (acoustic)
Weird (acoustic)
Too Much Heaven (Bee Gees cover) (acapella)
Hand in Hand (Isaac solo)
Get So Low (Zac solo)
A Song to Sing (Taylor solo)
Juliet
You Never Know
Tragic Symphony
Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’
Waiting for This
A Minute Without You
Penny & Me
Give a Little
MMMBop
Get the Girl Back
Something Going Round
This Time Around
In the City

Oh and if you missed it, check out our chat with Zac Hanson here…