The advice they would give their younger selves is “Leave the label sooner. Tour more.”
If they were an Avenger, who would they be?
Wintry Mix Tour Stats
Hanson has just finished up a quick run of shows for the Wintry Mix tour. Setlists consisted of a mix of new, old and holiday tunes – let’s see how they break down:
Members Only Event (Pre Show) – 3
Wintry Mix Tour – 16
Hanson played 403 songs live
Hanson played 51 unique songs live
Hanson played 9% of the songs in the database live
Middle of Nowhere
Thinking of You – 1
MMMBop – 16
Where’s The Love – 16
A Minute Without You – 15
This Time Around
If Only – 7
This Time Around – 16
Hand in Hand – 4 (Isaac solo: 4)
In The City – 5
A Song To Sing – 2 (Taylor solo: 2)
Snowed In
Merry Christmas Baby – 15
What Christmas Means To Me – 15
Little Saint Nick – 14
Run Rudolph Run – 16
White Christmas – 8
Underneath
Penny and Me – 7
Lost Without Each Other – 15
Crazy Beautiful – 5 (Taylor solo: 4)
Hey – 4
The Walk
Georgia – 1
Shout It Out
Waiting For This – 16
Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’ – 15
Make It Out Alive – 2
ANTHEM
Fired Up – 6
Get The Girl Back – 14
2003 Kit
Down – 2
Rock N Roll Razorblade – 15
Facing the Blank Page
Get Out Of My Heart – 1
Music Made For Humans
White Collar Crime – 2
Inside the Box
Dance Like You Don’t Care – 2
Loud
No Rest For The Weary – 3
Finally It’s Christmas
Finally It’s Christmas – 15
Wonderful Christmas Time – 15 / Come On It’s Christmas – 15
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer – 4 (Zac solo: 1)
Please Come Home For Christmas – 2
Joy To The Mountain – 7
Winter Wonderland – 12
Middle of Everywhere – The Greatest Hits
I Was Born – 15
In Color
Somebody That Wants To Love You – 2
I Don’t Want To Go Home – 3
String Theory
Battle Cry – 1
In Real Life
Compromise – 1
Against The World
Against The World – 4
Don’t Ever Change – 15
Annalie – 13
Better Man – 9 (Zac solo: 9)
One – 5 (Zac solo: 5)
Serious Woman – 3 (Taylor solo: 3)
Missing, Needing, Wanting You – 1 (Isaac solo: 1)
Unreleased
Somewhere Outside Of Vegas – 1
Holiday cheer and grownup pop from Hanson at the House of Blues
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It’s possible that failing to sustain the megawatt success they experienced right out the gate with 1997′s inescapable “MMMBop” was the best thing that could have happened to Hanson. Their omnipresence provided them with access to the very large, very fickle audience typical of teen-pop, and Hanson proceeded (intentionally or not) to winnow that pool down the modest, unfathomably loyal audience typical of cult artists. More than two decades on, as the three brothers took the House of Blues stage on Friday, the ardor of their fans remained largely undimmed, albeit on a far more manageable — and likely less crazymaking — scale.
The material’s uncommon consistency surely helped. There was no noticeable creakiness as Hanson ventured further from either their commercial peak or current maturity; as-yet-unreleased songs like “Annalie” (whose polyrhythms and world-folky acoustic sophistication recalled Paul Simon, with sparkling harmonies as an added bonus) sat comfortably side-by-side with the uplift of 2000′s “This Time Around.” And it wasn’t simply that they’d maintained quality control over the years; the honed popcraft behind numbers like the floating “A Minute Without You” was always there, right from the start.
The band’s originals also sounded great next to the holiday songs scattered throughout; given the season and the two Christmas albums to their name, it was no surprise that Hanson dug liberally into both. With drummer Zac Hanson on lead for “What Christmas Means To Me,” the notes practically bounced off of Taylor Hanson’s piano, and “Little Saint Nick” offered a little more four-on-the-floor chug than the Beach Boys’ original. And “Winter Wonderland” had both a New Orleans roll and a guitar pulling things forward, generating tension.
Something else that remained consistent was the music’s emotional tenor, which was bright and cheery throughout, never not upbeat. Well, not never: It took 11 songs before guitarist Isaac Hanson offered the first glimpse of sadness and anguish in his solo acoustic “Hand In Hand,” and Taylor followed by leaving enough of the piano notes of “A Song to Sing” hanging to give it an air of melancholy.
But those were the only oases of shadow in an otherwise sunny set, appearing only when the brothers were by their lonesome. Even a kissoff like “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin'” had a churchy ebullience to it. “Sometimes it’s good to leave on a high,” said Taylor near the end. As if Hanson ever left any other option.
Fronted by Mac Hanson (of the Hanson Hansons) with a Jack Black glint of mad power in his eyes, openers Joshua & The Holy Rollers went adrift when they strayed from ’70s-style howler rock. They were followed by Paul McDonald, who applied his pinched tenor to aimless adult-contemporary and styled himself to look like Jackson Maine: The Non-Greasy Years.
Voice’s choices: This year’s highs and lows
Every December the staff that brings you The Tulsa Voice hashes out the best and worst of the year—from movies to Tulsa moments.
Georgia Brooks, graphic designer
Best live show: Hanson’s String Theory concert at the PAC
I take this opportunity to pronounce that “MmmBop” is one of the best pop songs of all time. I was worried that it might lose its magic with an orchestra, but that was silly: everything is epic with an orchestra! Shout out to my friend Annie for inviting me. I might have missed it if not for her pure, Hanson-loving heart.
HANSON: Last Before Christmas!
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Things to do this weekend
Isaac Hanson, Zac Hanson, and Taylor Hanson of Hanson perform onstage during the Bobby Bones & The Raging Idiots’ Million Dollar Show for St. Jude at the Ryman Auditorium on Jan. 22, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. Credit: Getty Images for St. Jude/Jason Kempin
HANSON
Are you a Fanson? Fans of the band Hanson are dedicated beyond the crush stage.
“We came up in an era where it seemed like we were considered pop teen heartthrobs but our fans connected with us in a deeper way,” says drummer Zac Hanson. “We are actually more of an emo band than anybody has given us credit for.”
The band’s Wintry Mix tour will feature rock-n-roll style Christmas songs from their holiday albums (“Snowed In,” “Finally It’s Christmas”), a preview of their upcoming 2020 album, “Against the World” and a healthy dose of Hanson classics (“Where’s The Love,” “This Time Around,” “Thinking of You”) including their No.1 single, “MMMBop.”
“ ‘MMMBop’ rings truer with time,” says Hanson. “It’s about how life comes and goes. You have to reach for what is going to matter right now.”
WHEN/WHERE 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 21, The Paramount, 370 New York Avenue, Huntington
INFO $39.50-$49.50; 631-673-7300 paramountny.com
Hanson
’90s kids may find it hard to believe, but it’s been more than 20 years since brotherly trio Hanson captured teen hearts nationwide with the release of “MMMBop” in April 1997. Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson are all grown up now, but they can still work a crowd into a frenzy, which they’ll prove at House of Blues on Friday. (Friday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m.; House of Blues, Boston; $39-55; all ages)
Hanson at Royal Oak Music Theatre, 5 Things to Know
Hanson performs Tuesday, Dec. 17 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre (Photo courtesy 3CG Records)
It’s been more than 20 years since Brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson rocked our world with “MMMBop,” and the Tulsa, Okla. trio hasn’t taken its foot off the pedal since.
Now all in their 30s — and with Isaac turning 40 next year — Hanson has carefully and judiciously pared down its career into a model of independent music-making. Since 2004’s “Underneath” the group has maintained its own record label, 3CG, and it’s launched other endeavors ranging from philanthropy to beer.
It’s also maintained a steady touring schedule, making sure its loyal body of fans never goes too long without a fix…
• Hanson’s current Wintry Mix Tour is, as the title indicates, a blend of music from the trio’s two holiday albums and favorites from its nine other releases. “We’re a touring band,” Zac Hanson, 34, says by phone. “We need to be out on the road. There was a window, but we didn’t’ want to do a straight holiday, wearing Santa suits kind of show. So we came up with the idea of a mixtape; It’s about one-third Christmas songs and we’re doing a handful of brand new song that are coming out next year and the rest is Hanson stuff you would expect. No reindeer, no elves, just enough Christmas so that it feels like a Hanson Christmas party.”
• In early October Hanson broke ribs, a clavicle and his scapula in a motorcycle crash in Tulsa. He’s now “a little sore but unscathed…That was a crazy thing; I’m not a crazy thrill-seeker, but I do like a little adrenalin. I was driving my motorcycle and, well….I know you’re worried about the bike. It’s OK, totally fine.”
• A friend Dash Hutton, subbed on drums for Hanson early in the tour, which he says gave him a new perspective about singing at the front of the stage. “I think singers should get paid, like, half,” he says with a laugh. “really, they have so much less to worry about. As a drummer, you’re using all four limbs and then singing; Take four out of five away and you’re just singing. It was fun, but I had to find a cowbell or tambourine to give myself something to add other than just my patented Zac high harmonies.”
• Coming off 2018’s orchestrated “String Theory,” Hanson now has two new albums in motion — “Against the World” for 2020 and another to follow. Zac says neither one is completed yet but that fans can expect a substantial amount of new music in the near future. “These days we’re really not thinking about having a hit or having a success but having a storyline and this whole community of people who are part of it,” he explains. “We teasingly call it the Hanson Musical Universe, like the Marvel movies; You’ll always know what the next one is, and if you don’t like this one maybe you’ll like the next one. To pull that off we have to plan further and further ahead, so why not tell people what’s coming? It doesn’t need to be a secret. We can share the information and it should be something everybody’s looking forward to together.”
• Hanson — who at 12 years old was the youngest songwriter ever nominated for a Grammy back in 1997 — says it’s been interesting to grow from hot teen hitmakers into what he now calls “almost a heritage band. It’s now nostalgia. My daughter (Junia) is turning nine, and she’s having a 90s-themed birthday party. We come from that era. So we’re at this interesting place where we can almost stop making new music and sort of coast — but that’s not what we’re wanting to do. That’s not worthy of continuing. So much of our music is about overcoming and living up to your potential. That’s kind of our calling card, and a lot of the heart of the music comes from that.”
Hanson, Paul McDonald and Joshua & the Holy Rollers perform Tuesday, Dec. 17, at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, 316 W. Fourth St. Doors at 6 p.m. $39.50-$79.50. 248-399-2980 or royaloakmusictheatre.com.
How Hanson Celebrates The Holiday
Zac and Isaac Hanson made a stop at All-Star Christmas, right in between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. They talked to Salt about how they celebrate the holidays, what they argue over during Thanksgiving (SPOILERS: it’s not politics), what their kids want for Christmas, and more.
Will There Be Another Generation of Musical Hansons?
Isaac and Zac Hanson joined Gina J backstage at All-Star Christmas and talked the Wintry Mix Tour, new music for 2020,what it’s like to have a 40-person Thanksgiving holiday, and more. Plus, Zac and Isaac talk about whether their own kids– some of whom are in the same age range they were when “Mmmbop” came out– will continue in their dads’ musical footsteps.
Tuesday Trivia
After tours, band members do the following to recuperate:
Taylor – cookies and cream ice cream
Isaac – sleeping / whiskey / cigars
Zac – Xbox is like cocaine
What advice would the band give their younger selves?