Macleans

Handout photo/CP

Just beyond the Ferris wheel, the Wac-a-Mole, and an alley of deep-fried food, 500 people are gathered in front of the main stage at the Western Fair in London, Ont. They’ve shelled out the $14 admission on Friday night for the retro kick of seeing former teen sensations Hanson play their 1997 megahit MMMBop. They will not leave disappointed.

“We play MMMBop almost every show,” Taylor Hanson says before they take the stage. “I mean honestly, MMMBop is a fun song to play. It’s a groovy song, it’s not actually that hard to sing.”

When the band launches into those telltale opening chords late in their 90-minute set, there’s a collective cheer from the spectators, who are holding a mix of cotton candy, kids, and tall cans.

The members of the band are extremely good-natured about the fact that they’re playing at a fairground, a gig where their competition on a side stage is a hypnotist: “If you’re just walking through the fair, grabbing a snow cone—we’re a band called Hanson!”

Exactly 15 years ago, this sort of announcement would not have been necessary. Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson were on their first stadium tour, playing to thousands of fans every night, selling out venues like the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As one of a legion of teen girls who lost their minds for the brothers, I remember the madness well. I bought four tickets to their June 1998 show at Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre for myself and three friends—and then I bought four more when better seats went on sale.

“That first tour was kind of an extraordinary situation,” Taylor says. “You always want to play for as many people as possible, so make no mistake, arenas are awesome.

“But I think musically, it is a better experience for us, and I think also for the audience, in a theatre or larger club,” Isaac finishes.

No, Hanson isn’t on a reunion tour. Since leaving their label to become an independent band in 2001, they’ve actually put out four albums, playing the new material to smaller audiences. Starting in Vancouver in Oct. 2, they have 14 Canadian stops planned to promote their latest album, Anthem. Their sound has matured, but not in a forced Miley Cyrus way. It’s simply a little less pop, and little more blues and soul. Unlike their 1990s contemporaries—the Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, the Spice Girls—they never broke up to enter rehab, or pursue film careers, or marry David Beckham.

But what their lower profile masks is the religious devotion that still exists for the band from a core group of dedicated Fansons (their pun, not mine). If you wanted a front-row spot at the London show, you would have had to get in line 28 hours earlier, when superfans like Jen Willock from Cambridge, Ont., arrived to spend the night outside the gates.

“Since I first heard MMMBop, I was hooked,” says Willock, who is seeing Hanson live for the 79th time. There have been times when she’s had to fight her bosses for additional time off in order to follow the band. In 2009, when she had tickets to Hanson’s stint on the Rock Boat cruise in the Caribbean but no vacation time, she says she “broke down and cried” until they relented.

After more than a decade of devotion, it’s difficult for the Fansons to articulate why their favourite band from their tween years is still their favourite band today. They’re just the best. They just are. Most express a mix of crushes on the brothers, an appreciation for their charity work and how well they treat their fans, and real admiration for their musical talent.

“Can you write that they’re not a boy band?” Arica Hanley asks. This is her 23rd concert, which she dismisses as “a very low number” by Fanson standards. “They write real music. They play their own instruments. They don’t do synchronized dance routines.”

Hanson released its first major-label album in the boy-band friendly summer of 1997, and the brothers have been fighting that association ever since. I remember making exactly the same arguments with my 13-year-old peers whose loyalty was to the Backstreet Boys. They were totally manufactured! Hanson was a real band. I allowed no other CD in my discman. I bought every magazine they appeared in. I started an eBay business selling merchandise only available in Canada, in order to make enough money to buy more merchandise. I blame the hair.

Isaac, Taylor and Zac all lost their long blond locks years ago, but otherwise their live show doesn’t look dramatically different. Back in 1998, I remember the screaming (us) and the singing (them). No pyrotechnics, no dancing, no costume changes. The same holds true in London, 15 years on. They play a mix of old and new material, throw in some acoustic numbers, and generally channel a passion for music and performing.

“You can tell that they love it. They wouldn’t be around this long if they didn’t love it,” says Rebecca Rae, 26, who remembers crying when she and her cousin first saw Hanson live.

The brothers, who were between the ages of 11 and 16 when they shot to international stardom, have grown up to become genuinely nice, well-adjusted, business-savvy guys. They’re all married, with nine children between them. They laugh when they remember the days they couldn’t go into a mall for fear of being mobbed. They’ve moved on. They relish the creative freedom that comes with being an independent band, including side projects like Taylor’s band Tinted Windows and songwriting retreats with other artists.

The connection that Hanson has maintained with its base fans is something a political party could only dream of. Every product the band puts out gets snapped up. This includes a board game called Hansonopoly and a new beer that has hit the American market, MMMHops.

“We realized pretty early on that our fans were connecting with more than only a song. The song was like the invitation into what we were doing, what we were excited about,” Taylor says. “We had some success early enough to take chances. We’ve really always seen it more as a brand business than simply a song business.”

Here in London—the birthplace of Justin Bieber—perhaps what’s most extraordinary about the fact that Hanson is still standing is that the brothers weren’t sidetracked by any of the darker sides of fame along the way.

None of the brothers, who now range in age from 27 to 32, have much time for that aspect of celebrity culture. Taylor says they’ve always been here for the music, and Zac adds that it’s a choice not to end up in the tabloids, a choice not to do stupid stuff.

“People remember Hanson for our music—like it, hate it, whatever it is,” Zac says. “We’re proud for that to be a reason, and don’t want it to be about our monkey, or our gas mask, or our Ferrari.”

Isaac laughs: “Another reason you never saw me driving a Ferrari down the streets of Sunset and getting in trouble is because I was driving a $30,000 SUV, which I still own.”

Digital Spy

Taylor Hanson has revealed that he had his very own The Hangover moment this week.
The 30-year-old lead singer of Hanson found himself on the roof of a hotel in Los Angeles following a night on the band’s own branded beer.

© Instagram / Taylor Hanson

Taylor Hanson debuts Hanson Mmmbops beer with Ed Helms

The musician shared his encounter via Instagram in a post which showed the pool area with a view of the city’s international airport in the distance.
“Somehow I am here..good morning LAX.@Mmmhopsbeer I blame you..and thank you,” he captioned the shot.
The image is reminiscent of the moment in the original Hangover movie when groom Doug Billings (Justin Bartha) is found sleeping on a roof before he is due to get married.
Hanson’s first single ‘Mmmbop’ features at the start of The Hangover Part III, and they provided a sample batch of the beverageto attendees of the film’s Hollywood premiere in May.

© Instagram / Taylor Hanson

Taylor’s ‘The Hangover’ inspired instagram photo

Last week the group, which also features Isaac Hanson and Zac Hanson, played to an almost sold-out crowd at the House of Blues venue on West Hollywood’s famous Sunset Strip.
Their ‘Anthem World Tour’ will arrive in the United Kingdom in December.

Tucson Weekly

• C. Elliott
• Hanson at the Rialto Theatre Sept. 22

Nothing about having a family and planning for your kids’ education seems to temper the lust for a hit. The Hanson boys always have had the right stuff, and their team’s Internet chops have only magnified their scope like a plague of tiny hearts on notebooks worldwide. Street teams FTW!

We’re thinking Career Part 2 is going to work out for them just fine. But if their new CD, Anthem, doesn’t do it for them, they may have a future in craft beer.

Thanks, as always, to C. Elliott for the gorgeous, ummm, photography.

• C. Elliott
• Hanson at the Rialto Theatre Sept. 22

• C. Elliott
• Hanson at the Rialto Theatre Sept. 22

Nashville 

Taylor Hanson performing at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville.
Photo Credit: Joe Koch

When Hanson appeared on stage the shrieking screams were deafening. If you’ve seen them before, you know that is a normal welcoming from their enthusiastic fans. The band ignited the crowd with “Fired Up”, the opening track on their new album Anthem.  Not surprising, the die-hards knew every word. By the fourth song they were digging into their repertoire of pop-rock classics like “Where’s the Love” and “Crazy Beautiful.”  As Taylor introduced “This Time Around” a Hanson favorite, he said “…with six albums under our belt it’s hard to choose which songs to select each night”.

They left the stage and returned with Zac joining his brother’s front and center playing a cajon drum box during an acoustic version of “Penny and Me.” Following this song, Isaac took a moment to thank everyone who participated in that afternoons walk.  The mile long walk before each show is a Hanson tradition expressing support against poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Demonstrating the individual talents of the band, the middle of the show showcased each member singing a solo song. Isaac and Zac strummed acoustic guitars while Taylor remained behind the piano for his solo performance.

Hanson continued to churn one sing-along after another.  Old and new, the crowd knew every lyric. My favorite was “And I Waited”, which featured Zac on lead vocals while playing drums. I’ve always been impressed with a drummer that can pull that off. After 16 years, Hanson still managed to put a new twist…or at least add some freshness to “MMM Bop”, the song that sky-rocketed them to fame via MTV. Unfortunately, some people think “MMM Bop” defined the band.

Hanson has depth. They continue to grow as musicians, writing pop songs infused with the groove of 60’s soul, layered with harmonies equal to classic acts like Crosby Stills and Nash. As always, another amazing performance by Hanson…a band that continues to redefine and remain relevant.

Hanson performing at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville.
Photo Credit: Joe Koch

Willamette Week 

Las Vegas Weekly

CU Independent 

Now, a move from pop music solo artists to full-sized bands. Let us head back to the days when things were simpler, when you could rollerblade through the parking lot of a grocery store and no one would say a word. This week’s band is Hanson, the original 90s boy band.

“MMMBop”

Do I even need to say anything about this song? No. It is too perfect. Too ingenious. Too wonderful. Ten points to you if you can sing the chorus correctly.

“Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’”

Fast-forward to the present, and the boys have grown up. They are making some carefully crafted pop tunes that call to the days of early soul. The video is basically a scene from theBlues Brothers, an allusion that is just brilliant. For more Hanson games, ten points if you can figure out who plays the tambourine.