8/5/04 KC, MO @ UPTOWN THEATRE
On August 5, 2004 I had the opportunity to see HANSON live in Kansas City, Missouri at Uptown Theater for The Underneath Tour.
My mother and I left around 6:00 p.m. for Uptown Theater. The doors were supposed to open at 7:00 p.m. and the show starts at 8:00 p.m. We arrived around 6:40 p.m. and everyone was already inside. When we pulled up I saw something that made me laugh to myself. I saw two local Kansas City radio stations, Mix 93.3 and Z95.7 at the show. After a good laugh, I was a little upset. There were two local radio stations there to support the concert, but no matter how much you request HANSON's music on those particular radio stations...they won't play HANSON's music. My requests were denied. So, I found that to be very ironic and rediculous on the behalf of the radio stations.
Anyway, when we got inside we were fortunate enough to get decent seats in the far back by the walk way door. We had a great view! I sat next to a really nice girl I chatted up with during the show. Her name was Lauren (from Belton, Missouri). It was cool to talk to another HANSON fan before and inbetween the sets.
They started the show an hour early. Michael Tolcher took the stage at 7:00 p.m. His set was great, but he didn't seem to have as much energy as he did in St. Louis.
After Michael Tolcher was done, Ingram Hill took the stage. This was the first time I had ever seen them perform. They're a band from Memphis, Tennessee. They kind of have an alternative country sound to them. Their performances were great. Their music rocks! I highly recommend checking out their music, if you haven't.
During their performance, the guitarist for Michael Tolcher stood in the walk way of where we were sitting. My mother leaned over to let him know they did an amazing job in St. Louis! He thanked her and we all continued to watch Ingram Hill perform.
After minutes upon minutes, the sound check crew finally finished touching up the sound system with HANSON's instruments. The excitement was building for HANSON to step out on stage. The lights dimmed to a blue and everyone started screaming for HANSON to start their show.
Isaac ran on stage starting up his guitar strums while Zac followed with his drum beats. Then Taylor stepped out onto the stage and started jammin' on his keyboards. I knew from the St. Louis show that they were opening up with "Optimistic", a Radiohead cover. In the beginning of the song, it sounded like the sound system wasn't quite right, but after a few lines of Taylor singing...the sound was great. Hearing HANSON sing "Trying the best you can..." made me think of everything they've accomplished within these past four years of giving their all to get "Underneath" out to all of their dedicated fans! After the song was over, Isaac's guitar kept going. They were doing something different this time and to my surprise they were preparing to jam into "Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock N'Roll)". I must say, HANSON always picks the best covers to sing. The performance was very Rock N'Roll.
After a few songs, Zac took the stage for his solo or in his words he was going to "bring it down a bit." It was a great surprise to hear him sing "Broken Angel". It seems to be a very emotional song between Zac and the fans. A lot of fans in the audience held up lighters during his performance waving them back and forth. There was definitely an intimate connection between the fans and Zac's performance!
Zac finished his solo, Isaac took the stage for his solo. He made a little joke that after Zac's performance he wasn't worthy to take the stage, quoting from Wayne's World "We're not worthy, we're not worthy!". Isaac sang "Next Train" for his solo. He said it was a little special for Kansas City because it was the first time he had performed the song live on the Underneath Tour. He did an amazing job!
Taylor and Zac came back on stage to rock Uptown even more. I was glad to hear a few songs that I didn't get to hear live in St. Louis. Like "Lost Without Each Other", "Dream Girl", "Weird", and "This Time Around". When the guys jammed to "If Only", they did it a little differently this time. Taylor introduced the bass player, but the way he was plucking his fingers back and forth proved he had talent. Taylor also introduced the guitar player during "Look At You".
I had realized something I had not given a whole lot of deep thought to in the past during HANSON's performance of "This Time Around", which everyone was really jamming to. It had passed through my mind, but I really got to thinking about it at the show during the performance. "This Time Around" has a whole new, deeper meaning for HANSON than it did in 2000 which I find really ironic. When HANSON sang the lines "You can't say I didn't give it, I won't wait another minute, we're on our way this time around, and we won't go down..." ran chills up my arms. With the audiences interaction during this song, it proved HANSON is back stronger than ever before with more creative freedom. Hearing Taylor whisper "All I know is that fear has got to go, this time around, I've started feeling like I don't want to fight..." made me think of the courage HANSON had to find within themselves to break away from their unfortunate situation with Island Def Jam. It makes me wonder if the song has a whole new meaning to them on a personal level? I think it is a given that HANSON was meant to have that song as something to call their own.
After HANSON's rockin' performance of "In The City", they left the stage. Everyone was chanting for HANSON to come back out. Only a minute or so had passed, HANSON were running back on stage prepping to perform another song. They closed the show with an awesome performance of "Hey".
After the show was over, we waited around outside taking a few photos of the theater and fans outside the building waiting by the gates. There were two gates. One that HANSON were going to leave out of and one that fans were just waiting by (I don't think they were aware there was a 2nd gate that was actually where HANSON was going to be coming out from on the bus). From a distance, I saw a place I could walk up to where no one was to get a good view from behind the venue. When I had gotten up the hill, to my surprise, HANSON's tour bus was right there behind the building. I thought it was perfect because no one else had the idea of going to get a view from behind the building. We took a few snap shots of the bus and waited to see if the guys would come out the exit door. As a bigger surprise, Taylor was getting off the bus. Standing on the hill alone with my mother, I said hello to Taylor. He said "Hey" back. I told him the show rocked for which he thanked me for after I complimented the show. He walked inside and came back out. We both said hello to each other again. (photos are above) A few minutes later, a girl named Heather (from St. Joe, Missouri) pulled up with her mother to get a few photos from behind the building. We talked for a while, she was a very nice girl. I was happy to meet her. It was nice because it was just us for a while. Zac came out from the exit door softly yelling "Woooo" while holding up the ROCK signs on his hand. I said hello to Zac and he said "Helloooo" back! (photo above) Shortly after Zac popped out, Ashley Greyson followed him. Again, I said hello. He waved. I got a photo, but I'm not posting it out of respect for him.
We left the show, on our way home we passed Michael Tolcher walking not too far down the street from where Uptown was. Why he was on foot I have no idea, but he was. We stopped to say a quick hello.
The entire show was awesome and my chance of unformally meeting HANSON had made the evening even more great. HANSON has a whole new vibe about them on this tour and it's just amazing! They've really changed their style of music for the better.
Thank you HANSON for another night of amazing music. There will be many more to come!
Setlist: (in no particular order)1. Optimistic
2. Long Way To The Top
3. Dancin' In The Wind
4. Minute Without You
5. Look At You
6. Dream Girl
7. Broken Angel (Zac's solo)
8. Next Train (Isaac's solo)
9. Where's The Love?
10. Crazy Beautiful
11. Weird
12. MMMBop
13. This Time Around
14. Underneath
15. Lost Without Each Other
16. If Only
17. Penny & Me
18. Gimme Some Lovin'
19. In The City
Encore:
20. Hey
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