7/25/04 ST. LOUIS, MO @ THE PAGEANT
On July 25, 2004 I had the opportunity to see HANSON live in St. Louis, Missouri at The Pageant for The Underneath Tour.
My mother (yes, she likes HANSON's music!) and I arrived in St. Louis by 3:00 p.m. After checking into our hotel, we drove down to The Pageant to get a general idea as to where the parking was and how long the line already was. To my surprise, the line was fairly long with crowds of people standing around. HANSON fans had tents set up and blankets on the side walk around the corner from the entrance door. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is! While driving around the block a few times, I found several opportunities to take photos of the theater, their buses, and the fans.
We left to get a bite to eat and head back to the hotel to rest and pretty ourselves up before the show. After a couple hours, we finally headed back down to The Pageant and arrived a little after 6:30 p.m. The line had only gotten longer. We stood in line for a short time, though. It was a bit chilly in St. Louis that day, so thankfully they started letting people in at 7:00 p.m.
We finally got into The Pageant and found bar stools for seats with a great view. The Pageant has a very club theme to it. The stage was lit up. It all looked very cool when you walked in. There was a bar set up in the back, tables and stools in a few areas, and then the general admission floor (AKA: the pit).
Before the opening act started, I met up with my friend Stacey that I was suppose to meet before the show. We greeted each other with open arms and smiles! She got a Meet and Greet from HANSON.NET, which was really cool. She waited a full 7 years to meet them! So, that was really exciting. We walked over to the merchandise table to purchase our stuff before the show started. Kate and Jessica were selling the merchandise (very nice girls!).
Michael Tolcher started the show off for the night. I cannot give you his set list because I have never heard of him, therefore, I don't know his music. I did enjoy his set, though. He is a very talented musician along with his whole band. I am looking forward to seeing him play again. After his set, he signed autographs and mingled with fans during HANSON's performance.
After Michael Tolcher, Ben Jelen took the stage. I've never heard his music either, but he is a very talented musician. I want his CD. It performs like he is genuinely passionate about his craft. His performance made it obvious that music is a big part of his soul.
Finally, everyone was chanting for HANSON to come out on stage! Hearing everyone chant "HANSON! HANSON! HANSON!" ran chills up my arms because I knew they were coming out on stage any minute. The excitement was building. Isaac came out on stage with light shinning over him. He was jamming on the electric guitar for the opening. Then Zac popped out, took his place at the drums, the light was shinning on him, and he was giving a really cool beat along with Isaac's guitar strums. Finally, Taylor walked out from the side of the stage, waved to everyone, and played a piece from his piano. Seeing HANSON on stage again, plugged-in, jamming on their instruments was a very great feeling. I already knew the show was going to ROCK and that I was going to sit back and suck it all in. HANSON opened with the cover of Radiohead's "Optimistic". I have never heard the original song before, but I have no complaints over HANSON introducing the song to me. It was great. After "Optimistic" Taylor walked away from the piano and picked up a electric guitar. Of course, most HANSON fans know that they were preparing to play "Dancing In The Wind".
In my personal opinion, Isaac Hanson stole the show. It was obvious he was in a good mood. He did an amazing solo performance of "Being Me", "Love Song", and "Hand In Hand". "Hand In Hand" was probably one of the best performances all night long. I am surprised he didn't strain his vocal cords. Isaac was really into what he was singing. My favorite moment during this performance was right when you thought the song was over with...it wasn't! After just a few seconds of silence from the band, they started "Hand In Hand" back up again with guitar wales, Isaac's acoustic guitar strums, Taylor's soulful "Ohh's", and Zac's fast beats. Then all of a sudden...the song was done! Every instrument that was playing stopped as if a button was pushed.
Taylor Hanson was jammin' on his keyboards and trying to get the crowd as active as possible. At one point during the show he told the people near the bar to "Stand your asses up right now! There's no sitting on your ass at a HANSON concert!" Another great moment with Taylor was when he picked up his tambourine during "Gimme Some Lovin'", walked over to Isaac with the bass player following him, and the three of them did a small dance number during the song! Kicking each of their legs in the air one right after the other and walking from side to side.
Zac Hanson was fairly quiet that evening. We didn't hear much out of him, except his awesome drum beats. He made it obvious that he's mastered his craft of drumming. I must say, that kid can really head bang!
The show continued with excitement from the fans and a strong passion for music from HANSON. The entire show was phenomenal. It was the best plugged-in HANSON shows I've seen yet. The shows from this tour really shows how much HANSON has matured and grown as musicians.
After the show was over, we waited on the side of the building to see HANSON come out of the back doors onto their tour bus...hoping they would stop and greet the crowd of fans. Zac was generous enough to stay outside for a while and sign as much as he could for fans. (picture above) Then he went into the tour bus. Taylor walked out of the doors (picture above, but it didn't turn out well at all) and waved to everyone. It was getting fairly late and the security guys were talking about running people off in a short while, so we went ahead and just left to go back to the hotel!
If HANSON ever reads this, thanks so much for an amazing night of music in St. Louis. It was a really awesome show. The best I've seen. I'm looking forward to seeing many more!
Setlist: (in no particular order)1. Optimistic
2. Dancin' In The Wind
3. Minute Without You
4. Strong Enough To Break
5. Underneath 6. Being Me (Isaac's solo)
7. Love Song
8. Hand In Hand
9. Every Word I Say
10. Runaway Run
11. Crazy Beautiful
12. Where's The Love?
13. Look At You
14. You Never Know
15. Superstition/Speechless
16. Gimme Some Lovin'
17. Lost Without Each Other
18. MMMBop Encore:
19. In The City
20. Hey
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