Flash back to 1997. I’ve most likely got an Adidas twin set on, Kenan and Kel are most likely on the television, I’m most likely drinking Ribena and the only boy band that has my heart are the original Boys from the Backstreet. Then come along a little ol’ angel haired trio, who manage to mmbop my heart away for all of two weeks before I’m running back into the Backstreet arms of ol’ blues eyes – um duh Nick Carter…who else would it be? – Brian Sideburns, AJ Fedora, Kevin Bumchin and who ever the other one is.
Forward to the present day (definitely wearing the same thing and sippin on the same juicebox) and I find myself face to face with the angels I’d idolised once for a fortnight. Yep, it’s Hanson. Even I can’t believe it. They finally decided to regroup and give their long lost fans the tour they’ve always dreamed of? Nope, apparently they never split up and they have recently toured extensively, including in Australia last year.
As my loyal sidekick and I roll down the street leading to The Tivoli, we come across a shocking sight. A line of ladies, snaking down the block, twisting and turning for what seems like miles. But not just any ladies…middle aged ladies. I can only assume there is some sort of Louise Hay conference on next door, but upon closer inspection, we realise they are here for the show and are joined by a surprising amount of gentlemen and one very questionable fluoro fedora (AJ is that you?) and they all have a name…Han-fans!!!
As we shuffle in to the dimly lit room, beer firmly in hand, we find a spot to wait for the support act, before realising the one man band on stage is well and truly into his extremely quiet and acoustic set of what sounds like a terrible Angus and Julia Stone cover band. Bless his cotton little socks! Later Googling reveals he is Adam Martin, ex ‘The Voice’ contestant and apparent lady charmer, encouraging a huge applause as he leaves the stage.
It’s not long before the lights are once again dimmed and three gold speckles dash across the stage, every bit as shiny as I remembered (except maybe the old one, he’s gone a bit salt and peppery and is wearing *shudder* transition lenses)
It ain’t hard to believe they hail from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The sickly-sweet trio are just as much American as an Apple Pie being grossly misused in a movie is. They think Australia is just AWWSUM and refer to Brisbane as Brizvegas before announcing they have “a lot of material to get through tonight” I would have been pretty happy to hear the one song and get it over with so I could get to bed. But no, apparently they have five albums worth of stuff. And so commenced the longest 85 minutes of my life.
I’m not going to bore you with a play-by-play review because let’s be honest, no one actually cares about the technical ability or stage presence of the three Hanson brothers, no matter how beautiful they are but I can commend them on giving the Han-fans exactly what they wanted, which was apparently everything… Favourites of the night included opener I’ve Got Soul, Fired Up, Penny and Me, Juliet, Tragic Symphony (who knows how but I actually knew this one) Get the Girl Back and of course MmmmmmmmmmBop. Clearly I didn’t know any of the song titles, I just managed to sweet talk (aka pretend to be an important journalist) a member of their posse and scored a set list post show.
As they wrapped up the (slightly unwarranted) encore, my pal and I made a break for the exit.
On the way out of our strange time warp, I managed to pick up on the crowd’s mood. The golden trio seemed to have exceeded everyone’s expectations, and no matter what I think, that’s all that really matters I guess. One lady in particular seems ecstatic about her experience, proving the only thing (I hope) she regrets from her hey days is the questionable tribal band spiralling down her arm.
Leila Amirparviz
