People have a misunderstanding of Hanson. Sure, the three brothers best known for their pop super-smash “Mmm Bop” are prettier than ever, and a result the overwhelming majority of their fans are female, but their music is surprisingly gender-universal. At the heart of what on the outside appears to just be a handful of handsome siblings lies real talent—seamless harmonies, real chemistry on stage, and actual songwriting talent.
That said, when I took my wife to one of the back-to-back Hanson shows at Chicago’s House of Blues last weekend, the patrons were overwhelmingly female. I can’t remember the last concert I attended where I could be five or six rows back and have an absolutely clear eye-line to the performers. At just under six-feet tall, I had to have been one of the three or four tallest people in the room—an advantage I wouldn’t mind having at future concerts, too.
The H.O.B. had lines down the street long before the scheduled 6:00 opening of the doors, but we found out later that The Brothers had led a charge of 500 fans all over the city of Chicago earlier that afternoon, conveniently ending up at the front doors of the venue. Also, that explained why the band’s rep told us their schedule was too full for an interview. But that didn’t stop myself and my wife—a long, looooong-time fan of Hanson—from hitting up the show, anyway. From the moment we stepped out of the car, we were having a wonderful time.
Well, my wife was having a wonderful time. We caught Taylor and Isaac Hanson in the lobby as they ended their tour through the city and bolted through to the dressing rooms. I was able to stop both of them and introduce my wife, which obviously made her ecstatic and maybe even a little drooly. For the majority of her adolescence, she legitimately thought that she’d be marrying Taylor. To shake his hand was a pubescent dream come true—one that left her almost speechless.
From there, the building opens up straight ahead into a pretty solid little restaurant (the red beans and rice were delicious, by the way), flanked on either side by staircases leading up to the concert floor. The place looks like a dark combination of blues Americana and demented circus, which in my experience has proven to be a rock-solid vibe for all sorts of genres of music. I’ve seen concerts there ranging from Talib Kweli to Marc Broussard to… well, Hanson, and every single time the hall seems to mold into what that particular fan base needs.
In this case what it needed was room for a whole lot of female hormone, which actually proved more annoying than gigantic tattooed frat animals moshing through a rock concert. To my left was a high-school-age girl in an orange dress dancing as though possessed by a demon, and her first pumps to the beat of the song hit me (and a couple of her other neighbors) in the face on more than one occasion. Behind me was a larger woman closer to my own age thundering her bountiful bosom against my shoulder blades. It wasn’t pleasant.
But once Wifey and I found a spot in a throng of reasonably fanatic Hanson fans, the show proved the be extremely enjoyable. The House of Blues rarely fails to deliver, and the Hanson brothers actually put on a really solid show. I say that as a man. “Shout It Out,” the group’s newest record has more than a couple memorable tracks, and having seen several of them live I’m sure they’ll now be even more memorable.
The only question now is whether or not they’ll forgo their soiree with 500 lady friends the next time they’re in Chi City and sit down for a chat. We obviously love the guys to brave all that estrogen. I think we deserve it, don’t you, Hanson?
I had the privilege of interviewing this young blues legend at his recent show at the House of Blues in Chicago, IL. With his recent success at Eric Clapton’s 2010 Crossroads Festival (his second appearance in said festival) it was no wonder he played to a packed house. Even though I’ve followed all of his albums and read numerous articles on his musical accomplishments, I was still not prepared to meet Jonny Lang.
Anyone who is familiar with his music knows that this guy has soul – not only in his guitar playing but his deep down, guttural blues voice. If you were to take a listen to one of his albums knowing nothing about the guy, you would imagine him being some old bearded guy with tattered clothes and a worn Fender Stratocaster that maybe wasn’t new in the 70′s. But upon closer inspection you’ll realize that this is a guy that started his career at age 13 and has been rocking ever since is only at the ripe age of 29. I know, it blew my mind too. Check out the interview:
Buy Live at the Ryman:
When it comes to understanding what rock music is supposed to be, the Crash Kings just flat-out get it. When forming the group they made a commitment to doing things the right way—giving a live show that varies enough from the CD to be interesting, playing everything with real instruments instead of synthesizers, writing actual music instead of just slapping together three rock power chords and recycling them five or six times over the course of the album. They get it. They know what good music is, and they know how to play it. That’s why we feel more than confident saying these guys are destined for big things.
We caught up with the guys recently at the House of Blues in Chicago and had a great time chatting with them after the show (which was, as you’d expect, high-energy and steeped with badassery). The results of this interview can be viewed here:
Best of luck to Crash Kings—you’re very high on the FreshScouts list of favorite up-and-comers. If you haven’t grabbed the self-titled debut album yet, it’s time to go ahead and do that.
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