hanson concert #3 – bloomington

Since I had a meeting in louisville thursday morning, I couldn’t get to the concert as early as I was planning. I arrived after noon. I’ve never been to this part of indiana before – brown county was certainly original! first of all, there were the numerous empty flea markets, dinky camping grounds “closed til spring,” little churches, and houses with make-shift lawn decorations. and THEN – brown county just owned state road 46 – the road wound in and out and around the hills and valleys and trees. I bet the scene would have been breathtaking a month ago!

So I found the venue easily enough, and a spot in the parking garage. I gathered my things and trekked in front of the venue to the end of the line. hanson’s tour bus was parked right up front, which was surprising. I went to the end of the line, and tried to strike up a conversation with the girl standing in front of me. she soon turned her back on me. ooookay. so I leaned against the wall, not even bothering to spread my things out and get comfortable, and I waited. I waited for the next person to come and join the line, and I hoped the next person would be friendly. I imagined what it would be like if she wasn’t. I imagined I would have a quiet day, and somewhat lonely, but it probably wouldn’t be all that bad. I can occupy myself. I watched the street, and watched the sun creep closer to our side of the building, closer to warming us all.

the next two people came bouncing down the sidewalk – almost literally! – and I sighed, yet was pleased. the bouncy excited teenyboppers can get annoying, but at least they are friendly. I began talking with the girls immediately, and we became friends for the day. (they calmed down quite a bit.) the next people to arrive were a mother and daughter team from north carolina. also very friendly and interesting people. we stood and talked for hours, then I sat with one of the girls to talk more.

I was number 25 in line. compare this to the louisville concert – I arrived at 6 a.m. for #20 in line. and compare to st louis – I arrived at 9 a.m. for #24 in line (I think). here I arrived after 12, and I was still #25!

Jackie Monroe was the next to arrive. jackie is a news anchor in evansville, and she was also a contestant on Deal or No Deal, where Hanson made a surprise appearance to cheer her on. jackie is known as “the deal or no deal girl,” and I swear that every time she comes to a concert (and we go to all the same ones), girls flock to her and ask to take a picture with her, just because she’s “the deal or no deal girl.” I was the only one to notice her walk up to the line, and I greeted her with friendliness (though she doesn’t know who I am). a few minutes later, the group I was talking to recognized her, and flocked to her. I sat down on the concrete. there’s no reason to bug her and treat her like a huge celebrity – she’s a hanson fan, just like the rest of us!

the walk for awareness started at 3. the crowd was pretty small, and overall I liked this walk less than the others. it was too cold to take our shoes off, and it felt as though the urgency and passion of the walk had left us – the band had just returned from delivering the shoes in africa, so our mission had been completed. we walked mostly in a neighborhood, rather the the busy storefront streets, which made our “awareness” walk pretty unseen. the guys made only a couple of very brief speeches, rather than their usual several longwinded speeches. I did enjoy watching my “friends” fulfill their dreams – I was right there when one friend got her shirt signed by zac and was freaking out. I was right there when when the mother, nicknamed “weasel” was chatting with zac, placing her hand on her back. I laughed as I watched her. she was an overly friendly and touchy and sweet woman. I was right there later, when she pushed her daughter at taylor with a conversation starter topic.

I listened to so many girls on that walk talk about and to the guys, making themselves sound like total idiots. I just don’t get it. I tried to explain it to my friends of the day, but they didn’t get me. hanson is just people. they’re just guys. they are guys doing amazing and passionate things with their lives, and I admire them, but most of all I am just blessed that they include me (and everyone else) in their endeavors. they’re just people, and I enjoy joining in with them to walk for kids in africa. but apparently I am the only fan who thinks this – everyone else simply MUST “meet” hanson one more time, find a way to say something to them one more time, get one more thing signed, and take as many hundreds of shots as possible.

sigh. near the end of the walk, I walked next to taylor for a while, and I think I did it to prove to myself that I just see them as people, not as huge celebrities that I must brush up against. I didn’t try to get taylor to talk to ME, but I did try to join in conversations with whatever girl was already talking to him. and of course, each girl completely ignored my input. oh well.

at the end of the walk, I was right up front for their concluding speech. I thought about the great camera shot I had here, but I also thought about how I was in the perfect place to show hanson that I was actually listening to what they said, not freaking out over my camera. I’d rather actually hear the speech anyway. the guys stuck around after the speech to try to sell shoes, but of course girls only see this as another chance to get an autograph. I stood in the back of the crowd, the retreated. I leaned against a tree several yards away, and just watched the absurdity. the crowd really wasn’t that large, but they were crammed in around hanson. there was a small handful of us standing apart from the crowd.

as always, the venue screwed up our line. they just don’t understand hanson fans and the line! they split us up across two doors. strangely, most of the fans suddenly disappeared after the walk. it got cold very fast then – I went to get dinner across the street, and ate with numb, shaking fingers. then I bundled up – I had a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, a coat, gloves, a hat, and a blanket wrapped around my legs.

somehow, the time passed quickly yesterday. I brought things to do, but I didn’t have any homework, so there was no pressure. I found that the time simply passed. usually, I can’t STAND to be idle. I guess I had plenty to think about, plenty to watch, or plenty of people to talk to.

I put all of my things away while the fans were FREAKING OUT over hanson passing by the line to get to their tour bus, then leaned against the wall for a while. the doors opened at 7, and I got my first glimpse of the venue: completely crappy. the stage was one corner of the venue, and as such, was very oddly shaped and badly lit. the dance floor/pit was the oddest I’ve ever seen. the furthest corner from the stage was the largest area. the center-stage area? that’s where a platform jutted out, with benches lining it. the pit in that area was only about 6 rows deep. fans eventually filled the floor and the platforms, each person staking out the perfect view.

I ended up third row, right behind jackie monroe. behind me was a group of sorority girls – they managed to keep drinks in their hands throughout the entire show. behind and slightly to the left was an in

credibly drunk, tall man. he held up giant cups of beer that loomed over our heads, tipping dangerously towards us. he swung that thing all over the place. front row, right next to the speakers, was a couple of incredibly and obviously high girls.

the time passed relatively quickly (an hour), compared to previous concerts. there was no one at all to talk to, and only those annoying sorority girls to listen to. wow, I preferred not to hear their voices.

the opener was a no-namer. they had a bass, a guitar, and a mandolin. the mandolin was cool, but awkward. they played mainly rock, and only one song that had a fitting bluegrass sound. they used pre-recorded drumset when necessary. but, some of their songs were pretty great.

before hanson even took the stage, the fighting began. it was absolutely ridiculous. I’m pretty sure it’s the worst pushing I’ve seen yet at a concert. girls tried to trick us by pretending that they were trying to get out of the crowd, or pretending they needed to talk to the bouncer, then parking it wherever we happened to let them through. two blondes pulled the trick behind me, and caused massive fighting. they pulled along this girl with them, who tapped me in the side continually. I ignored her, thinking she was trying to trick me, until she said, “hey, you went to hanover, right?” this girl was in my great works class freshman year! I don’t remember her, but she certainly remembered me. small world, huh? she disappeared after a while.

hanson came out, and the incredibly terrible fighting and pushing continued. with bony elbows, planted feet, and sheer determination, no one ever got past me, and eventually each one of those drunk and ridiculous girls gave up and disappeared. it really ruined the first part of the concert to have to brace my entire body against stupid girls to keep us all from falling on our faces. the not-quite-drunk sorority girl behind me petted me and apologized continuously for all of the fighting that had caused her to body slam me multiple times. I appreciated her concern for me. in the meantime, I got to know jackie monroe’s body quite well also, with all of the body slamming and fighting. jackie can really stand up for herself – she gave each of those girls her what for! it was actually humorous that she thought she could talk some sense into them.

about a third of the way into the concert, the pushing mostly stopped, and I got to enjoy it. taylor shushed us, even saying, “okay, I’m gonna tell you what I tell my kids, and we’re gonna play the quiet game for a minute!” he told us that while in africa last week, they were asked to sing every place they went. and they were reminded that while they had been telling us that we need to do something simple and start right where we are to make a difference in the world, they also need to remember what a huge difference music in itself makes in people’s lives. and thus, they sang Change in My Life accapella. I closed my eyes, listened to the beautiful harmony, and felt the refreshing tears on my cheeks. it was a beautiful moment.

I kept my energy up a lot better for this concert, and I wasn’t in as much pain as usual (back, knees, feet), and the crowd was quite pleasant once the fighting stopped, and I purely enjoyed the rest of the concert. I was shocked when it ended, because I was enjoying it so thoroughly.

the drive home was quite pleasant – I wasn’t tired, and I was still in a mood for thinking. just thinking. it didn’t even matter what was on the radio, because my mind kept me busy enough for once.

and so there’s a very long-winded collection of memories from my last hanson concert on this year’s walk tour. there were good times and bad times, and I’m glad that it’s my last concert for a while.