Hanson's Shout it Out: Fan Girl in Retrospect.

I was reading the news when I came across this article on The Cranberries and Hanson's comebacks, with both bands having just recently concluded their Philippine tours. It reminded me that I totally forgot to write about my Hanson: Shout it Out in Manila experience.

The article wasn't much, it just talked about the bands' claim to fame before, a bit on what they've been up to since their last visit in Manila, and a short review on a few tracks from their new album. I'm guessing the writer was a fan of neither bands.

Well I am. A fan of both The Cranberries and Hanson. But I love Hanson since fourth grade so passing up their concert was something I simply can't let happen. (I missed their concert in 2005 'cause back then I didn't have the concept of spending thousands of pesos for a single night of music.) Luckily, even if I was more than willing to indulge, I didn't have to spend a single cent on tickets 'cause a good friend scored me a couple of good seats. Yay. :)

The Philippine tour poster.

The concert was a blast. They opened it with the carrier single of their Shout It Out album, "Waiting For This". I love how their line up was a mixture of their old songs from back in their Mmmmbopin' days, and their songs from their succeeding albums until their latest record. And everyone was jumping and singing to every single song. It's quite sad that the boys were only able to fill up a little more than half of Araneta Colosseum. But you can tell that every person in The Big Dome that night was a hardcore Hanson fan., singing every song by heart.

If they can sing in between screaming their tonsils out, that is. Haha. I swear, no two minutes went by in the entire concert without a fan girl shrieking moment. Who wouldn't scream their hearts out for these three beautiful guys?

Taylor.

Isaac. 

Zac. 

Excuse the collage, I have always been the Zac Hanson fan. You know back in grade school how girls always choose their ultimate crush in a boy band or boy group? Well I've loved him since his days of high-pitched voice and braids. Le sigh, look at how he's grown now. <3

My ex-future husband. 

All the Hanson singing got me thinking and looking back on how these boys made it to stardom.

It was 1997. A time when alternative music run the airwaves and MTV. I remember singing to REM, Live, The Verve Pipe at the age of 11, thanks to my older brothers and sisters (I am sixth in a family of seven kids), and our relatively small house where one's music is everyone's music. That was when three blond boys from Tulsa, Oklahoma took the music scene by storm and had every teenage girl singing "Mmmbop" without any idea what the word means.

Back then, downloading songs from the Internet were unheard of and CD's were still in the process of kicking cassette tapes out every music junkie's shelf. I got my copy of Hanson's first studio album (their third if you include their indie recorded ones), after saving up a week's worth of allowance with my sister. It was in cassette tape  and I remember rewinding the tape with a Monggol pencil when I want to get back to "Thinking of You"- the first track on side A.:)

Hanson's Middle of Nowhere, 1997. Released under Ploygram Records.
Photo from www.disneydreaming.com.

After their first hit single "Mmmbop", Hanson was on the cover of every teen magazine. I remember collecting and trading Hanson pin-ups with classmates and bus mates. That was a time when wallpapers existed on walls in bedrooms and not on mobile phones and tablets. Centerfolds and magazine covers were a teenage girl's treasure. Kung pwede ibenta ang pin-ups noon, yumaman na 'ko. Haha.

I remember their non-stop appearances at the Grammys, MTV Movie Awards, Europe Music Awards. My favorite live performance would have to at MTV's The Jenny McCarthy Show. Who would forget how  Jenny hugged 11-year old Zac to death 'cause he was so darn cute?

Yes, back then Youtube doesn't exist and people tune in to MTV to see their favorites artists' videos.:)

Hanson circa 1997. Taylor 13, Zac 11, Isaac 15. 

I may just be a fourth grader then swooning over these three guys, but I've always found them as a very talented trio. Sure their lyrics back then always rhymed but they write their own songs, play their own instruments, and record them to their hearts' desires.

And even after Middle of Nowhere, when they're no longer the boy wonders of Tulsa, they never stopped making music. Their succeeding albums weren't half as successful as Middle of Nowhere, but they still had really good songs. They had their US and world tour for This Time Around (their next studio album). Their songs have matured in terms of lyrics and style, the voices way better than their chipmunks-like pipes, but what never changed is the heart that they put in their music. Of course teenage girls are now screaming for Justin Beiber and The Jonas Brothers, but they still had a pretty steady fan base to keep them going, including moi.

Hanson taking their final bow. 

Seeing them perform live is not just a fulfillment of a childhood crush, it was a look back on how music and music loving evolved, it was a reminiscing of the 90's high time for music. A time when songs had real lyrics, songs had souls and not just some catchy tune. When live performances banked on the artists' voice and how well they sing and play, not on how entertaining their special effects on stage are and how often they changed their outfits. Like what Dave Grohl said on his 2012 Grammy acceptance speech, "the human element of making music is what’s most important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do." And I couldn't agree more.:)

Near the end of their concert when Taylor was thanking the fans for loving and supporting them for the past 15 years, he said "we promise to be back, if you promise to be back too.".

No need to ask. The fan girl in me never dies. I sure as hell will be back.:)

Roanni