By Thomas Conner
© Tulsa World The pages of a thesaurus easily could be worn thin trying to find the appropriate words to describe Saturday night's Hanson concert at Frontier City in Oklahoma City, but none would better sum up the show's madness and frustration than these two: seven songs. The No. 1 musical sensation in the country finally returned to its home state in a swath of glory, they packed thousands upon thousands of ecstatic young girls and their dumbstruck parents into a venue meant to hold hundreds, they stayed cloistered in their bus before showtime listening to the crowd chant, “Hanson! Hanson! We want Hanson!'' — and they graced us with only seven songs. That's a pile of gall for three kids who were begging for a public gig this time last year. Other bands in their position (with older, stronger audiences) would have been dragged back to the stage — particularly by the sizeable Tulsa contingent that traveled 200 miles round-trip for the Big Event, not to mention paying up to $20 a head to get into the park. Heck, the Mellowdramatic Wallflowers — another Tulsa band more seasoned and deserving of the rocket to superstardom than our young heroes -- opened the show with maybe twice that number of songs. How quickly they forget. They were certainly seven fantastic songs, though, and during that fleeting half hour, the crowd of sardined fans adored their triumvirate of pubescent blonde ambition with the kind of power-drill-in-the-ear screaming that hasn't been heard since the You Know Whos came ashore. The crowd was so huge and so eager to get a decent vantage point on the stage that they were squeezing into the tiny field and crushing the front lines of girls against the barricades. Ten minutes before Hanson took the stage, extra manpower was called in from across the park to reinforce that line of defense and keep the hysterical young'uns from rushing the stage. More than a few were led away for heat exhaustion, despite the afterthought of park officials throwing handfuls of ice into the crowd. When the Fab Three finally jogged onto the stage, they started off with a couple of songs by themselves, letting their a capella foundations show a bit. For “Madeline'' and “Man From Milwaukee,'' Isaac strummed a guitar, Taylor slapped a tambourine and Zac shook a shaker. The harmonies were sweet as ever and further testament to the boys' whopping vocal and performance talents. For the remaining five numbers, the boys went electric along with several other musicians, each of whom lurked discreetly on the back of the stage. For the legions of cynics who wonder, the boys actually do play their instruments, even if they're not always playing the most significant parts of the songs. Every song was hard-hitting and tight, more than thrilling the crowd. The bulk of the signs held up in the crowd were announcing various carnal desires for Taylor, but interest in the young Hanson singer and keyboard player runs far deeper than mere teen-age lust. This boy has soul, and it's evident from the first instant he slouches into a microphone and beats a tambourine. If the boys' career outlives the here-today-gone-tomorrow projections prone to such young acts, Taylor Hanson looks like he's equipped to lead dedicated fans through a lifetime of great and possibly forward-thinking music. It's been a long time since rock 'n' roll had a great white soul man, and I'm sure Tulsa would be proud to say they knew him when. Before any of that happens, though, the kids have got to hook themselves up with a decent tour manager. They played this Oklahoma City gig for free, meaning that each $20 admission from the several thousand fans didn't go to the artists who deserved it. But then again, for seven songs, maybe they didn't deserve a penny. If they are indeed headed straight for Madison Square Garden, they'd better work up a set that offers our money's worth — no matter how adorable they may be. Comments are closed.
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Thomas Conner
These online "clips" reproduce a self-selection of my journalism (music etc) during the last 20+ years. It's a lotta stuff, but it only scratches the surface. I do not currently possess the time or resources to digitize the whole body of work. These posts are simply a bunch of pretty great days at the office. Archives
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