Hanson Live In Adelaide

Keeping in style with the 90’s pop music revival of late, everyone’s favourite family band Hanson made their long-awaited return to our shores to play a string of sold out (yes, they are STILL selling out shows) venues across the country. Tonight, it was Adelaide’s turn, and as the line stretched far beyond the venue itself well before doors opened, my naivety kicked in; “surely they’re not going to be THAT great, right?”. How wrong I was.

The brothers, Isaac, Taylor and Zac, have grown up, and I mean, REALLY grown up. Their stable Christian upbringing seems to have allowed them to avoid any Britney Spears-esque meltdowns or unseemly weight gain.  Instead, the boys, who are all now married with children (sorry ladies!), have kept their heads down and, to the astonishment of many, have never stopped making music. Their latest release Shout It Out is their 10th studio album. And while tonight was certainly a chance to revel in nostalgia, there’s a lot more to these boys than MMM Bop.

The screams were justifiably deafening as the trio entered from side of stage. Opening with Waiting For This from their latest album, it was clear from the get-go that the brothers are genuinely talented behind their respective instruments. Taylor’s clean-cut good looks and devilish charm as a front-man was only supported more by his talent on the keys.

The boys performed a great mix of songs, with the set never feeling too soaked in nostalgia. “Oldies but goodies” Where’s The Love, MMM Bop and With You In Your Dreams provided a great trip down memory lane, and were the songs that definitely evoked the biggest response from the predominantly female crowd. Newer tracks Thinking ‘Bout Something and Give A Little showed that, while they may not be the world’s biggest pop band anymore, they still know how to pen catchy pop songs.

Zac’s rendition of The Beatle’s Oh Darlin’ had me apprehensive at first, but he pulled it off enough to win over the crowd and the song gave him the chance to show off his skills as a lead vocalist. Too often the brother’s vocals were drowned out by the extremely enthusiastic 1000+ strong crowd. But their enthusiasm was matched time and time again by the boys. Their passion for their fans and their craft is still going strong 15 years after MMM Bop, their marathon 1 hour 45 minute set was a good indication of that.

The encore of If Only was given a sultry remix with Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On slipped in the middle, teasing the female crowd who at this stage had turned into a great flushing hot mess. It was this point that really hit home the fact that these guys know how to work a crowd. They know that they adorned our walls when we were younger and that we bought the single of MMM Bop, complete with 3 different remixes of the track. They know that we haven’t come to support their new album. But they don’t care; they play around with us and have a great time in the process.

There is no doubt that 2012 has been the year of 90’s pop music revival. Vengaboys, Aqua and S Club 7 have all made less than mediocre returns to Australian shores. Thankfully, Hanson have strayed away from going down a similar, desperately embarrassing path. There were no cringe-worthy or “WTF” moments tonight and I think it’s safe to say that Isaac, Taylor and Zac had fans falling in love with them all over again. I know I did.

(Review by Keisha Hanbury)

The brothers also dropped into Mix102.3 earlier in the day: