Hanson at The Supper Club, New York, NY
March 6, 2007

by H.notes Staff Writer - Lisa Mulé lisact@hanson.net

It was a bitter, cold day in New York, with wind chill in the single digits, cancelling our plans to begin the day with a New York strolling, shopping, and museum experience. Instead we caught a late afternoon train in and headed to the Times Square area where The Supper Club is located. After a few purchases at Sephora and a couple of hours of lounging, nibbling, and watching rock videos at The Hard Rock Cafe, we waited with friends in Starbuck's for the line to start moving. It started moving late, making it even tougher on the brave souls who had been outside all day, although they had been treated to hot chocolate by the band earlier.

The security staff dressed in black business suits and overcoats were an indication that this would be a very different venue than the gritty but historic little rock club Toad's Place where many of us had seen Hanson just 4 night earlier. This was a beautiful, formal venue, with a mural of blue skies (in case everybody was looking) on the ceiling, guilt, banquettes...and the wonderful design that people like me who go to the end of the line in general admission venues love to see...steps at the rear leading up from the floor to the bar. We found a spot with a clear, unobstructed view on the top step next to the soundboard, where Walker Hanson was filming the entire show and occasionally saying hello to fans.

Like at the New Haven show, no effort was made to stop fan photography, and in fact venue security allowed fans to walk up the aisles along the sides of the crowd to snap shots near the stage. I did not find this out until some of my companions told me later, because I didn't move from my spot with a perfect view of the stage all night. The crowd was just as enthusiastic as the one in New Haven, but was in general more respectful of each other and focused on the music, as New York Hanson crowds tend to be.

We noticed that the crowd included industry-type men in suits and a lot of press; the atmosphere foreshadowed a special show. There would be no opening act.

Suddenly the band's bass and rhythm guitar players emerged...and then along with Isaac and Zac, a choir of children, young people and adults spilled across the stage, adorned in Great Divide tee shirts! The crowd roared with surprise and excitement, and Taylor emerged from behind the choir dressed to kill, as was Isaac. They brought the house down before they even started with the opening notes of Great Divide. The choir added an uplifting, Gospel music vibe to the song, as practiced as if they had been singing it for years. Been There Beofre followed with much better sound balance than in New Haven, allowing Taylor's vocals to shine on the verses and the choir to add soul. You Never Know and This Tine Around played as expertly as ever were followed by crowd-pleaser and comparably tight Georgia. The band dove straight on into the frenetic, rocking Lost Without Each Other, much to the delight of their packed house.

The next surprise came as the band readied for the acoustic set. Rocker Andrew WK emerged to take the stage and add to the instrumentals for Go. The song was better sung than in New Haven, with stronger vocals on the chorus by all 3 Hansons. Strong Enough To Break followed, perhaps for the suits in the crowd, and then we were treated to Change In My Life, beautifully and clearly sung a capella.

The third set began with the re-emergence of the choir, for their strongest performance yet as they joined Taylor for the transition from his raspy, soulful singing of the verses and chorus to the beautiful bridge, with resulting gorgeous, harmonic vocals on the high notes of "something more..." They accentuated the pounding oo-oohs of the final chorus by jumping up and down. Where's The Love lead into crowd-pleaser Running Man, the rockin' crowd-inclusive version of MMMBop, as tightly constructed and hooky pop song as we will ever see, and then Underneath's single, Penny, another sing-along for the crowd.

The show's most quirky moment technically came during an initially beautiful, moving rendition of Your Illusion, when suddenly a high-pitched squeal of feedback errupted, necessitating that the band completely stop playing. Taylor played to the crowd during a painfully long pause, finally kicking over an amp in frustration at the delay. He took control of the situation, talking to his fellow band memebrs and then playing the final notes of Your Illusion on the keys without vocals, then moving the band right into Feelin' Alright. When the vocal mike suddenly began to work, he explained playfully to the crowd, "That was our Radiohead moment." Isaac's strong rendition of Fellin' Alright, including an impressive guitar solo, lead straight into Something Going Round, one of the new songs that lets the band show off their rock roots live, and then Watch Over Me. If this tight, song drive band ever gets a bit jammy, it is in this final portion of their show, to the delight of their fans at the 2 preview shows I attended.

The encore...Cat Stevens' classic Peace Train. Taylor sang the new-to-him lyrics with passion while unabashedly using a cheat sheet, still managing to bring the charisma and presence he had brought to the entire show to this new song. He introduced guests, highlighted their solos, and danced, posed, smirked and smiled for the last couple of minutes of the song as the others played. He was alive throught the show, glowing and energetic and dressed so that he really stood out, especially when the spotlight was on him. Isaac soloed much more than in new Haven on lead electric, and was dressed just gorgeously. Zac could not be seen when the choir filled the small stage in front of him, but stood out during the acoustic set, which he used as his time to talk to the crowd a bit more, as Go was featured. The band triumphantly previewed their new music in The Big Apple with a special energy that was electric to those of us in the crowd.

setlist

Great Divide *
Been There Before *
You Never Know
This Time Around
Georgia
Lost Without Each Other
Go [acoustic], with Andrew WK
Strong Enough To Break [acoustic]
Change In My Life [a capella]
Blue Sky *
Where's The Love
Running Man
MMMBop
Penny & Me
Your Illusion
Feelin' Alright
Something Going Round
Watch Over Me #
ENCORE
Peace Train (Cat Stevens) *#

* with the Young Love Choir
# with Andrew WK on piano, Jonny Dubowski from Johnny Lives, bassist
Pedro Yanowitz from Morningwood, Adam Green, and others