I had this video a while back but I gave it away because I picked up the DVD. Haven't watched this in well over a year.
No extras as far as packaging...there's not even an insert card inside the DVD case. At least the chapters are listed on the back. I put the sucker in and it takes me right into the video, so I have to stop and hit the menu key. No-frills menu, as we get "Play" and "Chapters" options. I was hoping for an easter egg where the Hanson logo on the lower right of the screen is, but no such luck. I hit play.
A Mercury Production. I wonder if this is a collectors item since Mercury's in the can now. Nah.
A snow globe shows up on screen with a few buildings in it. Some music-box style background music. Snow globe fades into a shot of good old Earth, which is then covered by "Tulsa, Tokyo, and the Middle of Nowhere."
Fade to the Beacon Theater interior. Sheesh, this picture quality looks only a shade above SP videotape. Venue appears to be a little small for Hanson, considering the crowds they could draw at the time. A large crane shot says "look at all the screaming girls" and we're off and running with "Thinking of You." It's weird to see Taylor with long hair. Song quality is standard Hanson fare for the time. There's that Ravi guy. Remember when he wrote that book about his "tour experiences" with Hanson? Some guys will do anything for a buck. Nice rattail, Taylor. Ike gets sprayed with water at the 3:15 mark. Looks like he got a small electric shock from it. Why the hell would they leave that on the video? Made me laugh, anyway. Taylor's rattail magically disappears at the end of the song. Fade to...
...text. "In just a few months, we travelled the globe, performing, doing press, radio...and having fun MMMBopping around the planet. This video will take you on our amazing trip." -Isaac, Taylor, and Zac
Fade to the Beacon lobby. Closeup of Mr. Ike, who sure looks a lot more horselike back then. Look at him work that mouth. Someone check and see if he's got electrodes stuck to the back of him. Worked for TV's other talking horse.
Ike talks about starting off doing acapella and writing songs about brothers and sisters, as well as singing old 50's and 60's rock and roll. Zac is ALREADY goofing around, snapping his fingers and moving all over the place. Taylor looks content. Zac talks about how it's cool to be doing something for a career that both him and his brothers enjoy. Zac then hits a wall mid-sentence but Taylor saves him.
We cut to Paramus Park Mall in New Jersey, and I get a face and earful of screaming teenage girls who seem to have no barriers between themselves and the band. Nice preperation, Paramus executives. Backstage, Taylor wonders outloud how they are going to get through this large crowd in order to get to the small stage at the front. He is not given an answer. My answer would have been flamethrowers. Ike says "This is crazy" prior to walking into the mass of humanity.
They manage to push through the crowd with what looks like one measly security guard, and take the stage to a huge pop from the hundreds of girls and dozen or so guys in the audience. I guess you could call a crowd popping for Hanson an "MMMpop." Ah haha..ah, yeah. The crowd won't shut up, so Zac says "Please stop screaming," which of course only makes it worse. Cut to a clip of them doing an unplugged "MMMBop" (Ike with acoustic guitar, Taylor with a tamborine, and Zac with...hands. I guess he had not learned to play the SHAKY THINGS OF DEATH yet. The crowd sings along.
Cut to ITZ in a studio(?) talking about that mall experience. All three seem to be wearing makeup or something. What the hell? Ike (interrupting Taylor): We got there and said, 'Oh my gosh, Sears is having a sale!' Taylor ignores his bad joke and goes on. Taylor: We got there saying "Maybe (all these people) are here to see us," just totally joking.
Taylor describes the fans screaming at the mall as a "shriek of volume." That's about right. A *PSYCHADELIC* looking text screen rudely interrupts Taylor to inform us that "Middle Of Nowhere" was released one day prior to the mall appearance.
Cut back to Taylor, who apparently says "There were hands grabbing, I mean, shit, it was so amazing." Ok, that's probably not what he said, but it makes it more entertaining. Ike says Taylor got a hole in his shirt from the fans. Zac, who looks like he really needs some Chap-Stik, talks about almost getting caught in the middle of that crowd at the mall (no wonder some people accuse Zac of being less than cordial to the fans nowadays). Cut to shot of them leaving somewhere at night, probably that mall, as they escape in a van. The shot of the fans banging on the van windows and doors as the van went by would be mirrored in the Ramones' "We're Outta Here" video-documentary a few years later. Zac (nervously): Lock your doors.
One of those damn "MMMBop" techno mixes plays as another *PSYCHADELIC* text screen tells us the definition of MMMBop according to Webster's:
mmm*bop (oom'*bop) n An unrepeatable moment. (Latin umbopus, a good time)
An acquaintance of mine is a writer for MAD Magazine, he once wrote "Hanson's career will last 3.4 MMMBops." Hey, it was funny at the time. Don't get pissed, he's an MMMBop fan.
Cut to that studio(?) again. Ike: We started writing MMMbop...not knowing we were writing MMMBop. Cut to behind the scenes footage during the making of the MMMBop video. Ike: We're going to walk down the sidewalk and just kind of...act casual and...stuff." Gee, that sounds exciting. Taylor: We're gonna walk somewhere, then get in the cab, then we'll get on the bus, then we'll rollerblade, then we'll get to a park, then ride bikes to the cave, and then we'll go in." Who wrote this video, their little sister? Taylor, by the way, is sounding a lot like Harvey Fierstein as the video was likely shot during the time that Taylor's voice was changing. Montage of behind the scenes MMMBop video clips. Zac pets a stray, possibly rabid cat.
We get a Dreamcast logo wipe to the studio(?) with Taylor talking about the "Boomerang" album, which back when this was filmed very few people knew about. They try to make this interview seem laid back by having some goof in the background reading a magazine. Taylor says "MMMBop" was supposed to be the background of a chorus for a song, but it was never used. He says they wrote a song that fit really well with that background part as the chorus. And the rest, as they say, is history. Geez that was a long chapter...we move on to....
"MMMbop" video. This is the one sans-Einstein footage. I wish the band I was in was allowed to practice in the living room. Ah, at 0:36 we get the famous shot played in reverse to make it look like they're getting out of the cab. And just as Taylor promised us, they are now on the bus. I remember hearing a story about how they did not ask permission to film while on the bus. That's because in 1997, Hanson dared to LIVE ON THE EDGE. Now they're at the cave. Geez, what happened to getting to the park and riding bikes to the cave? Rollerblading comes later. They run from a highway to a large patch of gravel and drop some dirt on it. The boys then use mystic, arcane powers to make flowers pop up and bloom instantly. AAGH! That damn shot of the flower fading to Taylor, who looks like he's wearing a POUND of blush. Then, the lamest shot in the whole video of the group superimposed over the aforementioned arcane blooming flower. Ugh. Taylor and Zac drive a jeep-tractor-hummer looking thing while crawling all over it at the same time, switching places. Nice of them to show their impressionable young-and-soon-to-be-driving viewers how to safely operate a vehicle. From the 2:00 to 2:10 mark we're forced to watch stuff not worth mentioning. Taylor and Ike walk towards each other looking at each other, then not, then bumping into each other. Oh, the hilarity. Suddenly, the promised rollerblading! But then we cut back to the lame superimposed flower shot again, where Zac looks WAY too happy to be singing in front of some stupid flower. Ike then almost kicks Taylor in the face on the beach. At the 2:50 mark, Taylor mouths an "oh yeah" that isn't heard. Back to rollerblading, then the living room again (Taylor has the rattail here). Then they dance on the moon. Huh? More rollerblading, more video played in reverse. Taylor and Zac collide at high speed, making Ike look like a wuss because all he did was WALK into Taylor. Still, 2 collisions in under 2 minutes ain't bad for a Hanson video. Cut to the guys exiting the cave that I had all but forgotten about.
Whew. That was unpleasant. The song itself is probably the best pop song of the 90's but that video is just frightening.
Cut to ITZ in what appears to be a TV studio. They talk about how amazing it is to see your song at #1....geez, that Billboard listing makes it look like the group that performed "MMMBop" is The Dust Brothers. Ike marvels at the wonder of Michael Jackson "being two notches below you" on the charts. If this was 1986, that would be a big deal.
We go inside what is likely now the former Hanson household. We go to the "garage,"according to the voice on the video, but it looks more like a basement. Taylor and Zac draw on the walls.
A sudden transition to the group being driven around in France. "MMMBop" plays on the radio as they are driving. Isaac makes the whole video worthwhile with his line, "It's on the radio in France." ::switches to obnoxious Frenchman voice:: "EEN FRANCE, OH-HO-HO-HO-HO." I laugh and play the part three more times before continuing. Cut to the boys being interviewed for a French radio station, The host asks why they like early rock and roll. Taylor tells the "living in South America" story as the obnoxious frog smokes his pipe while sitting right next to Zac. Cut to Ike standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, then getting uppercutted by the camera. Wipe to Taylor introducing Italy, with a few shots of that area. A "Where's The Love" instrumental version plays in the background. I'd kill a man to get the instrumental versions of Hanson's songs. Not the shitty remakes they have in the karaoke bars, mind you. The guys get interviewed at an Italian radio station. Everyone is standing up around the mic. Nice of the station to have chairs for the celebrity guests. At the 2:52 mark, Taylor, standing next to the host, suddenly recoils quickly from him...it looks like he either got shocked or spit on by the host. How lovely. In the next shot, Zac is next to the guy, haha.
Now we're back to the FIRST studio(?) with ITZ talking about the strangeness of doing radio in foreign language countries. Wipe to Ike introducing us to London. Zac's "hi" in the car makes me laugh for some reason. Gimme a break, it's 3:42 a.m. as I write this. There's Big Ben. A cool looking store with a Batman logo gets .3 seconds of screentime. I'm hoping they go in there, but noooooo, they gotta buy shoes. As they go in, Ike says "cool." Not as cool as Bruce Wayne, pal. After they try on some wacky lookin' shoes we get possibly the oddest scene on the video.
The boys all go to...the back of the store? I don't know. But they're in a fairly small room sitting with a mystery girl with a British accent holding a large plastic bag. Apparently, one of them is supposed to reach in and pull out a ball, then open the ball and answer the question within. I'll have to try that one at my next party. Zac cautiously looks at the bag. Apparently he's taking too long because Taylor rushes over and grabs one out of the bag.
Taylor: I'll get it, you don't even have to touch the balls.
Zac: I don't want to touch the...them.
Cough.
The question contained within the ball is "What's your favorite subject in school?" Zac: Math....although literature is cool. Zac's like 10 years old here, I didn't know 10 year olds HAD literature. 
Oh yeah, they're home schooled. Ike rambles on about whatever, Taylor gets bored and puts a ball in his mouth, then shoots it out at the wall. Everyone laughs way too hard. Taylor reads the next question. To make sure he offends the British, he puts on an amusing accent. "What do you reckon (ITZ laugh at "reckon") you'll be doing five years from now?" I jump in my time machine and journey back to 1997, burst into the room and bellow "RELEASING YOUR THIRD ALBUM." Walker has a heart attack, Zac asks me if he can use the time machine. Anyway, Ike proclaims that the "five year question" is a really good one. I wonder if he still feels that way after hearing it 50 times a week. ITZ all agree they hope to still be doing music, whether that means writing, performing, or singing it. A sudden end to the chapter means....
Cut to Taylor (with crappy "Where's The Love" techno mix in the background). Taylor: We're going to Segaworld. Oh, how I hate Sega...but that's another story. Lots of quick cuts of bright lights and shiny things. Ike and Taylor play a Virtua Cop looking game while Zac rides a motorcycle for a Hang-On looking game. Taylor sits in a pod for a few rounds of R-360, which I used to call "the flying game to make little kids barf." Taylor spins all over the place and manages not to puke.
Cut to Germany. Quick cuts of a bunch or German stuff, including a quick shot of the group performing in front of what looks like giant Chuck-E-Cheese plastic ball pit. Ok...Cut to Ike welcoming us to photo shoot #3...no, he corrects himself, #2. A voice off camera insists #4. Ike: WHATEVER. Quick cuts of several different photo shoots, including the "Snowed In" one. At the 1:47 mark, the guys are standing next to a semi, and suddenly a maniacal voice screams "ZAC, I CAN SEE YOU" which makes me laugh. That was just odd. Cut to a photographer approaching orgasm as Hanson climbs a tree ("YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH THAT'S IT THAT'S IT"). Now we're back to the TV-looking studio. Ike does an impression of one photographer they had that apparently sounded like Schwarzenegger (Ike: SOO-PAH, DAT'S SOO-PAH). At the 2:36 mark, Ike gets yet another laugh out of me, as, during the "Snowed In" shoot, he wraps a scarf around his head, makes a mongloid face, and apparently says "I love everything."
Wipe to Ike introducing us to a Y-TV taping in Toronto at Paramount Canada's Wonderland. Taylor says the crowd is up to 140 decibels. A *PSYCHADELIC* text screen comes up and tells us about different decibel levels and what they do to your ears.
*PSYCHADELIC*
TEXT SCREEN
SOUND LEVEL CHART
|
Noise
|
Decibels
|
Effect
|
|
Jet take-off
|
150 db
|
Eardrum rupture
|
|
Aircraft Carrier
|
140 db
|
Hearing loss
|
|
Thunderclap |
120 db
|
Pain threshold
|
|
Jackhammer
|
100 db
|
Hearing damage
|
There will be no eardrum rupture tonight though, as the most we can hope for is hearing loss. The guys stick in earplugs and take the stage wing. They hi-five the shadowy background characters that do the backing instruments, including that book-writing guy. Taylor has the rattail here. Everyone, including some meathead-looking guy does a football-ish "get pumped up" chant. What, are they going to fight the crowd or something? ITZ then have their own little "All for one and one for all" moment, and seconds later they take the stage to 140 decibels, give or take a few. They go into an unplugged "Man From Milwaukee," and Zac is now apparently educated in the art of the SHAKY THINGS OF DEATH. Zac takes main vocals and does well. Zac is also wearing a bullhorn...gee, what could that be for? He does the bullhorn bit to a big pop. Taylor: Give it up for Zac Hanson! Geez, they just did. They do again anyway.
Cut to Zac in the Beacon Theater lobby talking about how fun it is to play live. Ike does too. Taylor makes three. Cut back to Y-TV taping and the crowd singing "MMMBop" while ITZ clap along. Zac: THIS IS COOL! I can just hear him now saying the same thing in a sarcastic voice. Quick cuts of the fans in Oklahoma, Australia, California, Minnesota, and then the Today Show in NYC (get down, Al Roker). Hanson greets fans outside of an unnamed location...some girl right in front is crying all over the place. Stop it, already. She's holding a sign that says "U GIVE US HANSON WE GIVE U PEACE." Hmm...I wonder if crying girl would have started a riot if Hanson didn't show. Girls let out yelps when ITZ touch their hands. Best part? Some girl says "I can't breathe!" They turn to go and some girl says "no, don't go!!" They go. Heh. Suddenly, the chapter is over, which leads to...
HERE we go. What I was waiting for - footage of them recording the "Middle of Nowhere" album. We're at LAFX Studio in L.A., and Taylor's working on the end of "With You In Your Dreams." He finishes and a disembodied, haughty sounding woman's voice commands him to do it again. He does.
Cut to an orange-brown couch in the studio(?). Taylor talks about the differences between playing live and recording an album. Cut to ITZ in front of a mic doing a part for a song...and for weeks after I saw this tape I couldn't figure out what the song was. Of course, most people knew or figured out it's the "I Will Come To You" b-side "Cried." They must have turned the pitch up on their voices for the actual track, because the way they are singing it here is much lower than it is in the song. A naked picture of Madonna is up on the wall, with a few postcards covering her naughty bits. Ike talks about how sometimes when mistakes are recorded they sound up being better than what was written. I guess that's how they justified putting "Pictures" on one of their albums...ok, sorry. But that song is just bad. Anyway, wipe to shot of ITZ recording the chorus of "Look At You." ITZ: Everybody wonders when they look at, look at you. STOP. Ike: Zac, you're LATE. Zac (pissed): I'M NOT LATE YOU GUYS ARE...later than me..." Before punches can be thrown or faces can be bitten, Taylor takes command and tells Zac to quit yelling. They try the part again. Cut to Ike and Tay sitting at the soundboard, while Zac tries the chorus himself, singing with the tape. Zac: Look at you, look at you baby...STOP.
Zac: Uh, on the second one I didn't seem to start right.
Disembodied Female Voice: On which one?
Zac: The very first one.
Way to be vague, Zac.
Back at the Beacon Theater lobby, Taylor talks about doing movies, which is a coincidence because at this writing, ITZ just signed on to be in a movie with such huge Hollywood stars as Lou Ferrigno, Scott Baio, and Chyna. Yikes. The sad thing about this is Hanson will probably give the best performances in the film and they aren't even actors.
Before you jump all over me, the back of the DVD case actually DOES say "Zac's Redwood Documentary." Yes, we all know it's Ike's documentary. But the case says Zac's. If you don't believe me, click on the back of the case at the top of this page and see for yourself.
Still no idea why this is on a tape about making an album and traveling around the world to support it...but, it's their video, so they can do what they want.
5...4...3...2...1. We get some Discovery Channel music and the screen reads "Mutual of Tulsa Presents: Mild Kingdom." OH I GET IT A-HAHAHA.
Cut
to Ike offending Hindu people by putting on their accent and insisting his
name is Joe and he'll be our guide through this redwood forest. An I.D. graphic
tells us Joe is a Doctor of Treeology. Fair enough. Footage of either Mackenzie
or some other little kid (who Ike-Joe calls "a cave dweller") hitting a tree
with a stick. Boy, this is some documentary. Ike then nails one of the best
lines of the video by filming Zac and saying "Here's the older cave dweller."
Zac makes a noise and runs away. Ike: He's the retarded one. Keep in
mind Ike kept his Hindu accent the whole time. LOL to that. Cut to footage
of Ike and Zac filming each other. Fascinating. Ike-Joe finally shows and
talks about an actual redwood tree, wavering between a Hindu accent and Bela
Lugosi impression. Interesting combination. Ike-Joe films "Grandpa Redwood,"
and reveals to us that it is very, very big. Yeah. Then for no reason he says
the roots are scary. Jesus, I hope this video wasn't for a grade or something.
Although this is Ike's documentary, Zac and Taylor provide us with the only
real information on redwoods, including their lifespan and how far the roots
spread out. Ike then turns the camera on himself. Now he's "Billy Bob" with
a hick accent, offending the millions of rednecks watching. Zac tries to say
something funny but fails. Ike's closing line of this informative documentary
on redwoods is "Ok, thank you very much for joining Billy Bob for Billy Bob...Billy
Bob here at the Billy Bob sequoias. Thank you very much, good bye. Billy Bob."
Sigh.
Cut to ITZ in the studio(?) talking about the "Where's The Love" video. We get some quick cuts of behind the scenes stuff from that, including Zac chasing some birds. Ike informs us we get a "fresh, new edit" of the video. Well we'll just see about that.
Segue to...what should have been a new chapter. Zac: HELLO?
::runs up to camera:: Zac: WHERE'S THE LOOVVE? Now that that unplesantness
is out of the way, the song proper begins.
I once went to a Gwar show in Detroit, and in between each band that performs
they play videos on a large screen to keep the crowd's attention. Usually
it's standard meathead-metal fare like Pantera or Slayer, but on that night
they actually played this video! A huge chorus of boos mixed with laughter
hit when the video started. I wasn't a Hanson fan at the time so it didn't
affect me. As you can probably tell, I don't have much to say about this video,
because no sir I do not like it. For the record, Hanson was 0 and 2 as far
as videos were concerned at this point. Too bad they didn't stick the "Weird"
and "I Will Come To You" videos on this DVD as extras, a lot of fans didn't
get to see the IWCTY video. Back to the video...Taylor kicks birds and thankfully
it's almost over. What's that video-blur for on the post behind Taylor? Another
naked Madonna? "Won't you, won't you give it up....baby." And we're done.
Fade in to a huge close-up of Zac's face. You know, he really could have alienated a lot of his female fans if he would have had something stuck in his teeth or up his nose. Zac (whispering): Do you wanna see something? Do ya? I once saw a porno that started this way. Cut to footage of Boomerang-MMMBop era Hanson on roller coasters and at what appears to be a zoo. Zac looks to be about 6 here or something. ITZ leap off a rock ledge and take a legit 15 foot drop into some water. That's hardcore. Footage of Zac and Taylor charging the Beacon Theater lobby doors, seperating ITZ from the few fans standing out there. They hit the doors fairly hard and hit the ground. Gets some laughs out of me. Shot of ITZ strapped to a wire, which is attached to a large crane so they can go pseudo-skydiving. Taylor calls it the most insane thing they've ever done. Psh, my ex-girlfriend did the same thing when she was like 14. It's probably a little crazy, but it ain't no 15 foot cliff dive. Speaking of which, we get a shot of a second hardcore cliff dive. Ike shows the shirt that Taylor had ripped by fans at the Paramus Park Mall show seen earlier...and Taylor doesn't have the rattail.
Cut back to Beacon Theater lobby, where Zac tries to rap the words "We were harmonizing" as Ike does the worst beatbox in the history of white people. Taylor sits for several seconds with a smile that says "Please stop, you idiots." Finally Taylor tells them to knock it off. ITZ talk about the importance of maintaining harmony when they're singing. Zac goes off on a tangent about harmony being a weapon, and begins swinging an imaginary sword. Ok. ITZ give an example by doing a harmonized part from "Where's The Love," and yeah, they have excellent voices. Cut to onstage at the Sydney Opera House (no audience, though) where they do an acapella "MMMBop" to test the acoustics.
Cut to ITZ hanging out with Cindy Crawford, shopping at a store that apparently sells clothing and vegetables in the same area. Any wrestling fans might have heard me once say that Taylor and Zac look like Edge and Christian. Well, after seeing this shot of Zac with the yellow-lensed glasses, I'm wondering if they aren't actually the same person. Cut to Ike back at the studio(?). Ike: How many guys would just DIE to meet Cindy Crawford? Not me. Zac says the cool thing about her is that she's really really nice. Cindy asks if they've ever been to Japan. When they say no, Cindy foreshadows, "Those guys will eat you alive." Cut to...
Tokyo, and ITZ arriving at the airport. Footage of them doing TV and sightseeing. Apparently, some Japanese radio stations are at the mall, and Japhanson fans are herded by the front window in small groups to get a quick look at their heroes.
Cut to Seoul, Korea and an unplugged version (including Zac on SHAKY THINGS OF DEATH) of "Madeline." Jeeeeezus Taylor looks skinny here. More sightseeing footage as the song plays in the background. Shot of ITZ doing TV promo spots. Zac shows how maniacal and annoying he can be during attempted takes of said promo spots. Cut to studio (?) shot.
Ike: I'm Isaac
Taylor: I'm Taylor
Zac: And I'm Zac.
ITZ: And we're Hanson.
Taylor: And you're watching Hanson - The Video.
I guess they hadn't thought up the TTMON name yet.
Cut to Taipei, Taiwan as "A Minute Without You" instrumental version plays in the background. Shots of grim soldiers of death marching around. Shot of ITZ at some giant memorial, where grim soldiers of death salute the huge statue and march around some more. The Taipei charts show Hanson clocking in at a mere #4, under Gary Barlow (who?), Bon Jovi, and Savage Garden. But, just as hinted at earlier, they are above Michael Jackson...and the Spice Girls. Haw haw. Cut to Jakarta, Indonesia. There was a riot at a Metallica show here once. Another "plowing through legions of fans in a van" shot. Cut to an unplugged "MMMBop" being performed at what looks like an Indonesian version of a bingo hall to a packed house. Apparently it's a Hard Rock Cafe. Taylor, on the bus, says it was only supposed to be a press conference. Good thing they just so happened to bring a guitar and tamborine to the press conference.
Back to ITZ in the TV studio. They talk about how it's cool for crazy stuff
to happen at shows and appearances. I wonder if they maintain that after all
the crap that's happened over the years (like Taylor getting rushed by people
while onstage).
Cut back to Sydney, Austraila. More sightseeing. Instrumental of "Look At You" plays in the background. While on a hydro-plane(?) a somewhat inebriated-looking Zac requests dramamine, haha. Footage of ITZ at the Aussie zoo. I wonder if Steve Irwin is here. They mess around with wombats and snakes. Cut to...
Melbourne, still in Australia. Soundcheck at a mall or car-park, whatever that is. Unplugged "Madeline" at the car-park gets a good pop from the crowd. Shots of fans, including someone holding a "Hanson is sexy" sign, which I'm surprised they left in on this sanitized video. I guess it's not that bad though. I went to a show last year and some little girl had one that said "ZAC BANG ME LIKE YOUR DRUMS." I bet her mom is real proud of her. More and more fan footage interspersed with the "Madeline" performace. Ike screws up at the 2:03 mark, but it sounds cool, validating his earlier comment about mistakes. Slo-mo shots of crying, screaming fans make me expect some graphic to come up telling me all the fans were killed in a holocaust or something, but nope. Two crying fans are then worried that Hanson will "never come back." A voice reassures them they will, which fades to...
Someone holding a movie clapboard saying "Hanson in Bali take 6." Piano that sounds similar to "Surely as the Sun" and Spinal Tap's "Lick My Love Pump" plays in the background as Hanson goes sightseeing in Bali.
Cut to Ike walking through the Bali version of a mall food court. He catches up with Taylor (with rattail), who gives a weak "hi," and for a second gives a "You just HAVE to tape everything, don't you?" look. Taylor is getting a cook to fry something up for him. Hilarious cut to a guy (I think) wearing makeup and dancing around in some ceremonial-looking dress and waving an Oriental fan. Ok, enough of that. Fade to the car ride back to the Bali hotel, where Zac informs the others that they have to watch their wallets because monkeys might try to steal them. No joke. We get a photo...nay, TWO photos of Hanson with parrots. Fade to...
Beacon Theater lobby. Taylor claims they are going to rock this place and it will never be the same. They say bye, and fade to...
Hanson taking the stage, which is kind of weird because they already showed them playing here at the beginning of the video. Taylor's ever-generic-said-at-every-show "You guys ready to rock?" is said, then he informs the audience that standing still is not allowed. The paraplegic in the crowd begins to cry as they go into "Where's The Love." A standard Hanson performance with the extended ending, which was still fairly new back then. Taylor has the rattail. Ike uses a Type O Negative sounding effect on his solo. At the 6:39 mark, Taylor's rattail is gone. Taylor gets a balloon from someone in the crowd as the song ends.
Ike does his ever-generic-said-at-every-show-at-least-when-they-play-this-song spiel about not being able to sell records or live a minute without you. You, meaning the fans. Giggle. The song gets going and they appear to be straining a lot...often times only one will be singing when all three are supposed to be...but there is one good moment coming up. Ike appears to be trying especially hard here. Ooh, here it is. At 2:33, Ike's "In my daaaaYYYYYYY!" is horribly off key, and then he follows it up with a big goofy smile to Taylor, as if to say "Boy! That sounded awesome!" At the 2:38 mark, Taylor's rattail is back. Song finishes. Kind of a weak performance. We are led right into...
"MMMBop," and Ike makes an unintentionally hilarious face to the crowd at the 0:19 mark. Above average performance of the song, they seem to be a lot more relaxed than they were during the last song. Not much to say here, everybody knows the song and has heard it a million times. Big pop as the song ends, and Taylor does not have the rattail. Taylor: Thank you very much, we'll see you next time. Oh, and Taylor has the rattail as he exits stage left. Fade to...
The studio(?) and an Ike monologue about how well he gets along with his brothers,
as a huge brawl between Taylor and Zac rages in the background. Ike: We're
basically best friends. Taylor dumps Ike from the chair he's in and takes
his place, speaking on the same subject as little brother beats on big brother
behind him. Zac dumps Tay and Zac speaks while Ike and Tay go at it. Zac:
We're basically best friends. Is there an echo in here? Ike and Tay both
grab Zac and attack. Zac takes a SICK bump over the couch. Man, he has to
do all the hard work. Ike makes a face, and we circle wipe to...
Hanson in the studio, for their own version of a jazz odyssey as the screen turns black and credits begin to pop up. We get a shot of ITZ back in the Beacon Theater lobby, and Zac keeps closing the lens cover over and over on the camera throughout the credits, which is actually a lot funnier than it sounds. Hm...according to the credits, "Hanson" was the executive producer, but "Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, and Zachary Hanson" were the creative consultants. Brief cutaway for ANCIENT (pre-Boomerang?) footage of ITZ onstage at what looks like an elementary school auditorium, and a TON of smoke onstage makes it impossible to see any of them. Amusing. At the 0:59 mark, we switch over to *PSYCHADELIC*, rolling credits, with Hanson Jazz Odyssey still blaring in the background. Special Thanks to, among others, Rosie "Fathead" O'Donnell. No, it doesn't actually say fathead. Hey! "Weird" Al Yankovic is last. Too cool. For some reason the word "weird" is not in quotes, though. As the credits end we go to another ANCIENT (pre-Boomerang?) clip of ITZ at some small radio station sitting with two old people. The old woman DJ says something about how "the Hansons may be headed straight to the top." This woman is obviously a witch and should be burned alive immediately, as she has powers to predict the future. Fade to a black text screen. "Most of all...thanks to you, the fans. You made this trip from Tulsa to Tokyo to the Middle of Nowhere possible." Aww. Fade to...Zac, opening the lens cover one last time. Zac: Bye bye...stop watching, it's over! Fade. Menu. All done!
Running time: 82 minutes.
This wasn't too bad, but it's not going to convert any non-fans.
The picture quality definetly does not reflect what DVD is capable of. I realize
some of this was shot on home video camera, but the live stuff and videos
could have been cleaned up. Ditto for the audio. Since at this writing Ike
is right around the corner from being old enough to drink, this piece really
is starting to show its age. I actually found this to be a little more intriguing
than I did when I bought it, and I think the same will apply to many people.
As the band gets older and older this video will take on more of a neat "novelty"
quality, 
as
it shows the band during the time their first album was released and "MMMBop"
was exploding all over the place. Although there's plenty of useless stuff
on here (the tree documentary, ITZ messing around at the zoo/on amusement
park rides, and too much space devoted to "Where's the Love"), the stuff that
does actually show them in the studio is very cool to watch, and the live
stuff is pretty good outside of the weak "A Minute Without You" performance.
I really wish they would have added some stuff for the DVD release, especially
the "Weird," "I Will Come To You," and hilarious "River" videos, and maybe
a preview of the "This Time Around" album, which was still under wraps when
this DVD came out. Unless someday Hanson does a video compilation release,
the three aforementioned videos will probably never be seen again, which is
a shame because many people hadn't ever gotten to see them, and they were
much better than the "MMMBop" and "Where's the Love" videos.
Word around the campfire is ITZ are working on a big documentary on the making of the upcoming album (and they also shot a lot of stuff during the making of the last one), so hopefully we will get a heavily studio-oriented video from the guys eventually, which they haven't really done yet.
Overall: 6 out of 10
A bare-bones DVD that is a worthy buy for fans, but don't
bother trying to get people to start listening to Hanson by showing this to
them.
Next up - A double whammy video review of "The Road To Albertane" and the DVD of "Live At The Fillmore." Coming not soon, but eventually. I gotta rest in between these things. The first draft of this one was done by hand on 11 sheets of paper, front and back. Let me rest.
By KaneRobot - 7/7/01.
All pics on this page were gathered from around the internet since I don't
have a video capture card. Sigh. Someday.
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