I can think of about a million places where I could start, depending on how much I want to bore you to death. I know reviews are usually very long but I wrote this one mainly for my friends so bear with me here. It’s not an everyday occurrence to get Ali to babble about her day. And wow, was this a long day. After much reflection, I have decided to start at the beginning.

And on the first day he said…

The Jacket arrived on a rainy, cold and just plain icky Thursday. I could go into graphic detail about the level and density of the wonderfully harmony of the “ohh”s and “ahh”s, but I’ll leave it at I was very, very happy.

We left for the train station at about (you have no idea how weird I feel for just typing that… it’s like I’m being sucked into a weak trip of “We Luv HITZ!” or something… anyway…) 7:15 am and left for Milwaukee at 8. We got to Milwaukee roughly 6 hours later. We didn’t have a car. So, me and my backpack and the jacket’s backpack (thank you PJs) and my mom and her backpack and her duffle bag type… thing, walked the two blocks to our hotel.
There is nothing to do in Milwaukee. Never go. We walked around and found nothing open. Absolutely nothing. If this is one of Wisconsin’s biggest cities, I’m embarrassed.

The Riverside was a mere 3 blocks from our hotel. We checked it out and spotted the Hooters which sat humbly across the street, waiting for three teenage boys to stare at it, slack-jawed boogie-eyed.
Mom, in an attempt to use up 10 or so pictures left in her camera before the concert the next day, took 3 pictures of the rather dinky and pathetic sign that said “Hanson – OCT 9, Stephan Wright – OCT 10”. (Insert camera noises. Click! Click! Click!)

October 9th, Heart is Pumping
My friend Magick came to Milwaukee from Pennsylvania to see Hanson with me. We love her. We picked her up at the train station and when we got to the hotel room, I showed her the jacket and jacket journal and we all oo’d and ahh’d some more.
Being as Milwaukee is a dead city, we took another walk. To the Riverside. Again. After making sure that we couldn’t pick up our Hanson.net tickets until 6 o’clock, we all pouted and whined. Mom talked to a nice lady in a Packer jacket. Ms. Packer Lady (we’ll call her Glenda the Good Witch) told us where Hanson was staying. There was already a large group of girls around the hotel. (Out of respect, promotion of Hanson privacy and the illusion it will make me a better person, I won’t tell you what hotel they were at). Oh no. Let’s go.

Part 2 - “Oh my god! You’re so cute! You’re glowing!

I’ve seen Hanson once. For 20 minutes. In Rhode Island. I have never, ever, ever in my entire life waited outside a hotel waiting for a band or a celebrity of any type. I glanced down at my attire. A black Jonny Lang shirt (score), my signature blue work jeans and a particularly poofy jacket. Magick was wearing… a Hanson shirt. She immediately zipped up her jacket and after I objected and whined, (I.E: “I am not standing in front of their hotel!; I feel like such a teenie… shot me, shoot me now”) I found myself standing in the second row of an unofficial Meet & Greet. My mom happened to have her camera with her. The one with 7 pictures left. No, no, no, that would not do. I glanced at the bag in my mom’s hands. Wintergreen altoids and… a roll of 1000 Speed Film. Great. Super high speed film. And it was light and sunny out. Might as well. Finish 7 pictures. (Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!) Fumble with camera. Change film. (“Ali, remember, put the film under that flap in there.”) Ask mom to kindly go and fetch the jacket. Wait for mom. Wait for Hanson. Wonder if Hanson already left. Wonder if Taylor stopped eating altogether and withered away. Wait for mom. Wonder if mom got hit by car. Starts panicking. Attack mom in bear hug when she returns. It’s freezing out. Mom goes in for coffee. People scream. Oh my god! It’s Hanson… luggage. And more luggage. And then more luggage. And then even more luggage (good god, what did they do, pack the entire Taylor Hanson Leather Collection?) Wait two hours. Seen most of Hanson family. Ashleigh (babysitter), Diana (short), Jessica (drop dead gorgeous), Mackie (hyper), Zoë (beyond adorable), Walker (…). I grow impatient. Scream. Very. Loud. Screams. A surly 14 year old drummer whizzes by. I managed one picture. (click!) It turns out he wasn’t actually wearing a coonskin cap. Oh well. After getting over the initial shock of being two feet away from the MTV child (and noticing how short he is in real life), I realized how freaking cold it is in October in the middle of Wisconsin. 20 minutes. Isaac. His head, unlike his impatient and weary younger brother, was held up the whole time and displayed a smile and he hurried to the bus. (May I state that… he is so incredibly gorgeous it makes you melt right then and there, and it’s not a teenie, shallow, “*squeal* He is soooo hot!” gorgeous, it’s a light that seeps from him and spills onto the people who surround him and you have to smile because you simply can’t deny your face that pleasure. I’ll shut up now.) No big thing. My favorite Hanson had already passed. (yep, Ali has a favorite Hanson. She feels bad, but it’s true. She’s in way over her head for the little one. Don’t tell him.) Alright, we can go. All that’s left is the pretty boy. Wait. Wait some more. I note how I think my teeth are beginning to freeze. Door opens. Before I continue, I would like to apologize. I make fun of Taylor. I taunt him. I tease him. Sometimes I’m downright mean. I am so sorry. I know it will sound stupid and typical, bear with me here. And I remind you, I love him, but he’s not exactly my favorite person in the world.
He walked out of the hotel and everything slowed down. It freaked me out. But it was like time sludged down to a delicious time frame that’s even slower than Hanson Time. He waved. He signed things. He hugged. He smiled. Oh, my god, he smiled. Wait. Who is he looking at? Everyone, there’s only 15 people out here. I look behind me. Oh my. Taylor Hanson is smiling at me. He stopped right in front of me. And I have the picture to prove it. He enters bus. Crowd leaves. Found mom. Fell to the floor. Was in a Taylor-induced Lala land for the rest of the day.

Part 3 - Flow Through Me

After having both mom and Magick check my heart rate (hey, stop sniggering, I’m from the sticks of Wisconsin, stuff like that doesn’t happen to people like me) we found ourselves at the Riverside. Among over 700 fans. Magick, who went to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Erie, shrugged it off. I, a teenager who had only spent about 48 hours total with about 8 other fans in my entire life, spent a good 6 or 7 minutes trying to pry my jaw off the floor. I’ve never seen so many Hanson fans in one place in my entire life. My mumsy battled the teenies to get to the Will-Call booth. (To this day I don’t know how she did it…) One of my big fears was centered around that I had used my other parent’s credit card to order the tickets and so I prayed there wouldn’t be an ID problem. Mom found us. They didn’t ask for ID. Pardon me while I engage in some major eye-rollage. I took my mom’s camera, which had 10 pictures left and headed inside. If there was a problem with cameras, I would simply go back outside and give the camera to mom. It was sometime between the time I had my ticket out and was clinging to Magick (mom didn’t actually go to the concert itself) and the time there was 14 people behind me, making it impossible to move backwards, that I saw the sign that said, quite clearly, “Absolutely No Cameras or Recording Equipment Allowed”. Well damn. And they were checking bags. I glanced at my backpack (hard to do since it was on my… back) and remembered how I had put my extra 800 film in my bag. Here’s the deal. I called the Riverside and asked their camera rules. Their answer? A rather snotty, “No flash photography.” So I turned the flash off. No problem. Now they say in general, cameras aren’t allowed. Dang. I did, however, put the extra film in the pocket of my backpack that also contained about 8 or 9 maxi pads. But, alas, I was spared the security guards’ embarrassed and apologetic smile, being as Magick was playing leader and shoved me through a non-checking door. (For such a soft-spoken person she sure is strong… *rubs forearm*) Get my ticket ripped. All is well. Good. Then we see the merchandise table. Well… not the table itself, but we saw a few Hansony things peeking over the throng of people. Then I lowered my eyes to the throng. Dear god. Help me. I’m too young to die. I was aiming for the door. I wanted out. Screw this, I thought wearily. I’ll see them next time. That’s when Magick started pushing me towards the table. One, two, three, gulp and here we go.
You know how we’re all so proud of ourselves because there are no mosh-pits at Hanson concerts? Guess what. There are. Physically… couldn’t… move. I feel for the Monroeville victims.
After collecting 2 Event Posters and finally nabbing a tour program, (the picture of Ike bare foot is worth the $15. As Jenni put it, “Hehe, you see Ikey toesies, hehe, he not wearing any shoesies, hehehehe”) we looked at our tickets. Row G, Section 1. G… A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Row 7. Eh, not as good as I was hoping from Hanson.net… section 1. Okay. Go to Section 1.
“Right… you’re in the wrong section.”
um, okay. “Where do we go?”
“Try Section 3.”
Wade through the 700+ fans, the whole time I’m contemplating a rant about ticket confusion and how much Sections suck. I want my mommy.
Okay, Section 3. Found Usher.
“Mmm…” (bop) “yes, go to the next usher.”
We go to the next usher. (By this time, I had discovered the leader within (get me to my damn seats) and Magick was tagging wordlessly behind me.)
Usher: Go to the next usher.
We went to the next usher. And the one after that. And the one after that. I think you get the picture. Finally were at the last usher and she pointed to the row right next to her. Row 7. I look at Magick and raise my eyebrows. We’re 30 feet away from Hanson. I plopped in my seat and grinned. Almost immediately, lights dimmed and the audience went insane. (I stuck my earplugs in. Better safe than deaf.) I glanced at my camera. Oops. I’m not supposed to have this. 6 pictures? I thought there was 10. Ugh. I got some good shots of M2M (who were very good, I was impressed.) M2M finished. I still had 3 shots left. People were using their flash around me. Apparently it was okay to do. Yay. Roadies and Mr. Poofy-Haired dude set up. I snapped the rest of the pictures, planning on changing film before Hanson came on stage. As I struggled with the camera on my lap (“Okay, Ali, put the film under the flap like this…” why don’t I pay attention to my mother? Argh.)…
“Do either of you girls have a camera?”
I looked up at the elderly usher and did my best innocent look, which isn’t all too innocent. Then, leaning over to hide the camera and film (which were sitting in my lap…) I did the most mature and respectful thing I’ve ever done.

I lied.

“No, I don’t have one. Do you?” I turn to Magick. “No. You?” “No. We don’t have them.” Ms. Usher gave us a look that implies she didn’t trust two teens, then left. I got the film in. Lights dimmed. Hanson walked on stage. (There was a lot more fumbling with the camera, which caused me to swear a lot and almost miss “Crosstown Traffic”.)

01. You Never Know
02. Crosstown Traffic
03. Runaway Run
04. Where's The Love
05. Lonely Again
06. Thinking Of You
07. Johnny B Goode
08. Lucy
09. A Song To Sing
10. Money
11. More Than Anything
12. A Minute Without You
13. Dying To Be Alive
14. Bridges Of Stone
15. Sunshine Of Your Love
16. If Only
17. Speechless
18. This Time Around
19. Mmmbop
20. In The City
21. Gimme Some Lovin
22. Man From Milwaukee

Here We Go…

I fixed the camera and zoomed away happily. I was 30 feet from the Pretty Gorgeous One. And then I did it. I’m sorry. I’m not proud of it. I… I screamed. A lot. I think the more male beauty teenage girls are exposed to create more hormone rushes that can only be released vocally. At least that’s my theory. During ‘Runaway Run’ we managed to hold the jacket up, but some mean people behind us made us put it down. Well, I hope the bootleg they were making doesn’t turn out. After many lovely songs, most of which blended together in a scrumptious mixture of melody and lyrics, Taylor spoke. (Ahhh). “We let Ike do this alone…”
Insert ‘More Than Anything’, throw in a few screams, a couple of swooning girls, a genuine Ali-Puddle and you get the picture. Reemerge the other two (Ike was dilating my memory), Taylor in a tank top (I refuse to say ‘wifebeater’, it is below me). They sat down and put on their most beautiful garments: their instruments. They performed ‘Lucy’. I, Alison Virginia Taylor, allowed my jaw to drop and I literally had to reply on Magick to support me. “Now I don’t have any more songs to sing, ‘cause you’re everything, everything to me,” caused me to release a wimper-type sound and stand there totally unmoving. I’m having the time of my life. More bopping and happy (and not-so-happy) songs. “The next song… we’ve only performed once before, at the last show.. it’s called ‘Bridges of Stone’.”
I looked at Magick. She looked pretty surprised. I start shaking her. “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” Insert, I feel bad for knowing the words. Screw that, I was in awe.
You won’t find me crying for what used to be home
you won’t find me trying to burn bridges of stone.
That’s when I lost it. Totally broke down and started crying. Luckily, I didn’t blow my nose in the jacket.
‘Speechless was deliciously drawn-out, in order to do the whole Worshipping-Jason-Matt-and-Goat-Boy thing. ‘This Time Around’ was by far the most fun song, quite an opposite to the last time I saw them play it. The whole crowd sang along, yours truly included. Eh, no one could hear me. It was almost as fun as when we were around the bus at the hotel and a white car covered in hymns and Bible passages wandered by several times and blasted warnings. “The end is near; Redeem yourselves; Jesus is coming”. Go away. We came here to see Hanson. We called it, “Hell on Wheels”. Anyway, back to the concert…

Encores: ‘Gimme Some Lovin’’ and of course, ‘Man from Milwaukee’. Wow, that's just a once in a lifetime chance to hear that song in that city. All the Wisconsites (myself included) were grinning cheese-oozing ear-to-ear. Fun, fun, fun.

We left aching and hugging and smiling and happier than I can ever remember.

I would like to thank my parents for letting me do this and helping me do it, Magick for convincing me to stand 2 feet away from Hanson and being an amazing friend, my sister for listening to me babble about the whole thing while Stevie Ray Vaughn was coming out of her end of the line, Len for letting me have the jacket, Michael, the guy who worked at our hotel and was really cute, the guy who worked at the merchandise booth at the concert (who was also cute), the guy who developed my film, the girl who cut up my negatives, Ashely Greyson, Michael Tucker, Chris Sabec, Walker & Diana (for sharing your beautiful, beautiful children with us), all the little Hansons, and above all (of course), I thank Isaac, Taylor & Zac. I wish you nothing but the best and pray you are always happy.

Outside the Top-Secret Hotel
           

The Riverside (10-9-00)