How do they still attract so many girls? Paul Wright, CC '05, asked incredulously as he watched throngs of girls urgently gather around the sundial, craning their necks and dialing friends on cell phones.
The "they" Wright referred to was none other than Hanson, the trio of blond-haired brothers made famous by their pop hit "MMMbop" in 1997. The band was scheduled to play a short acoustic set on the sundial at 3 p.m., but students were only notified in advance of the concert through very sparse word of mouth.

A worker for Hanson's record label managed to ward off students' skepticism by handing out Hanson posters, CDs, and DVDs. Despite his efforts, some students grew antsy as they wondered whether the public relations rep was pulling an elaborate prank.

But all doubts vanished when the three golden boys, Isaac, age 23, Taylor, 20, and Zac, 18, approached the sundial from the Journalism School with guitars in hand. Stopping to greet fans and allow girls to comment on their new hair cuts--Isaac and Zac now sport shorter 'dos, while Taylor, the "hottie" of the bunch, still wears it long--they eventually made their way to the sundial. The band performed two songs "campfire style," as Isaac put it, from their new album, titled Underneath. The album itself was self-produced under the band's own record label, 3CG, and is an effort to break away from their younger, more mainstream sound.

"You guys don't need school," Zac said as the crowd cheered after the first song. Indeed, a smattering of students did miss class to see the concert. In a fit of nostalgia for middle school, an entire section of Contemporary Civilizations walked out of class to gape at the brothers and learn if the rumors of their presence on campus were true.

After the set, Taylor stood up to explain why the band had appeared at Columbia that day. He spoke about the lack of both variety and good music on the radio and asked students to call their radio stations and "talk about the music you want to hear."

"We left our recent label and we're passionate about our music," Taylor said, "Radio stations ... top 40 radio stations ... are only playing eight songs," he said. "Call them up and talk about your favorite bands." He mentioned Guster and Death Cab for Cutie as examples of underplayed artists.

Following the concert the brothers signed autographs for a few minutes before rushing off to a meeting. As the crowd broke up and students settled back into lives of little spontaneity, Isaac called out a promise.

"Don't worry, guys," he said. "We'll be back soon."

Liz Fink contributed to this article.