Hanson in Japan
by Keiko

It has been almost 7 years since I became Hanson's fan in 1997, and finally, for the first time in this 7 years, they held an one night show in Japan!! The ticket was sold out in 15minutes. (I'm glad ALL of my friends were able to get one!!)

Hanson arrived at Tokyo on Feb.7th. They were supposed to arrive at 2:50pm on a flight from NY, but they changed the flight so they arrived at 4:15 from LA. About 15 to 20 girls were waiting for them at the airport. There was also a cameraman from VH1 to take a documentary of their stay (that guy was so nice to us!).

We were thinking once they arrived, the staff from JVC will take the guys immediately away so if we can catch a mere sight of them, that would be lucky. But, surprisingly, nobody seemed to pick up the guys when they arrived so the girls crowded around them and they started to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans. We could see them so close and even talk with them. (That WAS lucky!) But as time passed and still no staff came to rescue them, they began to get kind of nervous. Tay and Zac were still smiling, but Ike looked so irritated! We felt so sorry for them...

They stayed at the platform for about 30 minutes, and finally decided to get to the hotel by themselves. Oh that was an unblievable sight! Hanson, waiting in line among other tourists to ride an AIRPORT BUS!!! Just after they left, the guys from JVC came running in, asking us "Where's Hanson??!!" We were like, "OMG what in the world were you doing?? They've already left for the hotel by themselves so just run after them!"

On the next day (Feb.8th) they seemed to have a day off; some of my friends saw their van at Harajuku and Shinjuku. I hope they had fun!!

On Feb.9th, they came up to the venue at about 3pm. The members of Hanson.net were to have a Meet & Greet with them and were requested to arrive early, but when I asked the staff of Astro Hall he just told me that it will be held AFTER the show. I had a big paper bag with some gift for Hanson in it, so I was at a loss what to do with it while the show. But the guy said he would take it to them for me. (I hope he DID!) While wating, we had a fan gathering at a restaurant near the hall. That was fun!! Most Hanson fans are REAL nice. I made friends with many of them!!

Finally, at 6:30 they let us in and the show started at about 7:10. At first I was standing on the 6th or 7th row at the right side of the stage (Taylor's side) but some excited fans kept yelling and pushing so I was pushed away to the other side (Zac's side). But there I could see three of them much better, so it was OK!!

Here's the set list:
1. Strong Enough To Break
2. River
3. If Only
4. Madeline -No one expected that they would play this song at this show, but it was just really, REALLY awesome!!!
5. Rock'n Roll Razorblade -Zac's drums were amazing!!
6. Tightrope(Zac's solo) -Many of my friends became Zac's deep fan after this song.....,
7. Teach Your Children (cover)
8. When You're Gone
9. With You In Your Dreams -Before this song, Tay let us practice singing "Whoa-oh" for about 5 times....
10. Underneath
11. I will come to you -I was real glad they played this song. This song is so special to me...
12. Ain't No Sunshine (cover) -Ike seemed like he's really enjoying singing this!
13. Hand in Hand (Ike's solo)
14. Crazy Beautiful (Tay's solo) -Tay introdused this as a 'special song'.....ohhh
15. Penny&Me
16. Where's The Love
17. Deeper
18. Hey
19. You Never Know -Tay requested the audience to "Shake your ass"!
20. mmmbop -"I think you might know this song,...(Tay)" Of course we do!!!
21. Rip It Up (cover) -Tay divided the audience into half and made them clap while Ike sang. That was cool!!
22.This Time Around -Tay also divided the audience, half of us sang "you can't say I didn't give it...." and the others sang "and we won't go down".
23. A Song To Sing (encore) -No one dared to make a noise....I think most of the girls were crying.

The guys memorized some phrases in Japanese, like "Konbanwa (good evening)", "Domo arigato (Thank you so much)", "Tugino utawa (the next song is....)", "Minna daisuki (we love you all!)" and so on. ....SO sweet!!

Tay was the conductor of the show (as usual, I guess), and Ike kept saying "Minna daisuki!!!" (Ike daisuki!). Zac, he was smiling and staring at the audience all the time as he played. Oh I LOVE that guy! Everyone sang along as they played "If Only","Madeline","IWCTY" and other old songs. That was really cool! Seems like even though most Japanse people find it difficult to speak English, 7 years were long enough for them to memorize the lyrics!!! I think The audience who attended this show were REAL good. They knew where to clap, dance & scream, and where to keep silence and listen to the song with all ears. I was proud to be one of them!!

The show ended at about 9:00, those who were invited to the Meet&Greet were asked to get out and wait outside the hall. It was real cold outside, but it didn't take so long (about 10 minutes?) until we were let inside again.
There seemed to be a press conference after the show, so they were in real hurry, and each of us were asked to choose either taking one picture with them, or get their autograph. We got in line and waited for them, soon after they came out and each of us had about 30 seconds to talk to them and take a picture. It was just really short so I'm not sure what I talked with them....Something like, "Hi thanks for playing IWCTY tonight!" "Oh that's OK"---take picture---"Thanks!Please come again!" "Yeah, we will...."
Well it was so nice of them to take their time for us when they where tired after the show and still have work to do.

They stayed for few more days and left Tokyo this morning(Feb.12th).
I will never forget this 6 days they stayed in Japan. They are truely great artists!!
I hope so bad they'll come again soon, and next time, they will stay not only in Tokyo but other cities like Osaka, as other forein artists do!!!
Thanks for reading my reveiw. Please excuse me for my bad English!
*Keiko, from Japan*

Photos from Japan