Hanson's acoustic show reveals trio has grown nicely
By Malcolm Mayhew
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - In 1998, Oklahoma pop-rock trio Hanson played to a capacity crowd at Reunion Arena in Dallas. Harmonizing brothers Zac, Taylor and Isaac Hanson were at the pinnacle of their career; you could have equated the show to seeing the Beatles, so many teen-age girls were screaming so painfully loud.

Five years later, down the street from Reunion Arena at the far smaller nightclub Trees, the crowd had diminished, but not the screaming.

Monday night at Trees, where Hanson unveiled a batch of new, rootsy pop songs, a wave of young girls were sardine-packed to see the band that most critics dismissed as a one-hit wonder, thanks to the one-hit wonder syndrome brought on by MMMBop, the trio's biggest, and best, hit. As critics predicted, Hanson has indeed lost most of its commercial steam (not to mention its major label deal), but an army of fans remain. In addition, and more importantly, the brothers have made strides in their songwriting. They've grown up quite nicely, in other words.

Performing mostly acoustically, the three sat for most of the show, making it seem like an episode of VH1's laid-back, anecdote-heavy Storytellers series. Guitarist Isaac, who did most of the talking, did not seem bitter that the band's commercial glory days are, for the time being, over. The only thing that riled him up was when the crowd got unruly and he had to simmer them down.

Material from a new record, Underneath, due out next year on the band's own label, was emphasized. Tracks such as Misery and Strong Enough to Break focused on the trio's frighteningly perfect harmonies, and with their earthy, folksy arrangements, Crosby, Stills & Nash came to mind -- a point that hit home even harder when the group covered Crosby, Stills and Nash's Teach Your Children.

The hits were there as well, but they were reworked to fit the group's newfound interest in acoustic music. While some fans would have protested hearing their favorite songs in a different way, this audience was congenial, even excited about the new arrangements. With fans like this, fame seems so unimportant.


original article
Thanks mad4hanson