So, originally I didn't even plan on going to Mayfest. Too much trouble, too much money, too much craziness. But after watching friend after friend confirm their RSVP to go, I caved. And I'm totally glad I did, because I had a fucking great time. Here is a recap of my experience, in a very summarized form.
PRE-MAYFEST:
As most of you know, I've been mocking up some new flyers that, with any luck, could potentially be used for Street Team use. Last week, I had the idea that since I was going to this thing, I should put together a small book of my work, much like I do when I apply to work at an agency, and see if I could get the book into the Hanson camp somehow. So, as soon as I got back from Florida, I started on it -- I got my ads together, cleaned them up as much as I could (since I'm not a DESIGNER), updated my resume and cover letter, and spent most of Wednesday night at Kinko's printing out pages and getting them bound together in book format. The result? Right here:
I made three of them, packed them up, and hoped against hope that somehow I could get them into the hands of a Hanson.
ON THE WAY THERE:
Thursday, I leave work early, to the heckles of my fellow employees. Head for Louisville, where I meet up with Krystal, Chelsea, Ivy, and Melanie. Krystal's rented a minivan, which was a brilliant idea, by the way, and we head out of Louisville at around 2:30PM. In 7-8 hours, we would be stopping in Springfield, MO, to spend the night with Krystal's niece, Laura.
Just outside of St. Louis, we come to a standstill in traffic. For TWO HOURS. The five of us watch as four goofy-looking college boys, all skinny and coltish, tumble out of their jeep with a frisbee and begin playing with it right there in the construction zone of the interstate. One of the boys (who was wearing a Blue Devils shirt, the little shit), kept picking his nose, providing us with a little entertainment. At one point, Krystal rolls down the windows and begins playing 'MMMBop' at a volume entirely too loud for my mortification comfort level. However, it DOES get the boys to go back into their Jeep, which was amusing.
Eventually, traffic began moving again, and we came to St. Louis, a city that I love. I managed to snag this gorgeous shot as we were driving past the arch -- the perfect combination of timing, lack of traffic, and sunset.
THE NEXT DAY:
After staying in Springfield, we head on the road to Tulsa, with Laura joining our crew. It takes about three hours to get there, and we arrive around 1:30 or so. I speak with Gina, who tells me that Hanson are supposedly doing a soundcheck at the main stage. We check into our room, eat lunch, and I speak to Jennifer, who is in the Crowne Plaza down the street. Armed with my little ad books, we go to meet up with her, and then head to the soundcheck.
There were plenty of girls there watching, but not as many as I had expected, to be honest. Though that could have been due to the ridiculous heat and humidity -- my God, I felt like I was suffocating. Regardless, we all know how crazy we Hanson fans are, so we opted to grin and bear it. And, I got exactly one picture from soundcheck:
In brief, Isaac looked hot, Taylor was wearing the most God-awful old-man loafers ever seen by human eyes, and I barely saw Zac, as he was behind the drum kit. The guys muck around with a few songs, playing snippets of 'Look at You', 'Magic Carpet Ride', and 'Sweet Home Alabama', among others. They also work on 'Livin' on Tulsa Time', in which Taylor fucks around because he can't remember the words. Good times.
While we're waiting and observing the soundcheck, Krystal and I scout around for Hanson camp/crew. We see Jessica Hanson wandering around several times, and eventually she goes to set up the merchandise booth. I gather up a modicum of courage, force Melanie to walk with me, and attempt to not look like a psycho freak, and approach her. I apologize for bothering her, explain to her that I work in advertising as a writer, and that I would love to help the guys out in any way if they were interested. I hand her a book. She smiles and says, "So you want me to give it to them?" and I say, "Yes, if you wouldn't mind. I appreciate it."
We walk away. Krystal is there, and pokes me. "That's their dad!" she hisses.
"Where?"
"Right there!"
I turn, and Walker Hanson (who I didn't recognize at all, because I really didn't have any idea what he looked like, other than that he had dark hair) is standing about fifteen feet away. Krystal 'encourages' me to walk over. I take about three steps and stop before demanding that she come with me. I know, I'm terrible. On the way over, I fret because I have no fucking clue what to say.
So I go up to him, and give him basically the same speech I gave to his daughter. Sorry for bothering you, I work in advertising, etc etc etc. I give him my little book. Then, to my shock, he asks me several questions. "Where are you from?" "Kentucky!" "Where at in Kentucky?" "Lexington!" "So what position did you say you were interested in?" (this last one is paraphrased, because I can't remember exactly how he worded it, but that's the gist of it) I was so shocked that I really can't remember what else he said. Maybe Krystal remembers. He ends the conversation by telling me he'll look over it. I walk away, realizing that I got my book into the hands of not just one, but two Hansons. Whether they like it or not is up to them, but at least I got it to the source. Mission accomplished.
Soundcheck ends, and we head back to the hotel to recover before the concert.
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Back in the hotel, Stephanie arrives and joins us in our room, and later, Gina and her friend Erin come to chat, too. We hang out and chill for a little while. Literally. I discover, upon coming inside and throwing my purse down, that I've not only sweated through the back of my shirt (a common occurrence), but the front of it as well, which is completely disgusting. We turn on the news, looking for any Hansony Mayfest news. And I drink my first Ale8 of the evening -- a major milestone, as I have not have a real Ale8 in roughly six months. Me, Ivy, and Stephanie, chilling in the hotel room. Note the bottle in my hand:
Krystal, who is unfortunately not wearing the infamous 'Joe Dirt' hat that I find so hilarious:
Later, after impressing everyone in the room with my eerily realistic screeching monkey call, Jennifer calls me again and says she is coming over, and we decide to find something to eat. We plan to head back to the stage at about 7 to watch Admiral Twin and stake out a decent spot for Hanson's set. When Jennifer arrives, I force her to drink an Ale8 and we head back out.
On the way back to the main drag, we stop at a bank to use the ATM -- which, coincidentally, has two gorgeous Hanson/Mayfest posters in the window. We all stare at them hungrily, cursing the bank for being closed. Then we notice two guys inside the bank -- janitors, I think -- and Stephanie attempts a form of sign language to ask one if we could have the poster. For some reason, the guy keeps pointing to himself. WTF. We give up and move on.
Down in the line of vendors, I get a polish sausage and baked potato. As we debate on where exactly to rest and eat, I manage to drop half of my food on the ground. Rage ensues. Luckily, the others start heading for the stage, and I follow behind. Somehow we manage to lose Jennifer in this process, though she told me later she sat and ate with Morgan (
All h.net members were supposed to go to the merch stand and 'check in' to get their wristband to attend the documentary. A line had already formed by the time we got there, and it stretched halfway across the parking lot. Apparently they had one person (Leigh?) checking off names. Ridiculous. So while I finish eating, Stephanie manages to finagle her way into the front of the line (damn you) and gets her wristband for the doc before any of us. Ivy, Melanie and I reluctantly go stand and wait, while Krystal and Chelsea save our concert location.
To give you an idea of how long we waited... the line ahead of us:
...and the line behind us:
Jennifer eventually rejoins us, and Gina and her friends stop by to chat periodically. Admiral Twin is playing, but honestly, I couldn't tell you a damn thing about them, other than the one guy had on a feather boa-looking thing. I begin drinking my second Ale8 of the evening.
Our crew, waiting for our wristbands:
The sexy bitch next to me, in case you didn't already know, is Jennifer. And we match! Heh. We finally get our wristbands -- apparently the Hanson camp realizes that one person checking in people ain't cutting it, so they have some guy join the fray. Elf? I don't know. Regardless, he did not look like a happy man. In fact, he basically just stared at me when I walked up and didn't say anything -- no 'Hello', no 'What's your name, please?', no 'I need to see your ID'. Nothing. Whatever, man. Though maybe if I had to deal with about a thousand freaky girls I'd be rude, too.
So, anyway. After Admiral Twin finishes, I am talking to Gina, and her friends Erin and Beth. They have glow-stick bracelets. They let me choose one, and of course, I manage to get the one reject misfit bracelet that doesn't work. Dammit to hell. Erin took pity on me and was kind enough to offer up one of hers that actually worked. My evening is complete.
Me and Gina, in the crowd:
All I have to say is, what the hell is wrong with my head? It looks totally disproportionate to the rest of my body, as if I have one of those tiny little shrunken heads you see in crazy mystic shops or something. Who knows. I also look like I'm high (though really, I look like that all the time, because my eyes are so small), which is in no way true. But I digress.
Gina and I decide that we are going to brave the crowd and get a little closer so we can get some better pictures. Between sets, we start sneaking closer and closer. I quickly realize, when we are surrounded by the crowd, that getting off a clear shot or hell, seeing anything other than the back of someone's head is going to be pretty much impossible. However, we persevere, and wait for Hanson to come on. It was about this point in the evening when I decided that a polish sausage, baked potato and two Ale8s was really probably not the best thing to have eaten before going to stand and party for several hours in the Tulsa humidity.
Finally, finally, two dimwit DJs come on and give their usual horseshit speeches. "You guys ready for HANSON? I bet you're tired of us talking! I bet you want to see HANSON!" And so on, and so forth. I fought back the urge to shout out obscenities at them, as there were several children around me and I decided that would not be appropriate.
And then... Hanson takes the stage. The crowd surges forward like a mini tsunami. Really, really freaky, man. The drums start up, and they launch into 'Optimistic'. Sweet.
I start wildly snapping pictures. And of course, when I go to look at them later, they're all blurry, because I was jostled and squirmy and my zoom isn't all that powerful. I also managed to accidentally film nine seconds of 'Optimistic' in video mode, because I'm a dumbass. At first, I thought about deleting it, because who really wants nine seconds of of a song on a shaky digital camera? But then I remembered who I'm talking to. So, if anyone wants nine seconds of 'Optimistic', complete with orgasmic Taylor moaning, just IM me or something.
My concert shots all suck. I'm not even posting any, except these two right here. Does anyone have good ones?
I actually really like this one because of the girl's 'Rock On' hand gesture pumping up in the middle. Perfect timing.
I included this pic for one reason, and one reason only: to show you the dumbass girl who was sitting on her boyfriend's shoulders, thus treating me to a grand view of her ass. Um, yeah, thanks a lot.
After the first three songs, Gina and I decide to retreat and go stand back by the sound booth with everyone else. It's a welcome, welcome relief. We're further back, yes, but we can A) see everything perfectly and B) breathe. Because the place was packed. I know you've all seen this infamous picture by now:
Well, yeah, that's about right. Plus, there were people on the roofs (rooves?) of the buildings behind us watching, which was sort of neat. It was great to see such a turnout there for the guys. And a surprising number of fans outside the 'teeny girl' demographic. Very, very cool.
THE SETLIST:
Optimistic: I've been waiting for eons to see this live. *shudders* I love all the moaning. Very sexy. And it takes on a whole new meaning after watching the doc.
Dancing in the Wind: Taylor on a guitar, enough said. And I have to say, it does appear he's getting a little more comfortable. Normally Taylor clutching a guitar is so endearingly awkward, but I think he's becoming accustomed to it.
A Minute Without You: Fun, as always.
Strong Enough to Break: I can't remember much about it, because this is the point where we fought our way back through the crowd.
Where's the Love: Got the crowd moving, but not as much as I had expected. I remember the State Fair crowd being much more exuberant for this one.
Look at You: This song is so great nowadays when they do it live. Funky, rocking, dancy. Fuckin' A.
Magic Carpet Ride: The first Hanson cover song I ever heard, roughly 4 1/2 years ago from the 'Fillmore' video... I thought it was great then, but this newer, more mature version blows that one out of the water.
Broken Angel: Zac's solo. Sorry for all of you who love this song, but it generally bores me. Although Zac did fuck up on one part and start laughing a little, which was amusing.
Love Me: You've all already heard about it if you weren't there -- Taylor dedicating 'Love Me' to his new little girl, Penelope. There was a very audible 'awwww' after his little speech. I personally, was shocked: 'What? Taylor actually admitted himself that he has another child? Stop the presses!' ;) hehe.
I Will Come to You: It's amazing how different this song sounds nowadays. I think it's totally corny on MON (actually, I think that of most of the songs on MON), but I dig it live.
Underneath: Beautiful. I perched on the edge of the little stand that the spotlight guys were on, and just soaked it in, letting it wash over me.
Hand in Hand: Much Ikeness. This song on the record is flat to me -- I generally skip it. But live, it's a whole other monster. Krystal and I decided that it's Ike's voice -- the perfect bluesy growl just can't be captured on record. It has to be up close, personal, live, and probably fueled by whiskey. ;) And my favorite part was when the song ended, and the older man next to me (who knew ALL the words to the songs), clapped loudly and whooped. Yes, whooped. Rock on, man.
Being Me: Another lovelorn Ike song. Made all the more hilarious because A) the whole 'Isaac as Dasani' deal we came up with in Florida, and B) because Ike basically admitted before he started the song that it was whiney. HA.
Crazy Beautiful: Seriously, one of the highlights of my evening. This is my favorite song off Underneath -- it's the one song that really captured my attention the first time I listened to the whole record all the way through. And I remember being disappointed by this song at the State Fair show, though I can't remember exactly why. But at Mayfest, it was great. I just love it. The guitar licks, the rollicking piano, Taylor's lovely, begging voice. LOVE IT.
Penny and Me: Would the show be complete without it? This song is totally Taylor and Alley. I don't care what the 'real' Taylor says about it, MY Taylor wrote it for her. ;)
In a Little While: Another cover, and a great one. I listen to the boot of this all the time, so it was fantastic to hear it live. Stephanie was jubilant. Jennifer did some mildly erotic dancing and sang along. Good times, good times.
Mmmbop: As Krystal said in her review, the best part was watching the guy next to us dance around and act stupid... and then suddenly see the light. "Hey, they're really good!" No shit, man.
Lost Without Each Other: The best Cheap Trick song never written by Cheap Trick. I don't care who you are, where you're from, what religion you are, nothing, when you hear this song, you have to dance. End of story. It's great on the record, but fucking unbelievable live. You literally cannot help yourself. I want to see it again, right now. RIGHT NOW, DAMMIT!
ENCORE:
Livin' on Tulsa Time: Aaaaah, loved it! The boys bring out Leon Russell and Steve Ripley to help them out on this one. I used this song in my story for a chapter, so I knew the chorus, at least. It's just so fun. I got my camera back out and flipped it to 'video' mode because I seriously wanted a clip of it. So, if you're interested, I have about 20 seconds -- one chorus -- of Livin' on Tulsa Time, taken from halfway back with a fuzzy digital camera. :) Nothing special, but again, IM me or something if you want it.
The boys take a bow and leave the stage, but the night isn't over yet. We have a documentary to screen.
FRIDAY NIGHT, AFTER THE SHOW:
As soon as the show ends, our crew splits up into pre-assigned car-ride groups and head out for the documentary. Well, technically, Stephanie, Melanie, Ivy, Chelsea and I head back to the hotel to grab some stuff before we go, while everyone else goes and does their thing. We're on the 10th floor, and so Stephanie and I go up to the room, telling the other two to wait behind to speed things up.
Inside the room, I grab my University of Kentucky hoodie, my glasses, and another Ale8. We're just getting ready to run back down when there's a knock at the door -- Chelsea -- who has run up the ten flights of stairs because she wants to change her pants. LMAO. Stephanie harps on her to hurry up, and finally, we head back down.
Stephanie had rented a 2006 cherry-red Mustang convertible for the evening, which was a really fucking awesome car. We both come to the conclusion that the Mustang convertible is truly a necessity, not a luxury. We head for GUTS, the church where the doc was being shown, with the top down and the brisk night air whipping through all of our hair. I love that sensation -- the darkness all around, the chill, the speed, the wind rushing past my ears. As we get closer to the church, a bright yellow truck pulls up beside us and matches our speed. There's a guy with a video camera in the side, and he shouts out, "Heeeeeeyyyyy," in a flirty, sing-songy voice and begins filming us. Despite the fact that we all should probably have been creeped out, we shout back and wave.
When we get to the church, a big line has already formed, but luckily Krystal & Co. got there fairly early, so we ease into line with them. As we wait, AshG comes out and begins handing out surveys for everyone to fill out -- taking extra care, we notice, to give them to the older fans. I guess they didn't want wild teeny replies... although, knowing some of the fans there, older OR younger, I'm not entirely sure that could be avoided.
After being reminded that there should be NO pictures taken and NO cell phones going off, we're finally let into the church, and walking through it is like walking through a warehouse. Everything is bare, plain, sterile. It's huge. We trail into an auditorium, where there are plenty of seats and three huge projection screens set up. After a little debating, we head over to the far right side, just in front of that respective screen. Great seats. Although really, I don't think there was a 'bad' seat in the place. For once, I can say 'Good call, Hanson.' You chose an appropriate venue.
Before the doc starts, everyone goes to the bathroom. While in line (because the crowd there was approximately 99.99999% female), I chat with Morgan again, and she introduces me to her sister, Michelle. I mention my screen name, and am 'recognized' by the girl behind her, who is none other than Nicole on LJ . I feel like a rock star for about 3.2 seconds. ;)
Once back inside and seated, we wait for the event to begin. And naturally, it doesn't begin at midnight, as promised, but closer to 12:30-12:45ish. The boys themselves come out to introduce the doc and chat a bit, which of course ellicits screaming and excitement. After stressing that the feature we were about to see was a test screening, and that it still needed work, and imitating Charlie Brown's teacher (saying that some dialogue was very muffled), they left the stage and the lights went down. Finally, we were going to see this damn documentary we'd been hearing about for so long.
I won't give away spoilers about it, because I know a lot of people want to keep it fresh for when they see it. I will only comment specifically on the very first bit -- the 'false start' -- because I don't know that that particular bit will actually be in later versions. The first thing we see on screen is Zac, staring at the camera, with his voice narrating. I don't remember what he says, but it's irrelevant anyway. His narration is interrupted by a 'cell phone' ringing, and the Zac onscreen begins glaring at the camera. Then it cuts away, and a title on the screen reads, "TURN OFF YOUR DANG CELL PHONE!" Ha, now if that had said 'DAMN CELL PHONE', I would have seriously laughed.
So after that premature beginning, the real doc starts, and everyone grows quiet to watch. I now know that Hanson themselves stayed to watch at least part of it, but honestly, I had no idea -- I'd thought they left because everyone remained calm and collected throughout the duration. But it's really a nice thing that the fans actually left them alone and watched it in peace. See, girls? We can be civilized.
Unfortunately, I drank not one, not two, but three Ale8s in the course of the evening, which was really not a smart thing to do. I should have known better, but you know how that goes. So I have to use the bathroom several times (once during the actual doc, which was really irritating), and the ladies' room is approximately 45 miles away from the auditorium. When I get up, I'm upset that I'm going to miss a few minutes of the doc, so I try to hurry. There's absolutely no one out in the hallway -- apparently I'm the only dumbass who overloaded on caffeine that evening. I have an embarrassing moment when I come out of the bathroom and begin rushing back to the auditorium -- despite the fact that there is no one but my silly self around, a young security guard stops me with a look of combined amusement and disgust on his face.
"Ma'am," he says, "will you please stop running?"
I have two issues here. One is the use of 'Ma'am'. Dude, I'm TWENTY-THREE. As I told Gina later, I was wearing pigtails, for fuck's sake. Ma'am? Whatever. Two, I wasn't running, I was scurrying. Yes, there is a distinct difference. ;) And I was scurrying because I was missing out on the damn film, not because I was an overexcited crazed teeny. Oh, well. Just doing his job, I suppose. *rolls eyes*
AFTER THE DOC:
All good things must come to an end, I suppose. Though it needs some work, overall, the doc isn’t half bad, which is about 100% better than I really thought it would be. Krystal and Stephanie fill out their respective surveys (Krystal wiping away tears the whole time, hehehehehe), and once that’s done, we head outside and split back up into our groups to go back to the hotel.
Stephanie, Melanie and I get in the Mustang and go cruising:
Awesome. It’s about 3AM or so, but we stalk around town for awhile, checking out what restaurants are still open (very few), passing by ORU to see the big hands statue, and of course, attempting to get to the MOE house. Because what sort of Tulsa/Hanson trip would it be without that? Even if I did feel like a stalker. After these shenanigans are finished, we head to Steak N’ Shake, where I suddenly have a weird urge for cottage cheese at 4 in the morning. We load up on food for us and the others at the hotel and finally head back. After eating and gossiping some with Gina, I finally get to bed – a sleeping bag in the floor. But by that point in the evening (morning), I would have slept in the bathtub if that was the only available spot. ;)
The next day we all manage to get up – and I am the first one awake, OH MY GOD. That’s probably due to my cell phone ringing incessantly. My sister, who left many an unpleasant voicemail when I refused to answer the phone. Oh, well. Once everyone is finally awake (though seriously, we thought Ivy just wasn’t going to get up at all there for a minute, heh), we pack up and go to eat breakfast with two of Krystal’s friends. I have pancakes and eggs, and am immediately guilt-ridden over all the greasy, sugary nastiness I consumed in those two days.
After breakfast, before we part ways, we get a picture together:
We’ve got a long drive back, so we don’t lag around. We head down to the festival to pick up free copies of Tulsa World and come back, ready to leave.
THE TRIP HOME:
The ride home was excruciatingly long, mainly because we kept getting sidetracked and stopping at various places on the way home – THE WORLD'S LARGEST MCDONALD'S! Woo! In which I get a grilled chicken flatbread sandwich and manage to dump half the contents into my lap over the course of the meal. OZARKLAND! A delightfully tacky tourist stop in Missouri, filled with useless trinkets and various souvenirs. Including some pretty rockin’ hats. Laura and I, modeling some of the finer merchandise:
The leg of my spider kept poking her in the face. Good times. I buy a backscratcher for John and a new pair of dorky pink sunglasses. I am told later that this establishment sold purses made out of men’s white briefs – and dammit, how did I miss that? Next time we trek to Tulsa, we must stop there again so I can see this for myself.
To make a long story short, the rest of the ride is filled with idle chatter and snoring. Except for Krystal (I hope), who was driving. We gossip about Hanson, about the doc, have a good laugh over Krystal’s ‘Isaac’ Subway sandwich, and I manage to finally write a scene for Catapult that isn’t going to end up in the trash bin. We make it back to Louisville at 3AM, and I still have an hour and a half to go to get to Lexington. However, I am clearly in no shape to drive, which you can see for yourself here:
…so I crash at Krystal’s for the evening (again, MORNING). I wanted to get a picture of me, Krystal and Chelsea at 3AM after the 12-hour car ride, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen, so I settled for documenting my own exhaustion. :)
And that, I suppose, is about it… got up the next morning, gave Krystal’s son the remainder of my Ale8s, and headed back home. Overall, a great, fantastic trip… Fuck the fatigue – I’d do it again this weekend. ;)