Untitled Document

This was written between June 24 and 26 2017, and was originally posted in my Dreamwidth on June 27 2017 – I have left this entry unlocked and enabled anonymous comments, so please feel free to leave your thoughts.

June 22nd featured not only my second show for the tour, but also my third-ever MOE and my seventh Hanson show overall. Rather than sit on my arse all day at the Enmore being babysat by the other fanclub members (and going crazy from boredom and the cold in the process), I chose to spend the day with a friend instead. We got Starbucks from QVB and went shopping at Broadway Shopping Centre, and she helped me pick out an outfit for the show that night to go with the jeans I was already wearing – a top from H&M, and a scarf and sandals from Kmart. We parted company just before four o’clock, and I caught a bus out to the Enmore to join the lineup for MOE.

That evening wasn’t without its share of drama, though. Full disclosure here – I have an anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder to be exact. One of my triggers is crowds, which until now hasn’t included the pit at concerts. And it picked Thursday of all days to flare up. I ended up having two anxiety attacks in fairly quick succession – one just after half past five, a little bit before we all went inside the Enmore for MOE, and the second one right after I joined the crowd on the dancefloor. A group of fans got me through the first one (which they are absolute angels for), while security took me out of the crowd and into the café next door so I could calm down for the second one. I knew there was no way I could go and stand in the crowd again, not without it triggering a third anxiety attack, so they found me a chair to sit on well back from the crowd. Aside from that, though, MOE was pretty awesome.

1. Somebody That Wants To Love You

2. Ghostwriter

3. Reach Out For My Hand

4. I Don't Want To Go Home

5. Call Out My Name (Zac solo, on piano)

6. More Than Anything (Isaac solo, also on piano)

7. Never Let Go (Taylor solo)

8. No Rest For The Weary

9. White Collar Crime

After the performance and the Q&A session, we had our group photos taken. I stood next to Isaac for mine with his arm around my shoulders (I usually stand with Taylor, so it was nice to change things up a bit), and as soon as it was done I worked up the nerve to ask for something I’d wanted for a very long time, ever since I became a Hanson fan – a hug from Taylor. He said yes without even hesitating. His hugs are amazing, and it made me feel a whole lot better after those bastard anxiety attacks knocked me around. It was quite possibly one of the best late birthday presents I could ever have hoped for.

Right before I went to buy my merchandise, I messaged my mum (a fellow Hanson fan) on Facebook to tell her what had just happened.

Being as these concerts were part of my overall birthday present (my birthday being right at the beginning of June, two weeks before the Sydney shows), I treated myself to plenty of tour merch – a tour shirt, a new hoodie, a CD copy of the Play EP, a keyring and a set of stickers. Went upstairs to find my seat after that.

Jason’s second Sydney set was much the same as the previous evening’s, with one small difference – the addition of a cover of John Farnham’s You’re The Voice that had been requested by my friend Alicia in place of the previous night’s 4 Non Blondes cover, one that he absolutely nailed. Hearing the entire crowd singing along just about made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Highlights of the second show were Yearbook, I Will Come To You, Too Much Heaven, I Was Born (yes, again – I fucking adore that song), This Time Around and Long Way To The Top.

After the show ended I headed back to Newtown station, caught the train to Museum and walked back to the hostel, and went straight to bed.

On Friday morning as I was packing my things to leave for home, I discovered that my camera had gone missing. A search of my room and all of my bags turned up nothing. Not knowing what else to do, I first fired off an email to the Enmore’s box office describing my camera and asking them to get in touch if it was handed in, and then went through to Reception to ask if they could keep an eye out for my camera and to call me if it turned up. I left the hostel shortly after, heading back into the CBD via World Square – I bought bandaids and chocolate milk from Coles, a custard bun from Breadtop, and four CDs from JB Hi-Fi (Nickelback’s new album Feed The Machine, and the three Birds Of Tokyo albums I was missing – Day One, Universes, and their live album The Broken Strings Tour). Caught a train to Waterfall from Town Hall station, changed to the all-stops to Port Kembla, and took a taxi home once my train arrived in Wollongong. I was so tired that I went to bed for a nap not long after I got home, and was woken up by a phone call from the Enmore just before five o’clock that afternoon – they’d found my camera! :D I thanked them for finding it and told them I would be there next week to collect it. I have never been so relieved that it’s turned up, and I am so thankful that the Enmore staff was able to track it down for me.

Yesterday morning (June 26th) I caught the train up to Sydney again, changing at Redfern for a train to Newtown, and walked back out to the Enmore to pick my camera up from the box office. The Enmore staff are absolute angels for not only finding my camera, but for hanging onto it for me until I could pick it up. I’m going to be much more careful with it in the future.

This tour was everything I could have hoped for. Two amazing shows, another epic MOE, and finally getting a much-longed-for hug from Taylor. As I said to my friend Kris over IM a couple of days ago, I’ve got my photo and my hug – I can die happy now. :D Definitely looking forward to seeing them again the next time they come Down Under.

Once again, thanks to the wonderful staff at the Enmore Theatre, I’m able to post my photos from Thursday evening. Unfortunately the battery of my camera died very early on during Hanson’s set, but I did manage to get photos during MOE. As mentioned in my previous post, I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH1.

Isaac giving us the choice between two songs for his solo - Call Me and More Than Anything

More Than Anything ended up getting the biggest cheer. I think it might have been the first time any of us had ever heard it live.

Instead of taking photos during Hanson’s second Sydney show, I went nuts posting videos on Instagram. Also as previously mentioned, I use a Samsung Galaxy S5.