:: string theory :: sydney opera house :: march 4 2019 ::
For the first time since the Shout It Out tour in 2012, I didn’t go up to Sydney the day before the first show. Mum was flying down from Queensland the morning of the first show, so rather than go to Sydney on the Sunday to get my bearings I caught the train up on the Monday morning instead. We met up at Central station in Sydney early that afternoon and from there headed out to our hotel a couple of blocks away. With the show that evening starting at eight o’clock, and wanting to have dinner before heading out to the Opera House, almost as soon as we had checked in to the hotel and dropped our things off in our room we headed out to Market City (a shopping centre in Chinatown) for a late lunch and to pick up supplies for the next couple of days. We ended up running into my friend Emma while we were there – I don’t get to see my friends in Hanson fandom very often, so it was nice to have a quick catch-up. We headed back to the hotel after that to start getting ready for the show, and caught the train from Central to Circular Quay just after a quarter past five.
Out at Circular Quay, we had dinner at McDonald’s before walking up to the Opera House. We had a little bit of time to kill before the show, so we headed up the steps to get a better view of the harbour. Mum took photos of a cruise ship that had docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, and I warmed up my camera by taking photos of the Opera House and the quay. We headed inside shortly after the Concert Hall foyer opened, and after taking one look at the already very long line at the merch table decided to go there after the show instead (which turned out to be a pretty stupid idea, looking back). Doors opened at seven-thirty, and we headed into the Concert Hall to take our seats in the last row of the stalls.
Once we’d settled into our seats I got my camera back out and put it on the right setting for taking photos during the show. It was a brand new camera that had been a recent Christmas present, with that night’s show as its first proper outing – a friend who knows a fair bit more about cameras than I do had helped me figure out the best setting to use, especially as I couldn’t use the flash for either show. I took a few photos of the stage to test it – they turned out well, from what I could tell when I looked at them on my camera’s rear screen, so I was happy.
The orchestra took their seats at around eight, with Hanson themselves walking onstage shortly afterward – they talked a little about the show and the idea behind it before kicking things off a few minutes later.
Set List
1. Reaching For The Sky, Part 1
2. Joyful Noise
3. Where's The Love
4. Dream It, Do It
5. MMMBop
6. Chasing Down My Dreams
7. Tragic Symphony
8. Got A Hold On Me
9. Yearbook
10. Siren Call
11. Me Myself And I
Interval
12. Reaching For The Sky, Part 2
13. This Time Around
14. Something Going Round
15. Battle Cry
16. You Can't Stop Us
17. Broken Angel
18. What Are We Fighting For
19. Breaktown
20. No Rest For The Weary
21. I Was Born
22. The Sound Of Light
23. Tonight
MMMBop was completely stripped down apart from the orchestra, while Chasing Down My Dreams had Zac on acoustic guitar, Taylor on drums, and Isaac on piano. Zac and Taylor also switched instruments for Broken Angel, and for Siren Call all three of them were on drums. It was pretty epic. The last four songs had everyone on their feet and singing along like we would have been at a typical Hanson show, with the show ending just before ten o’clock.
After the lights went up again Mum and I joined the crowd leaving the auditorium and headed straight for the merch table. Unfortunately they were sold out of most of the things I wanted to buy, and I ended up with stickers and a hoodie that was two sizes too small (though it did fit somewhat, provided I didn’t try to zip it up). Rather than whinge and moan about it, I resolved (on the advice of one of the people working merch) to try again the next evening right after the Concert Hall foyer opened. Back at the hotel (after we’d caught a train back to Central and then the light rail to Capitol Square), I uploaded my photos to my phone via my camera’s wireless connection, plugged my phone and the battery for my camera into their chargers, had a quick shower and hit the hay.
Due to the sheer volume of photos I took during the first Sydney show, I’ve chosen not to post them here. Instead, I’ve uploaded my photos to my Google Photos account, with the gallery for this show located here. My camera is a Canon IXUS 190.
I also took video during the show of four songs and posted them to Instagram: