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Concert Date: October 30, 2005 Performers: · Hanson · Pat McGee Band · Honor by August Related Sites: · Official Hanson Site · Official Pat McGee Band Site · Official Honor By August Site Grade: B

Possibly the most unusual thing about seeing Hanson at the 9:30 Club in D.C. on October 30, 2005, was how very unusual it was. No screaming teeny-boppers, no signs waving to capture the brothers' attention, no shouts of "I love you!" to Isaac, Taylor, or Zac Hanson. Instead, a college-aged audience rocked out and danced to a band who had no fear at holding the stage with music instead of hype.

The Live and Electric Tour is supporting a "Best of" album, which allowed Hanson the freedom to revisit a range of songs from their catalogue. Of course, "MMM Bop" made an appearance, (sounding stronger than ever now that the Hanson Brothers' voices have literally matured), but so did "Man from Milwaukee," the wacky bonus song from the Hansons' breakthrough Middle of Nowhere CD. Other crowd favorites were "Strong Enough to Break" (also the name of the documentary that the Hanson brothers are screening on university campuses during this tour) and "If Only" (which had the the club hopping up and down along with the band). For those looking for new material, Isaac Hanson introduced the song "Being Me" as one that might be on an upcoming new album (it's also available on the current limited edition version of the Live and Electric CD/DVD combo).

Surprisingly, the brothers did not sing either of the two excellent covers included on the current Live and Electric CD: U2's "In a Little While" or Radiohead's "Optimistic." They did, however, do a decent cover of another U2 song, "Desire." More successful was another cover, the Doobie Brother's "Long Train Runnin'" Hanson has a strong streak of blues-funk to their work (for example, "You Never Known," from their This Time Around), and in fact one of my favorite covers is one of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine," which appears on the Underneath Acoustic Live DVD.

As part of this tour, Hanson has been conducting contests for local bands to open their shows. DC's winner was Honor by August, a strong, "Vertical Horizon"-esque band that's been around under a couple of different names. I don't know what the other contestants sounded like, but Honor by August was a good fit for the current Hanson sound. The 9:30 Club was not a new ground for them, and they were greeted warmly by the crowd, with their song "Only in Photographs," being a particular hit for them. Unfortunately, they are still working on a full-length CD under their current incarnation, and thus had nothing to sell at the door.

In addition to having local opening bands, Hanson is also taking along the Pat McGee Band on much of their tour. This, again, was another good match musically, with the Pat McGee Band leaning a little more towards the "jam band" style. They made use of a variety of percussive instruments, and at one point went off-mike completely during "Shine." Also local to the DC area, they received enthusiastic support from the crowd, including for material from their new CD, Save Me.

Based on the DC show, those looking for a fun night out are going to have solid entertainment from Hanson's Live and Electric tour. If you can't make the show, or want a different perspective on the current Hanson, I'd recommend the Underneath Acoustic Live DVD -- and, of course, the Best of Hanson Live and Electric CD.