String Theory Debuts in Columbus.
Last night, Hanson’s long awaited and ambitious project came to Columbus Ohio.
It was an adventure and an exploration in how to take the story of a journey in music making and tell it with all the colours and textures of an orchestra.
Hanson’s musical journey is a tapestry of desires, commitment, struggle, vision and as the song Reaching For The Sky suggests, an irresistible pull towards fulfilment through music.
The band disclosed the set list for the project earlier, when sharing news of the album that will accompany this special tour. The set list which includes several well known Hanson tracks – e.g MMMBop and Where’s The Love, many less well known – e.g Siren Call and No Rest For The Weary, and some new songs – e.g Battle Cry and Reaching For The Sky, surprised some fans who know Hanson’s music well. But it looks like this tour is something very different. It is as much about the story that Hanson want to tell as it is about the songs themselves.
Songs seem to have been chosen for the way they illustrate a moment in the band’s evolution. The songs appear out of chronological order and at times, even the hard core listener has to think carefully about the why.
For those who know less about Hanson’s music and career, the songs play seamlessly, with the sounds, the blends, the dynamic of band and orchestra making the musical manifesto visible.
Reviews will come thick and fast as this tour progresses but within hours of the shows end, The Columbus Dispatch had reflected and stated that there is indeed much more to Hanson than people might think.
The piece written by Lynn Green, mentions the early years of Hanson, their rise to mega stardom and their commitment to the long haul in making music. Her words, “String Theory is a nod to the relativity of space and time, a spirited walk through the brother’s history from childhood to the achievements of adulthood”, brilliantly capture what Hanson have created and shared in this parallel universe of their work.
String Theory plays the story from Hanson’s beginnings, through ambitions and dreams to relationships, challenges and to the ongoing fulfilment of the band’s vision. The story ends where the next chapter begins with the confidence of I Was Born. The final song in the set, Tonight, captures the essence of Hanson’s career from start to the present with the first and the last coming together as one.
It seems that while Hanson have yet to quite match the volume of their playing to that of the subtle orchestral arrangements, the sounds of the band and the symphony delighted the audience and gave new depth to these songs. Hanson’s hit MMMBop was played a little more like the original version, slower and more questioning than the 97, summer sun version, that most people know.
Full props are given to Hanson for their polished and mature music and their unquestionable talents as musicians and artists.
It seems that this musical event has to be witnessed to be understood and then with a little space and time it will reveal its meaning, layer by layer, relatively speaking.
With credit to Lynn Green for the Columbus Dispatch.
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