It’s hard to believe that Hanson has been a band for 25 years. I don’t mean that in a “this will make you feel old” way (though it will) – it literally is difficult to believe that a band whose oldest member is only 36 years old has been around that long. But here they are, still around all these years later and unlike Oasis, The Kinks, or The Everly Brothers, the Hanson brothers don’t seem to hate each other yet.
So yes, somehow Hanson has been a band for a quarter century, but they’ve only really been known to the general public for 20 years or so, and got their first big break at SXSW way back in 1994. So it was only fitting that they make their return to SouthBy with a headlining slot at the Tulsa Music Showcase where they played to a large crowd of dedicated fans eager to hear the all the hits. Which probably didn’t bode too well for Broncho, who played the same stage right before Hanson. Though they were probably playing to mostly a Hanson crowd, they gave it their all regardless, urging the crowd to come a little closer, telling everyone that they had to get under the tent to truly be on “Tulsa time” and also acknowledging that they weren’t really who most people were there to see. “It’s alright, we understand. We’ll be finished soon.”
Once Hanson came on (later than scheduled), the crowd started getting excited and went into full on nostalgia mode. The band ran through a bunch of their early singles, including “I Will Come To You,” “Where’s The Love,” “Penny & Me,” and of course, what everyone really came to hear – “MMMBop.” They also started playing a new song after MMMBop, but at that point I’d gotten everything I needed out of a Hanson show. The band did sound great though and they put on a solid show, as is to be expected when you’ve spent most of your lives playing together.