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Review: Hanson dispels one-hit wonder myths in Sydney

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from seeing Hanson perform at the Enmore Theatre, it’s that no matter how old they get, girls can still squeal. And they will for those three boys who grew from relateable, adorkable munchkins into stellar musicians – and not bad on the eye either.

Hanson @ Enmore Theatre, 16/09/12
Review: Allie Voyage

It’s a shame that the name Hanson carries around a stigma of a one hit wonder boy band but it makes you proud to see the boys haven’t shied away from their tween idol roots by changing their name or band symbol. Because the truth is, Hanson is awesome.

Those three floppy haired Tulsa natives may have written one of the catchiest pop tracks of 1997, with its nonsensical lyrics and pre pubescent vocals, but they continued to grow their talent as they grew, and now in 2012, Hanson is a well-formed, credible, hard working and deserving band.

And despite the recent 90s nostalgia tours that just don’t seem to be slowing down, a good 80 per cent of Hanson’s crowd weren’t there only to hear the songs they loved in primary school. They were for a band they genuinely love and had waited a long time to see.

Of course, those classic hits off Hanson’s first album Middle of Nowhere got the kind of screams that lasted five minutes after the songs ended, but the band itself knew the crowd was there for more than that, even playing a slightly less boppy version of “MMMBop” that couldn’t possibly fail to delight but allowed for newer tunes to shine through in the set.

Punters were avidly singing along to recent releases such as “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’” and “Give A Little” at times even more than the older hits like “Madeline” and “This Time Around” – only proving that Hanson has kept fans throughout these past 15 (yes, FIFTEEN) years.

And while there was definitely a contingent of “dragged along boyfriend,” there was a large enough portion of males yelling the words and lending gender support to the now deepened voices coming from stage.

Hanson threw in a couple of crowd-pleasing covers – “Oh! Darling” originally by The Beatles and a brief foray into Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” accompanied by Isaac, the oldest of the brothers, seductively removing his tie – before ending the night by profusely thanking the crowd for their support and promising to return to Australian shores.

Despite their sometimes disappointing lack of banter with the crowd – forgiven only because they did have a lot of songs to get through! – Hanson is one of the best live acts to tour this year.