Critic's evaluation
Even after a fine drizzle wetted the city, the night had a pleasant climate with its 19ºC marked on the thermometers scattered through the streets. Near the Barra Funda subway station, the Espaço Unimed, formerly Espaço das Américas, opened its doors to receive the public for its new attraction.
At 7:34 pm, the internal space already sheltered a considerable volume of people that started to conquer their spaces among the others in the avid function of finding the best view of the stage. Between wide-eyed stares and standing up straight, eyes shone as they saw the stage set up and dazzling, just waiting for the moment to begin.
With time passing quickly with the help of the DJ, who, despite between disparities in the volume of the songs performed, provided a set of classic rock that worked well to warm the blood of the audience, which was increasing considerably between the two main sectors. Still, however, large gaps still existed dotted throughout the environment.
When the presentation video of the Espaço Unimed started to be shown on the big screens at 8:55 pm, the audience already went into euphoria. Screams, howls, and cell phones of all sizes and models were positioned high up to capture the best possible image of the entrance of the Oklahoma trio. The general lights suddenly went out, leaving only the central lights, those that illuminate the front of the stage, on. At exactly 9 p.m., after two hours of waiting, Isaac, Taylor and Zac and two backup musicians took their places between the three corners of the stage to finally begin Hanson's performance.
In between the constant shouts, photos, and intense gleams of delight in the audience's eyes, the trio started the introduction of the catchy and swinging Fired Up, which, despite being on the tracklist of Anthem, the 2013 album, managed to get the audience off the floor in time with the melody. At the end, Taylor, the keyboard player, holds tight to his microphone and starts the interactions with a "good night, São Paulo".
Keeping the audience in a state of fervor, without much time to breathe, the trio soon launched into the introduction of Where's The Love? with a noticeable rise in the standard of excitement, the audience vibrated clapping, jumping, and rolling in rhythmic tempo while silly smiles enjoyed the trio's resourcefulness as a kind of mirage.
"Everybody is having a good time, São Paulo? So this is for you!", said Taylor as he introduced Minute Without You, a song that had a new participation from the audience, which was divided between singing along with the singer and jumping up and down. Here, a large part of the audience painted the environment with lights from cell phone flashlights, creating a mixture of introspection and ecstasy.
Against The World ended up being the first breather song of the show, a moment when the audience calmed down, took a breath, something very necessary for what was to follow. After all, when the harmonica sound was heard, there was an endemic and highly transmissive delirium that had not been experienced until then.
If Only, which kept the audience jumping, shouting and clapping throughout, was even more energetic than Where's The Love? and, up to that point, secured the podium for audience-band interaction. After all, the singing, jumping, and clapping were in perfect harmony with the melodic tempo. It is impossible not to say that band and audience were visibly connected by the energy of generous doses of excitement. At the end of such a performance, the cries of approval and ecstasy lasted for long moments, making If Only a true party.
Other great moments awaited the audience that night on 10/15. In Been There Before, encouraged by Taylor, the audience sang it a cappella style, making the performance moving. In Go, which had an acoustic performance, Zac was responsible for presenting it in an introspective way, playing it in the center of the stage sitting on his cajon.
After Isaac emotionally introduced Write You A Song, a song he wrote for and on behalf of his daughter, the audience was surprised with a new, sudden, and grand injection of adrenaline. All thanks to an introductory piano that, for those who knew him, was enough to set many a throat hoarse. This Time Around, a song that stimulated the creation of an unprecedented frenzy. Here, not only the music itself helped the growing excitement, but also the changing of the lights and the musicians' own delivery in the performance. Keeping the blood warm, Can't Stop came right afterwards keeping the audience infectious with its fast-paced melody.
It was only 18 songs after the beginning of the presentation that Isaac took the lead and, during the jam session built on the introduction of Cold As Ice, introduced his stage mates. At this moment, the musician gave visibility to Dimitrius Collins and Andrew Perusi, who, in the twilight, almost in the aisle of the stage, gave more weight to the melodies from their skills on guitar and keyboard, and bass, respectively.
Shortly after, came the big surprise of the show. As Zac and Isaac leave the stage, Taylor stands in the center of the stage and begins to sing Save Me, Hanson's main, emotional ballad, a cappella. With the help of the audience, Taylor was backed by a consistent chorus throughout the entire performance of the song, which had only keyboard presence in its second half. Save Me was received with respectful warmth and sensitivity to its introspective proposal, which gave it a very moving atmosphere.
One of the most anticipated songs of the show, was to arrive just four tracks later. "This is probably the first song you heard from us", Taylor said as she pulled out MMMBop, the most popular single of Hanson's career. Fortunately, the song put more pep in the audience, which by then was looking tired. Still, the song was received with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement, qualities that continued in Get The Girls Back.
Then the musicians begin their thanks and leave the stage while the stage lights are turned off, leaving only the front one lit. Even so, the audience remained restless and shouted 'Hanson' at the top of their voices until the trio returned to the stage to a standing ovation. As the first track of the encore, it was then chosen, on purpose or not, the one with the most suggestive title: I Don't Wanna Go Home.
The last piece was the lively Lost Without Each Other, which easily won over and stimulated the public. Among jumping, shouting, dancing, and a festival of hair tossing to the side, the public gave its approval for Hanson's performance, a performance that, at 11:18 pm, to the general unhappiness, came to an end.
In a little over two hours of presentation and 29 tracks played, the largest number among the Brazilian presentations of the Red, Green, Blue World Tour, Hanson surprised by several factors. The first and foremost is that the synchrony of the trio and the backing musicians was very well tuned, which provided moments of great harmonies and an impeccable sound quality.
The second factor concerns the heterogeneity of the age range of the audience present. Clearly, the overwhelming majority, which consisted of the female audience, appeared to be in their 30s, it is true. However, this did not prevent quite a few young people from being noticed among the paying audience. This showed that the group is managing to diversify its fan base by taking the risk of composing new material and merging it with old material.
The third factor was the attitude of the trio. Zac, Taylor and Isaac were in tune, their voices were in perfect shape, and of course, they had a lot of charisma. Such virtue contributed greatly to the receptivity of the audience, which remained open and cheerful throughout the night.
The five-year wait for the trio's return to São Paulo seemed long, but like every longing, there is always the right moment to cure it. And what Hanson did that night of pleasant weather was to let the audience go away delighted and ecstatic with the sweet and aromatic taste of nostalgia.
