Tinted Windows & US Royalty at Black Cat

Tinted Windows are: Taylor Hanson (lead vocals), James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins(guitar), Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne(bass), and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick(drums).

Being a self-confessed Hanson fangirl for over a decade now, I had to get Tinted Window's album when it came out in late April. While I'm a fan of all of the band members's other work, I can't help but judge them mostly against Hanson, with whom I'm most familiar. Their songs are more poppy and less soulful, with less of the 3-part harmony integral to Hanson's sound. And as much as I would have loved Tinted Windows to be "Hanson 2.0: now with more street cred," I have to admit that their sound just works. The NY Times describes their music as "A multi-generational alliance devoted to power-pop...the songs are hook-slinging verse-chorus-verse testimonials of love and girl trouble."

Between being used to seeing Taylor play with Hanson and how utterly breathtaking their shows are and hearing that Taylor had lately been having trouble with his voice, I was worried they wouldn't be able to pull off the performance. I'm happy to say was worried for nothing. While there's nothing groundbreaking about their music, it's incredibly well-crafted and impeccably performed. (And really, what else would you expect from a so-called "Super Group"?) Having thought they looked a bit too slick in some of their promo videos (see "Messing With My Head" and "Kind of a Girl" ), I was happy to see that they were dressed more casually. Not only their look, but their sound was more casual and less polished, which suited them really well.

While they've played very few shows together as a band, because of the decades of live experience by the individual band members, when they get on stage they simply shine. Taylor Hanson is one of those musicians who was born to be a frontman, and it was his energetic performance that really made it work. While the rest of the band played impeccably, they didn't seem to attract much of the focus.

Even though their set was short because of their small amount of material, I think they made the right decision in not playing songs from their other bands. They could easily have padded their setlist with Hanson or Smashing Pumpkins songs that parts of the crowd would have loved, but they retain much more credibility by sticking to their own limited catalog and a few covers of completely unrelated bands.

Between their "day jobs," it's not surprising that they won't be playing many shows for a while, but if you're one of the lucky people in San Francisco who can see them on September 1 at Great American Music Hall, I'd highly recommend going.



My only complaint about the night was that not enough Tinted Windows fans were rocking out to the opener, the amazing local band US Royalty. The highlight of their performance for me was the lead singer, John Thornley's, vocals (not to mention his epic facial hair). His voice is powerful and distinctive, neither overpowering the band nor being drowned out. Their songs are melodic and catchy, often starting slowly and simply and swelling to the perfect rock crescendo.



My personal favorite was the song "Raincoats".



If they come to your town, go see them and bring all of your friends. You wont be disappointed. And while you're there, buy their two EPs. They're amazing and a steal at just $10 for the pair.

Hanson-y Goodness

Here's a video I found on youTube of Hanson singing "Change In My Life" a capella at the State Theatre (aka where I work) on May 1, 2008...This was an amazing show, and this is a pretty good video. Enjoy!

Why Yesterday Was the Best Day EVER!!

So yesterday was pretty much the best day ever because HANSON(!!!) came to the venue where I work, the State Theatre in Falls Church, VA.

I showed up around 2 and helped out in the box a little before the AIDS/Poverty Awareness/Action Walk that Hanson does before every show (it is The Walk Tour, after all). The cool part is that I got to help Courtney lead them around the route that she planned out for the walk (it was 1 mile that started and ended at the venue).


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So I got to meet them before we headed out for the walk, which was SO COOL! I've been a fan of theirs for 11 years, and this is the first time I've ever gotten to meet them. They're all really nice and GORGEOUS!

The walk was a lot of fun. It was gorgeous outside and there were a lot of people there who were really enthusiastic about not only Hanson, but the cause itself. They ask you to walk barefoot (its basically a symbolic sacrifice). I did, of course, and it didn't hurt too bad at the time, but now I'm paying for it. There was a park along the route w/a playground set, so we stopped there and Hanson got on top of the playground to give their speech. I have the whole thing on videotape, but since its about 13 minutes long, I haven't been able to find a way to share it online yet. The speech was actually quite inspiring, I thought. After that, we walked the rest of the way back to the theatre.
















I helped Courtney out in the box office a little bit more, and then she let me go watch them when they started doing soundcheck (b/c Courtney is the coolest person EVER!). They sounded amazing, and they practiced a few songs that they didn't even play during the actual show. Plus, it was so nice to hear their music in its "natural" state, without everyone screaming & singing along.

After that I worked in box a little bit more, and then went to stand at the front (after the meet & greeters went in, b/c it only seemed fair). So I ended up being front row, which was AMAZING!! Most of the girls around me were pretty nice, but they were frustrated about being pushed around by other people. I also talked to the CSC security guard who was standing near me, and he was really nice as well.

Then the show started: I'm not a huge fan of Kate Voegle, I find her voice slightly annoying and her songs sounded too busy (I prefer songs where each instrument has a separate and important part, not where they're all jumbled together). She only played for 30 mins and then SK6ers came on. I had never seen them live before, but I have one of their cds. They were really good, but I think I would have enjoyed them more if I wasn't so tired.

Then Hanson came on. They were AMAZING!! Not that I wasn't expecting that, because I've seen them 5 times before and they were nothing short of amazing any of those times. This one may have topped the others, though. They played all the songs perfectly, and they played a lot of my favorite songs. Ike even did a solo and they did one song acapella. It was nothing short of spectacular. I chose not to take my camera in to the show b/c the camera policy kept changing (b/w no cameras, no flash, no flash and only for the first 3 songs, etc). In the end, I decided I wouldn't worry about it and I'd just enjoy the show. I think I made the right decision :O)

After the show, they cleared everybody out into the lobby, but me and some of the other people who work there stayed behind and chatted. I was tempted to have something to drink, but I decided not to because I needed to drive home soon and I had an empty stomach. It was really nice getting to talk to people in a not-quite-qork environment.

After that I went outside near the tour bus where people were waiting for autographs/pictures because I had called Shelley to try and meet up with her and thats where she said she was. Once I found her we waited in line and got a picture with Zac!! (My new favorite picture ever!!) -->



I also got Zac and Taylor to sign my ticket. Which I didn't need (I had bought it before I started working there), so I had sold it to Shelley's friend, who was nice enough to give it back to me to get it signed (she was getting a bag signed). Its now magnetic-clipped to my dry-erase board. It makes me very happy inside.



After they got onto the bus, Shelley was nice enough to give me a ride to my car, which I had had to park on a random side street sorta far away. I didn't get home until 3am, but when I got home there was Chinese food waiting for me!! The perfect end to a pretty much perfect day.

So since I had to get up to do day box today, I'm pretty exhausted and sore, but it was completely worth it!!