Island Casino Shows

Escanaba, MI

November 2-5, 2023

Two seated shows back-to-back in a venue with a hotel attached was a no-brainer for my friends and I, so as soon as these were announced we grabbed our tickets and started making travel plans. A few friends live in Minneapolis and noticed right away they had a direct flight to Escanaba. Even as a born and raised Michigander, I had no idea Escanaba had an airport. What we quickly learned was that it’s a very tiny airport with just that Minneapolis flight and one Detroit flight per day, both through Delta. This seemed surprisingly easy, and like any good travel story, I should have known better. In order to save several paragraphs worth of explaining, let me allow the picture to give the 1,000 words:

My favorite part about this is the most recent one came in today, two days after my return trip. Despite all the changes, the actual travel went smoothly both ways, although Sunday I did end up accepting a $700 offer to come home 7 hours later than planned. Easiest (and maybe only?) $100/hr I’ve ever made.

The Upper Peninsula can be a beautiful place the right times of the year, but coming just after peak-color season when it was already cold outside, there wasn’t much to do. Had these been summer or early fall shows, I would have recommended we rent a car and do some sight-seeing along the northern coast. But instead, a few of us spent Friday working remote, and the rest of our down time was spent lounging around cracking the most ridiculous jokes. While these moments don’t translate well to the blogosphere, they are always just as memorable as the concerts themselves, and sometimes even more so.

Friday night’s show was essentially what I expected: high-energy from the band, high-energy from the crowd, and a set list full of the staples. “Been There Before” is a semi-staple song that I was surprised to hear on night one, thinking it’d be saved for night two. It’s one of my favorites, and this time it hit me more than usual. After all, nothing fills my heart and soul with the roots of rock ‘n’ roll more than attending a Hanson show with some of my favorite people.

Saturday night was essentially what I did not expect. Songs were being thrown out left and right that I didn’t think we’d be hearing at all on this trip: “World Goes ‘Round”, “One More”, “Tonight”, “Broken Angel”, “Rambling Heart”, “With A Little Help From My Friends”, “Musical Ride”, “Give A Little”, and “I Don’t Want To Go Home” all in one show? This is something I would hope from the other Island, but not a one-off (two-off?) casino show.

Another unexpected thing was that on both nights, security let the crowd stage rush about 3/4 of the way through the show. One of the downsides to this meant a friend of mine was trapped in her seated front row spot, unable to see for several songs as the venue manager had taken her walker away from her before the show started. (She was prepared on night two, however, and kept her walker to get up front with the rest of us.) Without a barricade, and with a crowd of seemingly more casual fans who don’t see Hanson as often, there was more pushing and shoving than I have felt in a long time. Thankfully, at least near me, none of it was overly aggressive and honestly felt like a nostalgic throwback to The Walk era. Even the second show itself reminded me of back when Hanson would book double nights at the Chicago House of Blues.

All in all, this was another incredible weekend full of laughter and surprises. I’m not a gambling girlie, but I know that I can always bet on Hanson. And Front Row Roulette is my favorite game to play.