Tennessee Valley Fair

September 6, 2024

The travel

The upcoming Underneath Experience Tour will be the first Hanson tour ever where I won’t be going on any road trips, so when Hanson announced they were playing the Tennessee Valley Fair in Knoxville, TN, I decided I should sneak a road trip in before tour starts. Knoxville is only about 2.5 hours from where I live so a few friends flew in to Nashville and we made a weekend of it.

My first friend flew in Thursday afternoon, so after work I took her to the Opryland Hotel to do some sightseeing. It’s a massive hotel with indoor botanical gardens, waterfalls, a boat ride through “the Mississippi Delta”, and a light and water fountain show. (They also go way over the top for Christmas, and I recommend the trip, but be prepared for a ton of people.)

The rest of our friends flew in late Thursday night, and we set off for Knoxville Friday morning. There isn’t much between the two cities, but there’s a new Buc-ee’s, which is always a must-stop when available, and one of my friends had never been to a Cracker Barrel. While we’re usually a “no chains” group, if you’re going to experience Cracker Barrel for the first time, it might as well be in Tennessee not far from the (no longer existing) original.

the drama

The fair didn’t open until 4pm on show day, so we were able to beat most of the crowd by getting there around 5pm, but Hanson didn’t start until 8pm. Despite being early arrivals, we had a hard time finding parking. The first lot we came across was right by the main gate, and the website said that was the lot with accessible parking. However, the guy working the lot said it was permit only, and told us to go up two blocks and take a left. When we did that, the guy working that lot told us it was vendors only, and to keep going further down that road. So we did… but then the road was closed. We found a way around the road closure and finally got to the correct lot… and then we were told the accessible parking was the farthest away spots up at the top of the hill and that it was considered accessible because it was on concrete. This didn’t work for my friend (I’m not sure it would work for anyone who needs accessible parking), so our other friends dropped us off while they found a spot to park.

The amphitheater was at the opposite end of the fairgrounds, so we took our time wandering over there. We’re all too old to attempt any rides (I didn’t want to experience the Hanson show with a bad case of vertigo), so we mostly just people watched. Once we got near the amphitheater, I had to use the restroom and went in to the craft building in hopes of finding indoor plumbing. Unfortunately, the women’s restroom was out of order and we had to share with the men (ironically in a state that won’t allow trans men to use the men’s room, but I digress #voteblue). It wasn’t in the best shape, but I’ll take it over a port-a-potty any day.

tyler henson

When I came back from the bathroom, I found my friends chatting away with Taylor, who just happened to walk by right as I had left. They were wrapping up the conversation, but I was there in time for us to get a group photo. A different group of fans had given him some roses in honor of another fan who had passed away, and one of my other friends pointed out that this, coupled with his shirt choice, made him look like Tyler Henson from the “Don’t Let Me Down” video.

The show

The weird thing about a band like Hanson is one day they’re playing a “normal” venue like the House of Blues, the next they’re playing the Sydney Opera House, and then some days they’re playing a dumpy little fair amphitheater like this one. But despite its appearances, the stage was actually pretty great and we lucked out with good tickets. It seemed the whole thing was tiered really well so even the back row should have had a good view.

Song highlights for this show were “And I Waited”, “Look At You”, “Can’t Stop”, and “Hey”. You never know what you’re going to get from the crowd at these one-off shows, but the energy seemed great from where I was, and that always makes for a better show experience. But once we got to the “bus” after the show, it was out of control. I felt like I had time traveled because there were tween girls screaming and hyperventilating, exactly like the “I can’t breathe!” girl from Tulsa, Tokyo, and The Middle of Nowhere. Zac came out for a few minutes, but then we ended up leaving shortly after that (though I saw pictures that Isaac had also come out at some point).

I hope the Tennessee Valley Fair got enough positive results from this show to have Hanson back; once we were there and settled in our seats, it was a great experience. But until then, I hope the fair figures out proper accessible parking, maps with correct labels, and working restrooms.