January 6 – 14, 2025
One of my favorite things to do, besides traveling and going to concerts, is to be in and around the water. So every year I look forward to going Back To The Island; it’s all my favorite things in one. But with the stress of November and December, this year I was looking forward to it even more than normal. I also signed up for all the extra days, so this was my longest stretch of island time, and now I feel spoiled. Seven full days on the island, not counting travel days on either end, was just what I needed.
Looking at the itinerary for this year, I assumed the late night activities would be the same as the past few years: Family Feud with Isaac and Taylor, and Mario Kart with Zac. I had games with Zac the first night, and was surprised when I heard him say it wasn’t going to be Mario Kart. He mentioned that the feedback they’ve gotten from past BTTI’s said that Mario Kart took too long. I’ll admit, I was one of likely many who gave that feedback. Last year in particular, he had a group of people up for 4 rounds to complete a full battle, which took so long that not enough different people got the chance to play. I also personally don’t find Mario Kart to be the most entertaining game to watch as a bystander, though I would argue the list of entertaining video games is pretty short. (Off the top of my head: Just Dance. End of list.)
All that to say, Zac introduced a new game he claimed no one had ever heard of before: Boomerang Fu. It consists of a few little characters running around killing each other with boomerangs. The bonus of this game change was that 5 people could play at one time (one more than Mario Kart), and the rounds were much quicker, which gave more people the opportunity to play. I was happy that Zac took the chance to mix things up, so you can imagine how disappointed I was when a small handful of fans argued that they had practiced Mario Kart over the past 6 months and convinced him to switch back to the same old, same old. My friends and I had signed up to play, but before games even started, we agreed that if any of us weren’t in one of the first few rounds to get called up, we’d bail and go watch Pictionary. After about three rounds of Boomerang Fu, and one round of Mario Kart, we gave up. Naturally, I then found out later that I was next to be called for Mario Kart, but I didn’t mind missing it in favor of grabbing a late-night patty and eavesdropping on Pictionary.
Before I get into Pictionary night two, there’s something you need to know about my friend group. We love Hanson, I promise we do, but we also love giving them a hard time, gently roasting them from the back of the crowd (when we aren’t camping for front row). The back of the crowd at Jewel Paradise Cove happens to be next to the Jerk Hut, a literal hut where you can get jerk chicken in the afternoons. So, last year when we signed up for games, we aptly chose the team name The Jerk Hut. It was the perfect pun: we were being jerks, and that’s also where we sat for every show. We didn’t get picked, and Taylor made a comment about some team names being inappropriate. We obviously don’t know what names were included, but it made us wonder if he interpreted the word ‘jerk’ in a less appropriate way than we intended. So this year for games, we rebranded as the Jamaican Peanut Gallery, which we later learned unfortunately has a racist history. (Gentle reminder: never stop learning.)
Once we knew the game was Pictionary, but before we got called up, we agreed that if we were chosen, we would honor our team name and be complete trolls. We decided that our friend Katie would be the drawer, as she has the most artistic talent, but that instead of making actual guesses, we’d just shout out songs we wanted Hanson to play during the rest of the trip. And then we did get called up on Taylor’s team. The category was “pop culture”, and as soon as Katie drew a circle, the rest of us yelled out “PINK MOON!”. Then as she continued to draw the actual answer, we continued yelling out “I Almost Care”, “The Luckiest”, “All I Know”, “My Own Sweet Time”. Eventually Taylor called us out, turned around and said “the theme is pop culture, not Hanson songs.” In response, I shouted out “Taylor Hanson!”, lest he forget he is pop culture. In the end, Taylor guessed the correct answer of “Home Alone”.
So, onto the music. I enjoyed Phantom Planet as openers on the Underneath:Experience Tour, and again having them as guests on the island. They attempted a small bonfire set on the first night, but they couldn’t get the sound set up close enough to the fire, so they settled on playing a few songs acoustically, reminiscent of the pre-show meet and greet on tour. In reality, there’s only been one BTTI guest that I didn’t care for, and I don’t need to name names. But that said, there’s also only been one female guest (Milck, who I still love), and it’d be nice if they included more women in the future.
As for the solo shows this year, I honestly was a little disappointed in Zac’s set. “Up All Night” and “Save Me From Myself” were the highlights, but the rest of it was too close to a copy + paste of the songs he chose last year. (Seven of the songs were the same.)
I watched most of Isaac’s set from the ocean this year, but eventually gave up and got back on the beach because most of the other people who chose to be in the ocean were talking over the whole thing. I know there are some brothers some people don’t necessarily like or care about, but if you don’t care at all about a Hanson singing on stage, the Jewel has a whole second beach, three pools, and a maybe hot tub you can be in instead without ruining the experience of the people around you. I really enjoyed Isaac’s song selection this year, which included “Ordinary Words”, “Lonely Again”, and a handful of songs from his Mother Road Sons side project that I hope end up being recorded some day.
I don’t know if our trolling got to him, or if he was planning it anyway, but Taylor finally played “Pink Moon” during his solo set, and “Cut Right Through Me” and “Get Out of My Heart” were fun deep cuts. But, if you’re a Hanson fan, you probably don’t need me to be the one to tell you that the highlight of the day was him pulling out “Bridges of Stone”. If you’re not a Hanson fan, you probably do need me to explain that this was a b-side demo that leaked on Limewire 25 years ago. They played it about a dozen times on their 2000 tour, which many of us did not get to hear. While there have been speculation that this year’s Hanson Day will lean heavily on the 25th anniversary of This Time Around, Taylor pulling this song out was completely unexpected. While I’m not hoping for the anniversary of anything (except The Walk. Justice for The Walk), if takes an anniversary to get this song into regular rotation, so be it.
The full band shows this year were all over the place, which is one of my favorite things to be. While I’ll never be yearning to hear singles and other frequently-played songs on the island, it’s the unexpected and not knowing what’s coming next that keeps me coming back. Song highlights from this year include: “Make It Out Alive” (I’m still bitter this didn’t make an appearance on Halloween), “One More”, “Down”, “Speechless”, “Every Time We Touch” (I was hoping this would be a tour staple), “Cried”, and “Great Divide” (again, justice for The Walk!).
This was one of my favorite Back to the Island’s, but knowing the Jewel has been sold, and not knowing where we’ll end up in the future, or if our Jamaican friends will employed in February, put a damper on the whole trip. I hope everything works out for everyone, and while we likely won’t be at the Jewel in 2026, I’m looking forward to seeing something new, as long as it’s a better experience than the three years at the Melia. But no matter where we end up, all we need is some sunshine, warm water, some good music, and our favorite people, three chords and the truth, and it could be best of times.
Scream And Be Frees 