August 8 – 11, 2025
Several of my good Hanson friends live in New England, and while I have been on a road trip through all the states up there, I had never seen Hanson in either Connecticut or Maine, so these were easy shows for me to say yes to. With so many airports nearby, and so many airlines to choose from, I made a whole spreadsheet to narrow down my best options. I finally settled on flying into New Haven, CT where my Connecticut friend would pick me up and drive me to the Mohegan Sun casino. Those plans changed when Hanson later announced a show on Nantucket. By that point, I had already allocated my remaining PTO for another upcoming trip, so I skipped out on Nantucket. But, since my Connecticut friend was now coming from the island, I ended up having to swap my flight to one going to Providence, R.I. and despite the extensive research I did on the front end, this ended up working out better for all of us.
We didn’t spend any time in Rhode Island, but flying over the coast was gorgeous and made me wish I had a few extra days to turn this into a beach trip, despite the refreshingly cooler temperatures. I landed in the early afternoon, which was perfect timing with my friends coming in off the first ferry out of Nantucket. We got to the Mohegan Sun just in time to freshen up before our dinner reservations at The Farm Italy inside the casino. When given the chance, I’ll always choose fresh seafood, so I ordered the malfadine, which was good and had just the right amount of peppery kick. However, our overall consensus was that while the food was good, it wasn’t good enough to be worth the price. What was extra confusing was that two friends added protein to their pasta – one asked for chicken, and got three whole filets, another asked for shrimp, and got several jumbo shrimp – all for free! Great deal, right? But then why did my other friend, who ordered chicken parmesan, have to pay an additional $12 for the spaghetti that typically is included?
After dinner, our Connecticut friend sent us on a few laps of the casino to help us familiarize ourselves with where everything was, since this is her home venue and she knows all the ins and outs. We made a stop to the outdoor Sun Patio venue where Hanson would be playing the next night, and enjoyed people watching during a free Billy Joel tribute show. One guy (in the crowd, not in the cover band) in particular kept us entertained by rocking a blowup saxophone and I have unofficially named him William Joelseph. We ended the night at one of the bars and stayed up way later than intended, but I guess that’s what happens when the company is good and the drinks and conversation are flowing.
Saturday was show day, but for my friend it was also Terrificon day. So, we showed up early so she could go meet Data from The Goonies, while the rest of us spent the day just wandering around. One lobster roll, three oysters, and six hours later, it was show time. The energy of the crowd at this show was one of the best I’ve seen in awhile, and while I couldn’t see Zac, the rest of the band seemed to enjoy being there. The biggest surprise of the night was the inclusion of “Every Time We Touch” – a banger that hopefully keeps getting played during this Not A Tour™️.
About a week before the show, they announced an add-on of a Taylor Hanson DJ party after the show, at the casino’s club. It listed that it was “with Donny D”, so we knew it wasn’t going to be like a normal Taylor DJ party. But, we all assumed Taylor would start the party, and that it would be a private Hanson fan event like normal, then when he was done, they’d open the club back up to the public with their house DJ. The ticket said it started at 9, so when the Hanson show ended at 8:30ish, we all ran back into the casino, scarfed down overpriced fast food (that was not fast) in order to not miss any of it. So then we get in the club, and a bouncer immediately starts yelling at my other able-bodied friend telling her that our disabled friend in a scooter needed to move out of the walkway, despite there being nowhere else for her to go. (Note: if someone is physically disabled, you can still talk to them directly like the human adult they are. There’s also no need to be rude about it.)
She and I finally found our way to a less-used walkway (again, the only option). By 10:30 when Hanson still hadn’t come out, my feet were aching (new shoes, who dis?). There were some bar stools and I decided to sit down, but turns out I couldn’t fit in the chairs because of how narrow the arms were. Yes, I am plus sized, but I’ve never not fit in a chair until this moment, they were so tiny. So, I sat on the floor like I’ve done at a million other venues over the years, only to then also be yelled at by another bouncer. When he told me I could sit in a chair, I responded “actually, I can’t” and went off on him about how rude the other bouncer was to my friend. When 11:30 rolled round, we gave up and left to go to bed. We found out later that Taylor didn’t come out until 11:35. Some other friends gave up about 10 minutes after that and ended up running into Isaac at one of the bars and talked to him for a bit and learned that it was always the plan for Taylor to start around 11:30, and he had no idea the tickets said 9pm. Had I known that, I would have taken a nap or enjoyed a nice dinner and rallied to stay up late. Or, if I had known that it was never going to be the typical safe space of a private event, I might not have even bought the ticket in the first place. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed that such a great show day ended on such a sour note.
The next morning, we loaded up our cars and headed out on a quick 3-hour road trip to Portland, ME where Hanson was slotted to be a special guest for Guster’s annual On The Ocean event. We had just enough time to check into our hotel, freshen up, and run across the street for a quick meal at Becky’s Diner. (Yep, another lobster roll for me!) This was only my 3rd lobster roll ever, and between the hot roll I had in Boston 6 years ago, and the cold roll I had at the casino in Connecticut, this cold roll was hands down the best. When in Maine, you know?
Looking back, I’m fairly certain this was my first time seeing Hanson as an opener. It was fun watching Guster fans enjoy them, and I got a chuckle out of hearing the little old lady behind me saying she thought they were really good. I went through a brief Guster phase back in 2010 when Easy Wonderful came out, and I enjoyed (pun intended) the other opener, Joy Oladokun when she opened for John Mayer a few years ago, so overall it was a great day full of great music, great weather, and a gorgeous sunset.
Monday was a planes, trains, and automobiles day for me. Wait. Strike that. Reverse it. This is the reality of what travel can look like when you’re with friends from various states: New Hampshire friend drove Boston friend and I to Lowell, MA. Then, Boston friend and I took a train into Boston. Then, I flew from Boston to Nashville. I had about 6 hours in Boston before I had to be at the airport, so my friend send me on a mini foodie tour. I had the best sandwich of my life (a tuna melt) and a really great house-made raspberry seltzer from Flour Bakery. After wrapping up my work day, I wandered over to Bova’s and grabbed a classic and an Oreo cannoli to go. And then at the airport my “girl dinner” consisted of olives and roasted chickpeas from Fox and Flight and one final oyster from Legal Seafoods.
Besides the dance party disappointment, overall this was a great whirlwind trip gone by too fast. Until next time, I’ll leave you with one final insight into our trip, which might be the most important video you’ll watch all year: a tour of our hotel room at the Aloft Hotel in Portland, ME. It’s not for the faint of heart:
Scream And Be Frees 