When your favorite band in the entire world hosts an annual fan club event in a tropical paradise, eventually you decide you have to go. Back To The Island!
So I ended up at the Jewel Paradise Cove Resort in Runaway Bay, Jamaica for a few glorious days in January 2017.
Rather than turn this post into “this is what happened” and “this is how I felt about it,” I’ll present it instead as a collection of moments that stood out to me. The full schedule of awesomeness is included at the end of the post. And I am so thankful for all of the moments, whether or not they are mentioned here.
The one thing that surprised me most about Jamaicans? They really say, “Yah man!” I thought it was a stereotype. But it’s actually what they say instead of yes/yeah/etc, and it sounds so natural. (Why doesn’t Sebastian say it at all in The Little Mermaid?)
Flying to another country for the first time was incredibly nerve-wracking. It got so bad the night before that I found myself thinking, “WHY did I decide to do this???” Seriously, yall, I was scared. But I did it. And the first thing my roommate and I did after we got settled in? Eat dinner while watching the sunset over the ocean, listening to the waves crash on the rocks right below us.
Lying in a hammock next to the ocean is one of the most relaxing feelings in the world.
And one of the most alive feelings in the world? Standing on a rock with rapids swirling around your feet as you climb a waterfall. I’m so glad I signed up for the extra excursion to Dunn’s River Falls!
The weirdest part of snorkeling was jumping off the side of the boat. The hardest part of snorkeling was remembering to breathe through the tube and not through my nose. The coolest part of snorkeling was seeing Dory on the reef (probably not really, but they were bright blue fish that were close enough for me).
A glass-bottom boat ride is a fantastic way to wake up in the morning. And oh my goodness that water was such a gorgeous color!
I’m limiting myself to one moment from each solo concert so this post doesn’t get too long (because honestly, getting the solo concerts at all IS a standout moment).
I’d noticed a couple standing near me before Isaac’s concert started. Then, while he was playing “More Than Anything,” people started applauding in the middle of the song. I looked around… and saw the guy holding a little black ring box! I’d heard stories about concert proposals before, but this was my first time witnessing one and it happened literally right next to me.
With all the member songs in the mix I knew setlist possibilities were endless, but Taylor wins the prize for playing a song it hadn’t even occurred to me to hope for. A song that was originally leaked online when they were recording demos for Underneath. A song that was later included on a CD of demos when they released their documentary Strong Enough to Break on DVD. A song that resonates profoundly with anyone who has ever struggled with depression. As soon as my brain registered that he was actually playing “Breaktown” I lost it.
I am a Zac girl, and Zac’s entire set only reinforced that. Basically everything he said resonated with me and made me love him a little bit more. Like how “Siren Call” is about sinking into deep depression and the only way to pull yourself out is to deliberately focus on other people instead of yourself (literally what I did). And how he tends to write songs either about life lessons or about “nothing at all.” He also played the highest percentage of songs I’d never seen live before, including both the songs I thought would be really cool to hear on a beach. Bonus: that KILLER FALSETTO!
Standout moment of Hanson concert #1 began when Isaac started talking about the Albertane Tour (their first big tour back in 1998) and it sounded like they would play “Ever Lonely” next (one of my favorites on the Live From Albertane album, that I didn’t remember seeing live before). But tropical weather and guitars don’t get along very well, so Isaac had to take a break for tuning… and Zac launched into a “Tunin’ On The Beach” jam session that reduced me to fits of hysterical laughter! (It might have been partly the fact that I’d gotten up at 5:30 that morning and the concert didn’t even start until 10:00, but I’d say most of it was Zac…) And then they did play “Ever Lonely” which made the moment even better. Plus “Tunin’ On The Beach” made a return appearance before the concert’s finale of “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” which proves that Zac is a freaking rockstar.
There were a few standout moments of concert #2. One was Taylor messing up the words to “Sure About It” and then all three of them making jokes about it. Another was hearing “Penny and me like to gaze at starry skies” while gazing at a starry sky. It was also amazing to witness their versatility switching from hard core rock & roll the night before to acoustic! Bonus: since most of the concert was acoustic, I had a much better view of Zac because he wasn’t hidden behind his drums.
Pretty much the entirety of concert #3 was a standout moment because the setlist theme was members only (they release a new fan club EP every year, which include some of their best songs that are rarely performed live). But if I had to choose, the highlight for me was experiencing “Feeling Alive” immediately followed by “Sound of Light.” It was magical. And it broke me. Sobbing uncontrollably, tears pouring down my face, gasping for breath. And I felt free.
Wednesday, January 4th
10pm – HANSON Concert (Rock & Roll)
Thursday, January 5th
11am – Tie Dye with ISAAC, TAYLOR, & ZAC
2:45pm – Snorkeling
4:30pm – ISAAC Solo Concert
8pm – HANSON Concert (Acoustic)
10:30pm – Cards Against Humanity with ZAC
Friday, January 6th
9am – Glass Bottom Boat Ride
10am – Dunn’s River Falls Excursion
4:30pm – TAYLOR Solo Concert
8pm – John Fullbright & Andrew Ripp Concert
10:30pm – Family Feud with ISAAC
Saturday, January 7th
12:30pm – HANSON Photos
4:30pm – ZAC Solo Concert
8pm – HANSON Concert (Members Only)
10:30pm – Afterparty with TAYLOR
A Shift In The Light 