Bring Hanson to Newcastle is gaining momentum

Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes’s passion for talking up the city must be rubbing off on us.

Each and every one of us are ambassadors for our city and region, aren’t we? We’re parochial. We love our town.

Which is why we were delighted to see the actions of a group of hardcore, passionate, fervent and (just slightly) obsessive fans of the cult band Hanson.

Now, many of you would only know this band from the 1997 hit, MMMBop.

The Hanson brothers – Isaac, Taylor and Zac – were young, baby-faced whipper-snappers back then, but have since released six albums and built a largely underground but passionate following.

As such, there’s a Facebook group called Bring Hanson to Newcastle. This campaign, which includes a petition, was spearheaded by Emily Fuller, Samantha Nay and Helen Gregory. The girls are doing their bit to promote Newcastle.

You see, lead singer Taylor is known for wearing a black cap with the initials “TUL”, which is the airport code for Tulsa – the band’s hometown.

“We all travelled to Tulsa in May last year, where we talked their ears off about Newcastle,” Helen said.

When the band came to Australia last June, the girls made their own “TUL” black caps and wore them to multiple shows.

They also made black caps with the initials “NTL” – the airport code for Newcastle.

The girls gave NTL hats to the band.

“When we met them at the Sydney show, we said ‘look we’re representing your hometown, feel free to promote ours’,” said Helen, who reports for the Herald when she’s not following Hanson around the world.

“You’re gonna need to know this airport code for when you come to Newcastle – hopefully soon,” the girls told the band.

The girls wondered if they’d ever see the hats again.

After the show, Zac came out of the Enmore Theatre wearing his NTL hat.

“The next day he was photographed by another fan in Sydney wearing the hat. We were pretty chuffed by that,” Helen said.

Then, earlier this week – nine months after the Sydney show – Taylor’s daughter Penny was seen in a photo on Instagram wearing the hat.

What does it all mean? Well, we reckon it might just mean that Hanson will be coming to Newcastle on their next Australian tour. 

Friday is the worst day to be on the roads in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, insurer GIO reckons.

And the most dangerous time to be on the roads in our region is afternoons.

“Most injuries on our roads are happening at the start and end of the working week, when commuters are rushing to get home,” GIO’s Alexandra Foley said.

Failing to give way and tailgating were common causes. Be more patient, people!