The buzz on Hanson is that there isn't a buzz anymore.

Just try telling that to the 2,600 screaming, mostly young female fans who packed Massey Hall on Saturday night to see and hear the three blond teenaged brothers from Oklahoma do their blue-eyed-soul-pop thing.

Not that you could really hear anything other than the roar of the hysterical crowd, who bought up all of the tickets the first day they went on sale, and stood on their feet and cheered -- when they weren't taking pictures -- for the entire hour-and-50 minute performance.

Sure enough, Hanson's latest album, This Time Around, has been getting squished by slicker offerings from boy band behemoths like NSYNC, who arrive in Toronto in November to play two shows at SkyDome.

This Time Around never cracked the Top 20 album charts and is currently dwelling in the basement. Compare this to Hanson's first album, 1997's Middle Of Nowhere, which sold eight million copies on the strength of the huge hit, MMMBop.

The Massey Hall gig -- Hanson's last official concert was at the Molson Amphitheatre in 1998 -- would seem to further indicate their dwindling popularity.

Still, it was kind of encouraging to see a group of fresh-faced guys -- there's 19-year-old guitarist Isaac, 16-year-old keyboardist Taylor and 14-year-old drummer Zac -- playing their instruments and singing along in solid harmony without the aid of giant video screens, an expensive light show and choreographed dance moves.

And to tell you the truth, when Hanson dragged MMMBop out towards the end of the night, it seemed pretty adolescent compared to the more aggreeable r&b-and-rock tinged songs from This Time Around like the title track, Dying To Be Alive, If Only and In The City.

They also scored points for their choice of covers -- Money and You Can't Always Get What You Want.

Of the brothers, Taylor is still clearly the heartthrob of the group, and working a crowd into a frenzy seemed to be his speciality on Saturday night.

When he wasn't coming out from behind his instrument to run back and forth across the stage -- at one point he even climbed the speakers to get up to the balcony -- his black tank top alone seemed to be working its magic.

The group also performed an unplugged segment, which saw their three touring musicians abandon them for a five-song set.

It worked about as well as it could given the noise from the audience that they had to contend with.

As one clever banner hanging from the balcony summed up: "Train -- $174.12; Hotel Room -- $225; Balcony Seats -- $106; Seeing Hanson -- Priceless."

JAM! Rating: 5 out of 5