Jonas Brothers on stage at Hershey Park Stadium 07.25.08.
Cpaig: “Amazingly wonderful and blissfully awesome.”
Mememoi: “These guys here? Pretty much the bomb.” – (my imagined internal Garbo-dialogue for the above photo, directed towards us, of course. And also my general feeling about the show.)
Click through to hear all about it [SPOILER WARNING!!!]
We are just back from Hershey after seeing our first show on the Burnin’ Up Tour!!
In a word, it was amazing (though that word doesn’t come close to explaining how fun it was). The trip went fairly well with only minor glitches. Those being that we got caught in traffic and then had to walk a half a mile through the parking lot (I wish I was exaggerating about this) so we missed Demi Lovato’s set (we will get another chance to see her on Aug. 27), and I got slightly lost on the way home – but that was Google’s fault.
The stadium was nearly four times the size of the venue where we saw the LMITE show in March…and it was packed.
[Mememoi: Kevin Jonas himself pointed out that this was their first ever Jonas stadium show. Special?! I should think so.]
It was really cool getting to saunter past over 25,000 people to get to our seats – new for us. We had to go through two checkpoints. We were seated 13 rows back about 10 seats from the centerstage aisle, Kevside. We were approximately 30 feet from the stage and 15 feet from the catwalk.
We got to our seats, got some lemonade, and waited for Avril’s set to start. We chatted with our young section mates a little, and made snarky comments to each other about the text messages being beamed to the screens. People were plotting “Nick J is off the Chain” chants, asking people to “bark if you love Joe” as well as to “scream if you love the Jonas Bothers“…it was entertaining.
[Mememoi: Also! I totally spotted a minor JB fanworld weblebrity (headbanded in the vid) who sidled past us to take her seat; she is visible in the Bonus Jonas DVD, for some reason she always stood out to me so it was funny to see her, LOL...oh, we had better seats, though. Heh.]
When Avril’s set started it was clear that nearly everyone was there for JB. Not many people danced or cheered (with conviction). Mememoi and I got into the groove out of respect. She has a very lovely voice (and a very hot backup band). Her “co-headlining” set lasted 45 minutes. It was fine.
[Mememoi: Her bass player can totally call me.]
We bopped around watching the crew set up the stage as we listened to the pre-show music: Weezer, Muse, Daft Punk… then Queen…and the lights went dark and the band could be seen taking their places…and then…
OMG!!! (not our video)
After that I don’t remember much. I was too busy screaming my head off, dancing, jumping. Or rather, I can’t remember much to give you excruciating details, but I can give you an overview of what I thought.
The show went from 0 to 60 tacking the first four songs together so that no one could take a breath. The staging was awesome and the set overall was planned out well with lulls when everyone needed a break. Mememoi and I noted that it is exhausting just being at a performance, we can’t imagine how they must feel.
All of the new songs were awesome: “Love Bug”, “Video Girl”, and “BB Good” in particular. The Shania Twain cover was well executed and the crowd loved it.
Their performance of “Gotta Find You” was sweet and they brought up a little girl who sang along like such a little trooper, nearly cheek to cheek with Joe. She was so cute you couldn’t even think of being jealous of her. Demi returned to the stage here. Her stage presence is immense.
The audience was great and sang along with all of the songs. From where we were the sound was wonderful and we could hear their voices and instruments clearly (unlike at our LMITE show in Reading, PA). Some of this we attribute to being closer to the stage, and some to our wonderful new earplugs that kept the sound crisp (but not so loud) while keeping most of the crowd sound out.
We were the dancingest, singingest pair in our immediate section. We had so much fun, but had to take off our flip flops to jump properly. Next time we are wearing our dancing shoes!
Overall the show was both more polished and more casual as compared to our LMITE show. They had a great energy. They have such a great aptitude for expressing their love for the fans and being grateful for us all coming out and screaming at them like crazy people. They are still in awe of it and that is just wonderful to witness.
Joe’s new vocals on all of the songs were just mind blowing, and Kevin’s guitar (and mandolin) playing seem much more intricate in the new songs. Nick was great too (we are sure) but being Kevside and with me always looking at Kevin and Mememoi always looking at Joe we didn’t pay too much attention to him. He played the drums on a few songs.
[Mememoi: Nick is so solid I think I take him for granted sometimes. Being further from us, I felt like he was more "subdued" but I doubt that was actually true. His voice and instrumental work sounded wonderful, but I still was mostly not watching him, unless I remembered to look at the screen, where he could often be found. Joe was the most authoritative I have ever seen him onstage and that's saying something. Kevin was perfectly Kevin: sweet, goofy, adorable, thanking us at every turn and working his butt off.]
Nick’s version of “A Little Bit Longer” was moving and lovely, but a little too long. He made us keep singing and singing and singing. They solved the issue of Kev and Joe standing idly on stage by having them go off for about 5 minutes. They still ended up standing around for a while after that, but (Kevin at least) seemed chill as he leaned against the stage, while Mememoi spotted Joe fidgeting. Nick also wore this heavy leather jacket for the song which made us sweaty to look at it.
The progression of the show was smooth and punctuated with sweet and funny moments. During the stick catching contest (where Nick throws Jack drumsticks he is supposed to catch) Jack only caught one and one hit him smack in the head. To which Joe commented “I think we are all just going to pretend that didn’t happen.”
Everything was wonderful: “Goodnight and Goodbye” with its acrobatics interlude and extended ending; “Hello Beautiful” on sticks, and “Love Bug” was just sweet and refreshing and fun – oh and awesome (it ends on a BIG note!)
[Mememoi: Everyone on the stage looked thrilled to be there and it was contagious. I particularly liked the string section, who functioned as a sort of Greek Chorus of rocking-out girl stand-ins for the audience, when they weren't too busy offering up their strings.]
It was just so much fun. It was the best show I have been to all year, and I went to the Kanye show this year – with no offense to him (THAT show was awesome from start to finish), but this show just let me rock out and have a great time. It was the best show I have ever been to actually – to get to go to a show and watch people who are really grateful to be performing for you, THAT is an amazing thing.
Thank you, Guys!
Pics
I didn’t take many pictures because I was too busy dancing and having a wonderful time. The ones I did take were mostly bad and all blurry. Here are the three that made the cut (other than our lead pic.) Sorry, but I do try to practice what I preach.
Nick, Joe, and Kevin performing Gotta Find You; Hershey, PA 07.25.08.
Jack gets hit in the head with a drumstick (thrown by Nick) during the stick tossing contest; Hershey, PA 07.25.08.
A fuzzy pic of Kevin “on-a-stick”, Hello Beautiful; Hershey, PA 07.25.08
Vids from the show (not taken by us)
Tonight
Love Bug
Can’t Have You
Burnin’ Up
Setlist
- “That’s Just the Way We Roll“
- “Shelf“
- “Hold On“
- “BB Good“
- “Goodnight and Goodbye” (preceded by Joe “controlling” the pyro; finished with lite acrobatics)
- “Video Girl” (preceded by a drumstick throwing contest that ends with Jack getting whapped upside the head – thanks, Nick!)
- “Gotta Find You” – (Joe pulls little girl out of the audience – she nails it.)
- “This is Me” (Demi Lovato, everybody!…afterwards, COSTUME CHANGE time)
- “A Little Bit Longer“
- “Gonna Getcha Good“
- “Still in Love With You” (preceded by shaving-creaming some of the audience)
- “Tonight“
- “Year 3000“
- “Pushin’ Me Away” (Joe conducts the strings…0_o wonderful!)
- “Hello Beautiful“
- “Love Bug” (preceded by cozy chitchat with The Band]
- “Can’t Have You“
- “Play My Music“
- “Burnin’ Up“ (preceded by Joe & Kevin playing water drums in the intro to jawdropping effect; joined by BIG ROB! getting HUGE screams. The band is formally introduced as they say bye.)
Encore
- “When You Look Me In the Eyes” (glow stick and cell phone time, peeps)
- “SOS“
[Mememoi: I'll be trying to keep the setlist updated with links and notes from the night as I find them on YouTube and in the folds of my brain...]
Oh and we just broke 200 posts here on Sibling Revelry, so it has been a great past few days overall. 
Any questions?
[Via: Life (in photos); Setlist (Wikipedia); kelseyyy1818 (YouTube); josephAjonas (YouTube); not2old2dance2day (YouTube); singerchick93 (YouTube and also a sweet blog following as she and her mom follow the Boys all over the country for a dozen-plus shows this summer!)]
cpaig
mememoi
coolmom823
<3
How much do you love the new songs? Aren’t they just the best? Doesn’t it make you even more excited for the new CD?
And I can’t stop myself. . .did Kevin wear a tank top?!
I loved loved loved the new songs! I was glad to have left them a relative surprise, too – since they played even more new ones than I expected!
So far, Love Bug was my favorite live (in a tight race with all the others). We’ll see how they come out, recorded. And no, I can NOT wait to hear the whole album.
I’ll let cpaig field the tank top question as my response, I must admit, would pretty much be hearsay.
OMJ, have I found a blog where actual adults dig JB?! I am a mom of 2 teens, my daughter and I have major OJD, my husband is not so supportive, unfortunately. He just rolls his eyes at us but he does claim to like JB’s music. My daughter and I got an opportunity to work for saynow.com, we monitor the boys’ calls so the company gave us meet & greet passes for the Wheatland, CA concert July 16. We drove 10-1/2 hours to get there, my daughter cried for 20 minutes after meeting them (I wasn’t far behind). It was so emotional. Your review of the concert was amazing, it brought it all back.
I love all the new songs, we played ALL their songs in the car the whole way there and back, we have both albums plus all the ‘extra’ songs…I read where you were chatting earlier about ‘Out of the World’…I bought the UK CD as well because we HAD to have that song (legally!) We also have the ‘Nicholas Jonas’ album, it’s SO fun to hear Nick when he was so young!
Welcome, Amanda – yep, we’re adults!!
Your concert experience sounds amazing…we can hardly go anywhere without playing as much of their music as we can, either…though I’m not sure I have all the songs off of Nick’s solo album…hmmm.
Coolmom – Yes Kevin comes out wearing a tank top for the encore and HE LOOKS AWESOME! This is a man who can feel quite secure wearing one Though Joe’s arms are beefier – heeey Mememoi – Kevin’s have nice definitional.
OK – niceties aside – Kevin was pretty much smokin’ hot the whole time to such a level that I would often stop dancing put my hand on my chest and look at Mememoi and mouth “Oh. My. God.”
I had the same reaction to Joe many times as well (and although I think he is the hottest of the hot) this was usually in reference to his vocals (esp. on the new songs). His voice just give me tingles up and down my spine. Their whole performance did.
During “Play My Music” I literally tried to dance until my feet couldn’t feel the ground – LOL. They seriously need to put out a workout video where all it is is the show and it tells you when to Jump and dance – LOL.
I was absolutely blown away but what awesome performers they are – and this is coming from someone who already knew they were awesome performers.
I know we paid for tickets to the show, but the show just felt like a gift. I jumped up and down and screamed “THANK YOU” as they left the sage after the encore.
OH AND they left IMMEDIATELY. And the whole stadium jumped and waved as the buses pulled out….and by the time our car got to the end of the stadium (admittedly an hour and a half later – we were staying 30 mins from the Park, so this was an hour and a half and not out of the parking lot) the stage was pretty much gone.
it was epic.
Hot Damn!!!!!!!!!
OK now that I’m almost recovered from thinking about Smokin’ Hot Kevin, here are some spoiler-containing questions which I’ve been sitting on:
1. How often did the violin girls play? And what did they do when they were’nt playing? In vids it looks like they jam some with JT/Garbo and co. is that true? Also, do they wear tuxes and change to red dresses?
2. Did all the rising platforms work for “Hello Beautiful”? And how long did they hold for screaming at the end?
3. How do they get the band to come down for “Love Bug”? If there some sort of chit chat there?
Comments:
The longevity of “ALBL” has been a consistent comment in the reviews. Maybe Joe fidgets more than Kevin because he’s not used to hanging out and not being in the spotlight. LOL
The new flips in GDNGHT/GDBYE are what they were talking about in the Johnjay & Rich interview. Apparently, they broke the floor in a hotel!
Congrats on 200 posts! And, looks like the grown-ups are finding the blog. Yay!!!
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Also, what did you all think of “Can’t Have You”? In vids it sounds amazing. And what about “Tonight”?
The violin girls were there for a good bit of the first part of the show – I think they left for a little bit longer, and then came back later – after the costume change.
They did have “concert attire” on for the first part, and then came back in red dresses.
While on stage they danced in their seats sometimes doing little choreographed moves. During “BB Good” they held up cue cards so we would sing a long. They were never just sitting there, and yes – later in the show a couple jammed with the guys (one even did the awkward butt dance with Garbo.) A few of them also came down to the catwalk for “Gotta Find You.”
The rising platforms were awesome. I had seen pics, and was a little worried, but they were great and quite an effect.
The held for quite a while – while they did the crowd got louder, and louder, and louder – and they were just soaking it in. Joe was shaking his head as if to say “y’all crazy” (in a good way) and Kevin was just beaming (you can see some of the aftermath of this love fest in the beginning of “Love Bug.”
They do chat a little to get to “Love Bug” but, the sticks have to be lowered. While they are lowing them Nick starts to strum the guitar. When they get to the bottom Joe asks Kevin if he would like to do a new song and tells Nick – hey I like that, that sounds good, keep playing. They Joe asks the guys to come down – “Do you got your Guitar John… etc. They they all settle down. It is choreographed, but sweet.
Then Joe asks them the questions about the show. Garbo gets the line that I am sure makes everyone (at all the shows) scream – “I think this is the best show yet.” Sweet Garbo – I am sure that is what you say to all of the girls – LOL.
I think the flips are what they are talking about – in particular the one where Nick puts his foot in Joe’s hands to flip. It was pretty awesome.
OMG – we forgot to mention the FOAM CANNONS!!! – if not for the wind we would have be sprayed. It all blew back on Joe.
Tonight was AWESOME as was Can’t Have You. I am so anxious to get the album now (not that I wasn’t before.)
1. They play quite a lot…I couldn’t tell exactly. When they aren’t, they are doing little dance moves, or – as in BB Good – holding up little signs. Sometimes they do move around the stage, accompanying the Boys down the catwalk. Two of them do get to dance with JT and Garbo, two others get direct attention from Joe and Kevin. I’m telling you – dream job! (If I hadn’t quit violin in the 7th grade.) They do change into red dresses midway, during the costume change and mini-break before “A Little Bit Longer”.
2. They all seemed to work during “Hello Beautiful”! The hold was probably 2-3 minutes but I am not the best gauge of time, LOL. Joe was shaking his head bemusedly at the audience and being quite sweet, but Kevin won at the most genuine audience observation, I must say. Maybe just because I could see his face most clearly.
3. As their pillars descended, Joe starts chatting with the band asking the audience if they want to hear a new song, and they strolled on down (I’ll have to double check the vid). And they were just discussing how the show was going so far. I don’t know if the kids got it, but Garbo’s response was so canned and *wink wink* that the audience around us laughed, so adorable.
I figure Joe fidgets because he’s just not used to having to stand still with the guitar. Or maybe he just needed to stretch his wrist muscles.
Oh, haha, double answers!!
I think the videos do those two songs justice (some really do not) – they were phenomenal.
I really like the backing vocals on “Can’t Have You”, it was so dramatic and as you can see the finale of the song was pretty deep.
“Tonight” was so fun – Joe did the punch jumps for almost the entire song and I was determined to keep up. Looooved it.
I LOVE the backing vocals on “Can’t Have You”!!! When I watched the vids of the first concert on July 4, I couldn’t get them out of my head, so haunting.
Joe’s vocals on this tour blow me away. Speaking as a singer, I am SO impressed with his power and range. He really has a beautiful instrument. He sings with such ease.
Also, have you ladies gotten your Rolling Stone mags with the complete article yet? Are you going to post about it? I’ve gotten mine, and I’d love to chat about it.
I picked up a couple of issues and Mememoi has finished the whole article, but not me yet.
I think I will defer to her to write the post.
I want/need to reread it again…but I wasn’t planning a full post. We can chat it up over on the orig RS post maybe?
Sure, whatever. I’ll put my comment over there.
Can I also say, Cpaig, that the Daft Punk video mesmerizes me as much now as it did the first time I saw it when it first came out (10 years? 12 years ago?) And I agree with you. It blew my mind when it came on. Total Joe song selection.
it will put you in a trance….
I forgot to ask, how was the pyro – in general, and specifically did the JB logo ignite?
Hey! The pyro was great! It was pretty “simple”…well that is, I found it unobtrustive and used effectively. Flames up the sides of the stage. Fireworks (occasionally conducted by Joe).
The logo gradually lowered from the rigging throughout the show…and if I recall correctly, it ignited during “Burnin’ Up”. I thought it looked great!
Cool. I had only seen a photograph of the logo enflamed, but didn’t know when it happened. I figured it was probably during during Burnin’ Up, (duh).
I’m curious about the Shania Twain cover. Do you think it’s a good choice for them? I like that song, but I was never a huge Shania fan.
I’m no Shania fan either. Nothing against her, her songs are catchy…(although I only know the wedding song, the anniversary song and the Brad Pitt song
).
I always give them kudos for picking something no one would predict. This was definitely one for the moms, I guess. So hopefully a little mom-pandering won’t hurt anybody. Maybe Denise is a fan?
Joe was cute performing it; I thought he strained on it a little, but he kicked in a twang and gave it lots of attitude which won me over in the end. I like the little Nick parts quite a lot.
My personal opinion: I am still not sure they’ve yet done a cover that I thought was worth the trouble (and grief they get) though, considering they are so well-suited for their originals!
(I may eat my words when I think about that…perhaps Baby Bottle Pop?)
Shania songs always seem like chants to me. I’m sure I like JB doing Shania more than I ever liked Shania doing Shania.
I think they are brave to continue to do covers when they don’t need to. Maybe they just genuinely love performing certain songs, and want to share them?
It could be. I always get more excited and impressed when they sort of quietly weave something in without it being a big deal, like they did with Carole King’s “So Far Away” or Elvis Costello’s “I Don’t Want to Go to Chelsea” into the set, like they did on the last tour…or like they did with the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” this time. Or the stuff they (one assumes) choose for the house music beforehand, which is always good and random.
It’s all good, but I get so sensitive, especially when they were performing A-Ha on tv performances and I was hearing a few “bar mitzvah cover band” cracks. I know – I shouldn’t rankle over dumb peeps, but I do, I do.
I also found the choice to perform “Take On Me” on DWTS to be troubling. I got the same cracks.
Luckily the dance routine was AWESOME!!!
Maybe it was because they needed something that could easily be used by the dancers. They don’t have much time to come up with those special dances.
Speaking of dance shows, I saw on a fan site that they will be performing on the season finale of “So You Think You Can Dance” on Aug. 7. But according to their tour schedule they’re in Boston that night, so maybe this site had it wrong, or maybe they aren’t performing live.
I hadn’t heard about “So You Think You Can Dance.”
I forgot to add in the review that Kevin did this amazing spin (I can’t remember in which song) for like 10 seconds. He just kept spinning and we were like – oh no he is going to fall! But he didn’t.
I think he disconnected his monitor though – LOL.
He so did. The stage tech had to come out and all, when Kevin was needed center stage (they were quick, it was pretty seamless). And while he was doing the spin I saw at least Garbo reacting with bemusement, I think because a lot of the audience was gasping and covering their eyes in fear that Kevin was going to fling himself right off the stage. I know I was.
I would have caught him happily.
You and me both! There’s funny video shot during the 3D movie filming, when Kevin takes one step too many during SOS and falls off the stage. The girls went nuts, but he kept playing and pogo-dancing in this group of mauling girls until security plucked him back on stage. And the smile never left his face. What a trooper!
COOL!
Gotta love him! [LINK]
I thought that was going to be a link to the incident!
In the vid by “thdtan” you see him fall off the stage then the crowd going into a frenzy, then he emerges. In a vid by “jesuismoi29″ you get a great take by nick when he realizes Kevin is out there, and then on the big screen you see Kevin dancing in the throng.
He really is a pro. I don’t know many times I’ve watched him have to switch guitars due to broken strings and never miss a beat of a song. It irritates me when people don’t give him credit for all he does. Singing harmony is a complicated thing, he has to come in at the right time, on pitch, and not miss what he’s playing. I’ve sung both harmony and lead, and harmony is the more complicated. I know people who undervalue him are musically ignorant, but it still really bugs me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHpMdJoxhiM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN3bjYWJWSo
there is the link. Sorry.
I like Shania Twain – I think it is so cool that they are doing “Gonna Getcha Good.” I like the way Joe does it! Better than A-Ha. That really is a song I could happily leave in my past.
I would love to hear them do some bluesy rock n roll covers.
That clip where you could see him in the audience, on the screen was hilarious. I was dying.
I think what kills me is the moment when Joe realizes Kevin is “gone” and jogs across the stage to where he is, but at that point, what could he possibly do?
I am still laughing. Oh man, classic…phew.
And, yeah, amazing that the song never skipped a beat. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when they finally left the stage after the bow.
There was lots of craziness during the movie shoot, on the 13th, some girls rushed the stage, but that could have been staged – they came from the “cast” of extras.