best jonas brothers concert ever

okay, quick rewind to october because the jonas brothers concert was such a good one that it really can't go without a recap. this was "the tour," which they'd advertised as "five albums, one night" - which meant that they were going to play songs from each one of their albums that they've released as a band.  well, all but one - they seem to be trying to bury the one that was supposed to be released right as they broke up in 2013.  

the pop-up merch store was in orange, and because you know i'm a sucker for good merch i made my way down even though i had to roll solo.  it opened at 9 that morning, and by the time i got there at 10:30 the line was wrapped around the building.

it moved at a pretty decent pace though, and it was fun chatting with other fans in line.  the guys had just played a show in san diego the night before, and there were a good number of girls there who had basically driven from that concert and headed straight to the shop.  a lot of them were sharing memories of their experiences at multiple tour stops, and i was kind of in awe at the level of dedication.

by the time i finally got here, i'd been in line for just over an hour.

not knowing what might be available at the concert itself, i picked up a few t-shirts and then headed back home.  i'd heard that friendship bracelets a la the eras tour were also a thing at jonas brothers concerts, so i threw some together for us to wear.

luckily, the bean liked the shirt i'd picked out and put together their 'fit for the evening.  unsurprisingly, they had a great pair of shoes that matched perfectly.

the concert was at the honda center in anaheim, which was extra fun because we'd been there waaaaaaay back in 2008 for jonas brothers concerts.  it took a bit for us to figure out where to park with the pass we'd prepaid for, but it was worth it because it was close to the entrance and we picked a spot that was right by the exit.  previous experience of having to wait in long lines to get out after concerts had given me a little PTSD, so i'd figured out an easy-out strategy.  heh.

there was a long line for this photo op, so we settled for just taking a picture of it instead.

we did manage at least one group photo, though.  it was extra fun to have the old lady's BFF with us for the evening, just like old times.

we got to our seats as the jordan mcgraw was finishing his set, and we were all dying at how good our view was.  we may not have been super close to the main stage, but the secondary ("b") stage was just a few rows in front of us, and we knew we were in for one hell of a show.

i gotta say though, our view of the main stage was pretty dang good too.  the photo quality of the camera in my phone in 2023 was a vast improvement over the shitty point-and-shoot i'd packed back in 2008.

and when the guys made their way over to b stage for the first time, we were treated to some pretty fantastic up-close-and-personal views. it was almost better than the time the old lady and i had row C seats at the pantages.

and then we were all thrown for a loop when joe announced that we were going to to be witnesses for a wedding.  one of their band members had been planning a wedding during the pandemic that (obviously) ended up having to be postponed.  and so with joe as the officiant, their percussionist molly and her fiancé nick were married onstage.

their first dance song?  "when you look me in the eyes," of course.

we were treated to more OG jonas brothers music, which was so much fun and brought back all kinds of memories, and then it was time for intermission.

during the break, we were entertained by a band i'd never heard of before but that was apparently a big inspiration for the brothers in their early days - switchfoot.

it was kind of a super random, kind of bizarre evening that continued as glen powell and chord overstreet briefly appeared onstage just before the jonas brothers came back out to continue the concert.  

adding to the madness, joe did a gender reveal (a boy!) for a couple in the audience after performing "little bird."  that song kills me every time i hear it, and hearing it live while standing there with both of my daughters...well, let's just say that tears were shed (accompanied by giggles and snickers by the bean, who has video somewhere that i hope never sees the light of day).

the rest of the concert was just as good as the first half, and i swear i made eye contact with joe at least once.  heh.

(right here)

and before we knew it, they were playing the last song and taking their final bows.

out of all the jonas brothers concerts we've been to, this was definitely my favorite.  they played so many songs and kept us entertained for three hours, and i don't know if we can ever go back to 1.5-2 hour shows after this experience.

and my strategery (yeah, totally made-up word) worked perfectly.  we exited the venue pretty quickly, found the car without issue and drove straight out of the lot and onto the freeway before the majority of the audience had even set foot outside.  woohoo!