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!

what do you mean, INTERMISSION??

before the jonas brothers announced their tour to support their new album - titled "the album", wow - they did random pop-up shows that they'd announce somewhat last minute and then it would be a mad scramble for fans to score a presale code.  although my ticketmaster luck has apparently run out because i've been waitlisted for a code for the last several concerts we've been interested in.  ugh.

you know where this is going, of course.  they announced a show at the theater at the ace hotel in downtown l.a., which is a pretty small venue.  aaaaand i was, once again, waitlisted.  double ugh.

but the hub, as he always does, came through for us and snagged a couple of tickets on stubhub.  i guess we're part of the problem, since we all complain about the scalpers getting access to tickets first and then reselling them for profit - but when you want to go to a show and that's the only way to get tickets...well, you do what you gotta do.  not to mention, it's almost easier to just sit back and wait to see what gets listed because buying tickets even with a presale code is like entering the freaking hunger games.  and i know it's a total first-world problem, but that shit is stressful.  and so i kind of look at buying from stubhub as letting someone else deal with the stress and then just paying a finder's fee for tickets.  you like how i rationalize, huh?

i found the perfect shirt in my stash while i was getting ready that day, one i'd forgotten i had that i'd bought back when the band got back together:

we left the house early, allowing ourselves plenty of time to get to the hotel, find parking and hopefully grab something for a pre-show dinner.  luckily, there was a lot just a few steps away from the entrance with plenty of spaces available and we still had lots of time to eat.  yay!

we managed to grab a table at loam, the restaurant just inside the hotel and shared some burrata and had a couple of cocktails.

the old lady opted for the dinner special - which apparently tasted about as good as it looked. bummer.

and i went with a caesar salad - mostly because nothing else on the menu sounded good.

by the time we paid the bill and headed outside, the line to get into the theater went down the street and around the corner.  eek.

it didn't really take that long to get in, although once we set foot inside we had to elbow through the crowds that were lined up for merchandise.  some of it was displayed on mannequins on the upper levels, so we decided to go up there and find our seats.

i wonder who got to sit here.  kind of a weird spot, i guess, with a limited view of the stage, but at least it wasn't crammed next to or behind other people?

as luck would have it, there was a table set up with a few of the shirts available for sale on our way to our section.  and so instead of waiting in the long lines downstairs (where there was, admittedly, a much bigger selection of stuff) we grabbed a couple of shirts and then plunked our asses down to peoplewatch and wait for the show to start.

there was a DJ onstage having a great time, playing a great mix of dance music and dancing along as the growing crowd cheered intermittently.

we'd never been to this venue before, and it was really cool and super ornate.

the guys finally took the stage around 9:30, which was significantly past the 8:00 time on the tickets.  the old lady had to be at work early the next morning, so she was...not thrilled.

it didn't help that we were, of course, stuck behind two very tall people who swayed back and forth the entire time and blocked our view for a good chunk of the show.  hey, i don't begrudge people who are having a great time and dancing during a concert - of course not.  we're all there for a good time.  but dang...short people problems are just really sucky.

at least the guys were giving it their all, as they always do.  and it was pretty cool to get to hear songs off of the brand new album that hadn't yet been released at that point.

although we were startled, to say the least, when joe announced that they were going to do about four songs before taking a half-hour break and then coming back "to play a shitload of hits, we promise!" the old lady was...even less pleased.  eek.  they'd already started super late and now there was an intermission? like...wtf, guys?

they took every minute of that half hour doing god knows what, and then there was a bit of a commotion as priyanka chopra jonas made an appearance and took a seat several rows below us.  she had the perfect seat, right in the middle at the very front of the balcony.  i mean, i suppose she's earned it.  heh.  and she was happy and cheerful and friendly, smiling and waving at everyone before taking her seat.

the guys came back out and played a great mix of songs from their previous albums as well as their solo projects and also with joe's DNCE bandmates.  it was fun and entertaining and brought back some great memories of our years of attending back-to-back concerts for several summers back in the day.

they were onstage for about an hour after that intermission, and then without fanfare or pyrotechnics (obviously, heh) it was all over and they were waving goodbye as they left the stage for the last time.

we made our way down the stairs and towards the exit, and a quick glance at the concession stands told me that we'd have been annoyed had we stood in the long line only to find that the shirts we wanted were available with a much shorter wait.

their one stop in l.a. on their new tour is at dodger stadium on a date that the old lady can't go, which is a bummer.  they'll be playing a longer set with music from all of their albums, which sounds like a blast, but i can't imagine going to a jonas brothers concert without the old lady even though i think i may be a bigger fan now than she is.  

it's not till september, though.  we'll just have to see what happens.  muahahahahahahahahaha.