Jonas Brothers Were “Burnin’ Up” at Opening Weekend of THE TOUR

After 16 years, I was finally reunited with the Jonas Brothers on Sunday, August 13th. With a talented band behind them, reminiscent visuals, and magnetic energy from the crowd, the Jonas Brothers gave old and new fans a night to remember. 

It was a sunny and humid afternoon in the Bronx. The night before, the Jonas Brothers opened their tour with a setlist of about 60 songs, encompassing five albums from their discography. The nights promised special guests and a whole lot of nostalgia as Kevin, Joe, and Nick got to finally play in a stadium they grew up going to. 

My first concert ever was Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus with the Jonas Brothers as her opener in 2007. I am unable to remember why I did not attend shows for the JoBros on their succeeding tours, but what I do remember is that my sister and I quickly tumbled down the rabbit hole due to their presence on Disney Channel. We watched all their goofy YouTube videos, listened to their music, and eventually tuned into their show Jonas L.A. I still have the physical CDs of the Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer, and the Lines, Vines, and Trying Times albums. 

While my obsession with them fizzled out leading up to their disbandment, my love for them and their music was unwavering. I still listened to Nick’s solo music, Joe’s band DNCE’s music, as well as watched Kevin and Danielle’s show Married to Jonas. As the years went on, I was content with each of their new endeavours; however, words escape me when I try to capture the feeling that ran through my body when they decided to get back together in 2019. I still tell people that I have never felt the way that I did when they made this announcement. They toured twice after that, but the timing was not right for me while I was in school. My enthusiasm for the band reached new levels when I finally landed tickets to their most anticipated tour yet. 

I arrived at Yankee Stadium as doors opened and watched many eager fans pile in. My sister and I got our light-up wristbands and hopped on the merch line. I obviously had to purchase the exclusive Yankee Stadium tour shirt because of its unique and fresh design. I loved seeing fans of all ages there to support Kevin, Joe, and Nick. Outfits ranged from fancy to casual with lots of effort put in, like wearing Camp Rock shirts, or Disney Channel Games outfits. 

The opening act, Lawrence, a brother and sister duo from New York, played a brief set. They kept the crowd entertained through their soul-pop sound and their ensemble of brass and strings. I plan to listen to more of their music after hearing them live! By 8:30 p.m., it was time for the Jonas Brothers! The opening video showed black and white footage of them from their current era, while the stage was occupied with an incredible band filled with saxophones, horns, guitars, etc. The band started with a brass-heavy intro of Wings, the first single from The Album. This brass instrumental built up with more guitars as a countdown from ten started with visuals from all their eras. The brothers popped up in the middle of the catwalk to start their song Celebrate, which is also from their most recent album. The crowd was ecstatic, and I was thrilled to finally be reunited with them to hear these songs live. They performed What A Man Gotta Do before going into their self-titled album era, with songs like S.O.S, Hold On, and That’s Just the Way We Roll. The opening chords of these old songs sent me into a frenzy of excitement! I could almost feel myself being six years old all over again. Joe hyped up the crowd, shouting things like “Yankee Stadium make some noise!” 

After singing the more well-known songs in full, they sang a medley of the rest of the album, which is a pattern they followed throughout every era during this show. It felt chaotic in the best way because all these fantastic songs kept coming and I did not know what to expect next! In between each album, they sprinkled in songs from The Album and sang these tracks in full, to give these recent releases more emphasis. I love this album and have been listening to it all summer! The crowd got to jam to fun, upbeat tracks like Summer Baby and Miracle. We also heard Kevin and Nick give beautiful speeches to introduce more sentimental songs like Vacation Eyes and Little Bird.  

Next were songs from their #1 album, A Little Bit Longer, starting with a montage clip of Nick as he sat down on the piano. Now, if anyone knows this album like I do, you know that he was sitting down to sing the title track. He wrote this at age 15 about being diagnosed with diabetes. I was seven when this album came out and I did not comprehend that diabetes was treatable, so back then I thought that Nick was in a dire situation. Hearing it live in 2023 was a magical way to kick off my favourite album of theirs. I got to hear my Holy Trinity of songs like Shelf, Pushin’ Me Away, and Tonight in the medley, as well as a stunning rendition of Lovebug with horns! They also brought out Big Rob to rap on Burnin’ Up, followed by a 20-minute intermission.

We quickly ran to grab water and sat down to rest before another countdown started. I thought the band was already coming back on, but it was Jimmy Fallon as a special guest, leading the crowd in a Mr. Brightside karaoke. This stood out as one of the evening’s highlights, as I could not control my laughter while him and the crowd belted a classic. Kevin, Joe, and Nick came back on with new outfits to perform Waffle House, the second single from The Album. They eventually transitioned into the Lines, Vines, and Trying Times era. Nick described this album as multi-genre, with hints of rock, blues, and pop. The medley consisted of songs like Poison Ivy, What Did I Do To Your Heart, Paranoid, and more, with an additional medley of slower songs like Before the Storm and Black Keys. The band was exceptional during the Much Better jazz solo and made sound it superior to the original recording. 

After this, the Jonas Brothers saved space on the setlist for two solo songs: Nick with Jealous and Joe with Cake by the Ocean, as DNCE’s Jinjoo shredded the guitar. The crowd went just as crazy for these songs as they did for the old Jonas Brothers music. These performances were a touching nod to their individual projects during the time they were broken up. 

We finally moved into the fourth album: Happiness Begins, which marked their comeback in 2019. Starting with two meaningful odes to the past, Comeback and Rollercoaster were sung in sequence to start their medley. This was eventually followed by standouts like Hesitate, Only Human, and Sucker in full at the end of this set. They closed the show with a few of their independent singles, such as Leave Before You Love Me and Remember This with a big instrumental outro, bows, and fireworks. 

New York, New York by Frank Sinatra (a Yankees tradition) blared out of the speakers after the band walked off, while fans filtered out of the stadium. It was outstanding to see the Jonas Brothers embrace their past music, acknowledging the ups and downs throughout their career to get them to this point. They raised a generation of fans, and many of us grew up with them. Some started their own families at the same time each brother did, but there is something beautiful about everyone coming back together to cherish the old and celebrate the new music. For those who are fans, I urge you to see this phenomenal show. It is a night that I will always remember and feel that a part of my childhood was restored. Clearly, they “Got Me Going Crazy” because I am already thinking about purchasing more tickets!