The shows were advertised as “secret shows,” officially making the Fort Worth outing one of the worst kept secrets in history. The room, which holds 1,000, was packed with fans — some of whom were whispering that the event had been oversold to meet demand. Regardless of just how many tickets were sold, the event ran smoothly, with the brothers dutifully sticking to the script despite various attempts from fans to get their attention.
One large group close to the stage tried several times to catch the eye of guitarist and oldest Jonas brother Kevin by chanting his name. If he heard it, he never let on.
The brothers have been in the boy band game since their debut in 2006. After years of being run through the Disney machine, being individually attached to every starlet from Demi Lovato to Taylor Swift and veering off into varyingly successful solo careers, the brothers now take the stage with the energy of three husbands and dads clocking in at work, which is what they all are. It's a job they clearly love and enjoy, but a job nonetheless and one they have down to a science. An atomic bomb couldn’t have steered them off the course of their seemingly very rehearsed set, down to stage banter fit for a middle school play.
Though the band stopped the show several times with their late-2000s 'tween staples, such as “SOS” and “Burnin’ Up,” they also took the time to play songs off their upcoming album, including recent single “Waffle House,” an ode to the ubiquitous breakfast chain that paints it as a place where families come together and conflicts are resolved. (A quick Google search for news stories involving Waffle House do not support this narrative, but we digress.)
Like Joe, pictured here, all the Jonas Brothers are married dads now. Feel old yet?
Carly May Gravley
The choice to let Joe have two songs while Nick had only one was completely justified, and the difference in enthusiasm between the DNCE numbers and “Jealous,” Nick’s solo contribution to the setlist, was stark.
There seemed to be no disparity of love, however, between the older and more recent Jonas Brothers songs. Classics such as their cover of Busted’s “Year 3000” and newer hits “Sucker” and Marshmello collaboration “Leave Before You Love Me” were met with equal applause, dancing and heart hands from fans.
Even new songs from The Album, ones that diehard fans had no way of knowing the lyrics to, captivated fans who felt lucky to be among the first to hear songs such as “Sail Away” and “Summer Baby.”
The band never clarified why they chose Fort Worth as a location for one of their three surprise shows. While Nick was born in Dallas, the brothers were predominantly raised in New Jersey and their roots in North Texas clearly weren’t deep enough to stop them from announcing this as their “Dallas-Fort Worth” show.
Regardless, the choice to play in Fort Worth speaks to the city’s increased presence in live music in recent years. The brothers announced that they would be back later this year, teasing a tour and presumably a return to Fort Worth. While the city has several venues that could accommodate them, we’re holding out that they make the brave choice and put on a show in a Waffle House parking lot.
