Joshua Davis
Audio By Carbonatix
The Jonas Brothers’ JONAS20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour is less a concert series and more a traveling emotional support group for millennials.
Thursday night’s stop at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth was no exception, serving up a potent cocktail of nostalgia that left a sold-out crowd screaming, crying and instinctively reaching to check their non-existent flip phones for the time.
The tour feels especially personal for North Texas – while Nick Jonas often gets the “hometown hero” nod for being born in the area, it was the “Bonus Jonas,” Franklin, who set the tone. As the opener, he proudly claimed his local roots.
“Tonight’s gonna be a special night because I grew up most of my life in between Dallas and Fort Worth,” Franklin announced in a pre-show TikTok video. He wasn’t kidding. The youngest Jonas, now fronting his band The Byzantines, used the Fort Worth stage to reveal their first-ever headlining show, slated for Club Dada in Dallas on Feb. 4, 2026.
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Franklin also reminisced about the Jonas Brothers’ Aug. 31 show at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas with a surprise reunion from Fifth Harmony — a highlight of the tour that he says the band still talks about, thanks to the unforgettable crowd and energy that night. It’s a full-circle moment for the kid who grew up in the shadow of his famous brothers and is now carving out his own space in the Dallas music scene.
The main event was a marathon three-hour, multi-album journey through the Jonas trio’s catalog. From the pure-pop sugar rush of “S.O.S.” to the more mature sounds of “Waffle House,” the brothers delivered a setlist designed to satisfy every era of fan. They left no stone unturned, covering five albums and even tracks from their respective solo projects.
But the real gasp-worthy moment came when the opening chords of a 2004 pop-punk anthem echoed through the arena. The crowd erupted as Ashlee Simpson, a true DFW native, stormed the stage to perform her smash hit “Pieces of Me.” Dressed in all black and radiating rock-star energy, she grabbed a mic and declared, “I love Texas. This is my hometown!” before launching into the song that defined a generation of teenage angst.
The surprise appearance sent social media into a frenzy. TikTok comments captured the collective feeling perfectly. “The Jonas Brothers healing the world one throwback at a time,” one user wrote. Another added, “SNL did my girl so dirty. She deserves it all,” referencing the infamous 2004 incident that derailed her career. For many, seeing her back on a major stage felt like a long-overdue victory lap. As one concertgoer put it, “Truly, I think a part of my childhood heart healed when she came out.” Ours too.
