LOS ANGELES, CA- Grammy Week in Los Angeles is a pretty special time of year for music lovers. With musicians of every ilk in town to either hobnob or collect a trophy for their mantle, there are tons of shows, mostly intimate, that pop up around town for those who are lucky enough to have “ins”.
Citi, together with Live Nation, gave their customers the ultimate “in” during Grammy Week with special performances by huge recording artists exclusively for their Citi cardmembers. This year, the “Citi Sound Vault Presents” events offered clients the chance to see, up close and personal, Coldplay, Brittany Howard, Brandi Carlile and “The Roots & Friends” concert event at the Palladium and Live House in Hollywood. I mean, can you imagine seeing Coldplay play that venue after selling out stadiums? Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
But perhaps one of the anticipated Citi Sound Vault shows was the Jonas Brothers’ performance at the Hollywood Palladium.
At the height of their careers, The Jonas Brothers decided to disband in 2013 in order to pursue solo ventures. Needless to say, many teen hearts were crushed on that day. Nick Jonas embarked on a solo career, Joe formed a new band DNCE and Kevin decided to focus on family. After a couple of years, I think Jonas Brothers fans accepted the fact that life was moving on.
But on February 28, 2019, the Jonas Brother announced their comeback via social media, and have been rolling like there was no hiatus. Their single “Sucker” debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with their album Chasing Happiness debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Their supporting tour sold out in 1 day. That’s 500,000 tickets in 1 day. 500,000! They subsequently added add 23 additional dates to appease their fans.
Needless to say, with approximately 3,800 tickets available, this Citi Sound Vault show was in high demand.
When I arrived at the venue early, the line to get in was already at least two blocks long. These are all ticket holders, mind you. These were fans that just wanted to get as close as possible to the band as possible.
As I was mingling with the crowd, I sparked up a conversation with a pair of mothers and their daughters. I asked the mothers whether they were there because they liked Jonas Brothers, or their daughters liked Jonas Brothers. One of them quickly quipped that they were there because their pre-teen daughters loved them, then under her breath with a giggle whispered, “and a little us as well,” with a wink. That was cute.
There was no opening act for this performance, so when the lights dimmed, the crowd went wild with excitement. The decibel levels kicked up a notch when Nick, Joe, and Kevin took the stage.
For the next hour and a half, the brothers put on show the catered to their entire fan base. Old hits like “Burnin’ Up” and “S.O.S.” satiated O.G. Jonas Brothers fans, and the newbies could jam to newer hits like “Sucker” and “Cool”. Nick and Joe each had their own individual moments to shine, performing covers of their own “solo” material (Nick’s “Jealous” and DNCE’s “Cake By The Ocean”.
There were lots of other little fan highlights during the performance, including Joe jumping off of the stage to leaning into the crowd to sing and him also lovingly addressing his wife, who bucked the Hollywood trend of dressing up and was decidedly dressed down for the show, wearing pink sweats. This performance had the expectation of being an intimate experience, and it proved to be just that.
This evening is perhaps a taste of what fans can anticipate if they plan on heading to Las Vegas in the Spring for the Jonas Brothers’ springtime residency during the month of April (1st – 18th) at the Park Theater. While the Park Theater is about 2500 seats larger than The Palladium, I have the feeling that the brothers will make it just as intimate an experience for their fans as they made it on this night.
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