I missed the fangirl phase of my teenage years. My parents raised me on Broadway and 80’s music, so I existed in this weird conglomeration of Les Mis and A-ha. One Direction meant nothing to me. Harry Styles could not hold a flame to the men that graced Broadway, like Christian Borle and Andrew Rannells. In fact, when One Direction came to my state on their tour, causing half of my classmates to skip a chorus recital to go to the concert, I – like the poor chorus teacher – could not even name all five members of the group. My dad actually asked me in hindsight if I would have liked to go, and I said that I was fine with missing what had apparently been the concert of the century. I was unphased.
Somehow, though, the Jonas Brothers managed to permeate into my world. This definitely happened because of Camp Rock, which I deemed to be close enough to Broadway to be acceptable. I watched both Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 (still bitter over their loss, but I’ll live), and I knew all of the songs. “Too Cool for You” always has been and always will be the most underappreciated archetypal mean girl song of the century. Camp Rock, and therefore the Jonas Brothers, superseded my unawareness of boy bands because at its core, the movie was about kids who loved to sing and perform. For a theater girl from Connecticut, that was relatable.
These were the Jonas Brothers that I knew, odd scarves and all.
So the Jonas Brothers found a small place in my heart, nowhere near comparable to Broadway stars and Blondie, but important nonetheless. I do know for a fact that I had a poster of them that lasted on my door for about a month. I also think that I had a folder of the brothers featuring their painfully early 2000’s Camp Rock hairstyles. Again, I think the life of this folder was painfully brief. I was nowhere near the obsession that my friends had for boy bands, but I still felt something.
In March of this year, the Jonas Brothers released “Sucker” to mark the beginning of their reunion. The song is an obvious bop, and the music video is priceless. Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas evoking a beautiful, bizarre love child of Marie Antoinette and the Queen of Hearts? Brilliant. The Jonas Brothers had evidently grown up; all three brothers are now married, and Kevin has children. However, Sucker proved that they were still just as fun as when they raided a summer camp armed with acoustic guitars, straightened hair, and G-rated jokes. Now, the Jonas Brothers relished in the freedom that existed without Disney looming over their shoulders. They took control of their narratives, no longer forced to present as high schoolers despite being grown men.
When my friend Rich texted me over the summer to ask if I wanted to see the Jonas Brothers on tour, I actually felt the need to say yes. We quickly got our other friend, Jason, on board and purchased three nosebleed seats, splurging an extra $30 each so that we could actually see the stage. Though a whirlwind of texts in our “Jo Bros 4 Lyfe” group chat, I agreed to go to my first concert in eight years.
Barclays Center was packed with people our age – college students and young adults raised on Camp Rock and now reinvigorated by the powerful return of the iconic Disney heartthrobs-turned-independent musicians. We as an audience felt the nostalgia of childhood mixed with a decade of aging and maturation. The Jonas Brothers had grown up with us, and now we got to celebrate their success together.
The concert itself was a 10 year high school reunion, and I mean this in the best way possible. We checked up on hits that had spent their time sleeping in the world of iPod nanos and flip phones. Did I scream when they started to sing the theme song from they Disney Channel show? Absolutely. Words came back that hadn’t breached my consciousness for years, awakening the middle-schooler in me that didn’t care about jobs or college graduation.
We realized just how well Camp Rock songs aged, as they held their own next to the more seductive songs of the past few years. Needing to find someone resonated more now that I had been through the emotional wrench of heartbreak. We also saw Nick Jonas perform his solo hit, “Jealous,” and Joe sing “Cake by the Ocean,” both of which brought us back to the reality of our lives as young adults, not children. These were the songs that went out on Tinder dates and played beer pong in off campus basements while balancing internships and school on weekdays. The true culmination of our high school reunion came when the brothers all took a shot on stage. Had that much changed in ten years? Yes. Was it beautiful? Again, yes.
In 2009, the Jonas Brothers were nominated for the Best New Artist. This year, “Sucker” rightfully grabbed a bid for Best Pop Duo/Best Performance. I don’t know if they will win, especially with “Old Town Road” as competition. The Jonas Brothers do deserve the Grammy, though. Frankly, their comeback alone should warrant some sort of an award. “Sucker” is an ode to an all-consuming love that throws the world on its head. It bursts with sexuality that never would have passed on Disney. The Jonas Brothers made a song that encapsulates their growth as individuals through the theme of infatuation. They are unabashedly the center of focus, grown up and feeling everything. They made a damn good piece of music.
And, they made me into a fangirl.
The “Jo Bros 4 Lyfe” at Barclays. Photo Credit to an anonymous girl in plaid who very nicely took our picture.