Remembering the Only Jonas Brothers Concert in Manila... Yet

By October 30 of 2018, it would already be five years since the Jonas Brothers made the announcement of the band breaking up in a TV broadcast. That was over a year after they tried getting back together after at least a year of rest as the Jonas Brothers.

Joe Jonas' fan selfie from  the Jonas Brothers Philippines Facebook page

By 2010, Nick Jonas has formed his side group, Nick Jonas and the Administration, while Joe Jonas released a solo pop-RNB album in 2011, Fastlife. The last tour of the Jonas Brothers was the 2010 Fall tour which also had the promotions for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. The last time they were on stage with the band together was when they performed in the Concert For Hope in March 2011. Since then, the burning question was this: Are the Jonas Brothers over?

But no, they were not over. At least, not until October of 2013.

They made a series of reunion concerts, starting in New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and then reaching Asia and Russia. The next stop was in the Philippines, a two-night concert (one in Manila, and another in Cebu) on October 19, and 20, 2012, and featured a mostly similar 26-song setlist to the one they had in New York City which ran for almost two hours!

I could remember the concert very well because it was the first time that I watched a foreign act, and also the first time that they were all here to perform. Back in May of that year, Joe Jonas was in Manila for a clothing line endorsement and had a two-song performance with “Just In Love” and “See No More”. He promised that he would bring his brothers with him soon and thank God he kept his promise. We were all fortunate to see them here before that unexpected break-up.

The Official Concert Poster from the organizer (not mine)

We were all hyped during the band’s entry to the stage with the song “We Will Rock You” in the background. After that, the trio was getting ready to open the night with their hit “When You Look Me In The Eyes”.

With that, I’d like to point out something that I noticed with Nick’s singing during “When You Look Me In The Eyes”. Since they started reuniting in 2012 and until their last performance of this song in their 2013 summer tour, and even in the digital album “Live”, I only got to hear Nick sing the coda part of this song similar to what he used to do back in their early days once and it was this Manila concert. I wouldn’t be able to point out the differences of the performance through writing, so here’s a video for that.

Notice these periods from these videos. All links are not mine but from other YouTubers. Thanks.

2010 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3T6KVGWLpQ (3:42-3:55)

2012 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAAl2k4iSzk (3:50-4:06)

2013 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXpg45vev2I (3:40-3:51)

If you’re a fan and you’d notice this, I’d be pretty sure you would have the same chills that I had upon learning this.

Another thing that I noticed during the show was that there were no gimmicks, or trickeries, involved in the show. There wasn't even any runway for the ever-energetic Joe's roaming around the stage, like what fans saw in the "Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Experience". These things proved that the night was purely intended for celebrating and singing their old and new music with them.

Aside from that, I could also remember singing out to the new arrangement for some of their songs like the reggae version of “Hold On”, country version of “Pushin’ Me Away” and “Gotta Find You”. I also liked the semi-acoustic set up they did for “Give Love A Try”, “Turn Right” and “Gotta Find You”.

One last thing I could recall was everyone singing all throughout “Lovebug”. A funny moment was when Joe did not need to sing any of his parts because the whole crowd was singing it.

The trio during "Lovebug" from http://www.gmanews.tv

To close out the show, they had “Burnin’ Up” and the band introduction and their own introduction which was then followed by their final goodbye and bow to the crowd in the same old Jonas Brothers way.

What a night to remember, and to feel alive for all JoBros fans indeed. We definitely need more.