Jonas Brothers: Reunion 2012 Versus Reunion 2019

The reunion of the Jonas Brothers in 2019 was not a first time for them, and for us fans. Back in 2012, they already made quite a successful comeback, but not as successful as today.

After the Jonas Brothers finished their Fall Tour in 2010, they took a break and only performed together once in 2011. The concert was the Concert for Hope in March 2011. Soon after, they were on their solo ventures. Thank God for 2012, for that year, the Jonas Brothers released a short video clip of them producing some new sound, for a possible new song. In line with that, a new song surfaced entitled "Dance Until Tomorrow".

The Jonas Brothers touring in 2010 from dailymail.co.uk

May 2012, Joe Jonas visited the Philippines for a few days due to a clothing line endorsement and promised to take his brothers with him back in the Philippines, hinting the possibility of a reunion! July 2012, in his 4th of July performance in Philadelphia, Joe finally talked about their upcoming reunion.

Joe Jonas riding a pedicab in Manila, Philippines back in 2012 from mykiru.ph

Eventually, Kevin Jonas had a TV show with his wife, Danielle, called "Married To Jonas" that featured their lives as a married couple. The show was also in line with the reunion of the trio. A reunion concert was set to happen on October 11, 2012, along with additional tour dates set in the Philippines, Singapore, Russia, and the United States.  The reunion concerts featured three new songs namely, "Let's Go", "First Time", and "Wedding Bells".

Married to Jonas Season 1 title card from Amazon.com

The Jonas Brothers performing in their reunion concert in New York City from ecosia.org

Now, what changes made the reunion in 2019 different from that one?

1. Similarly, the Jonas Brothers reunion had been surfacing over a year earlier. Photos of the Jonas Brothers filming something in Australia came up and shocked the world. Even though I thought that the filming was only for The Voice in  Australia wherein Joe was a coach, I was wishfully thinking for a reunion. Months later, the trio was spotted together again numerous times.

The Jonas Brothers filming in Australia from Twitter.com

2. They announced their reunion with a bang via Sucker. The reunion in 2012 was different because the reunion was already announced months before the sold-out concert. Instead of making the fans wait for something scheduled, they made the fans wait for something that was not scheduled. That made their followers shocked, excited and surprised because the comeback was very unexpected. I was very much surprised, too. It was the morning of February 28, 2018, when I learned about the reunion and that there would be a new single released on the next day at midnight. There were also the "Hello Again" video and the "Carpool Karaoke" along with a whole week of guesting in the "The Late Late Show with James Corden", and appearances on different radio stations. The contents were just coming right at you but still could not get enough.

The Jonas Brothers with their significant others for the "Sucker" music video from RollingStone.com

3. Much like in the 2012 reunion, they were linked to a TV show. There was thMarriedied To Jonas" in 2012 which was a reality show, and the "The Late Late Show with James Corden" in 2019 which was a talk show. What made the #LateLateJonas guesting better for me was the musical performances that they made like the parody of the "Year 3000", and the first ever TV performance of Sucker.

The Jonas Brothers with James Corden from coupdemainmagazine.com

4. In their 2012 reunion concert, the Jonas Brothers released three new songs of different themes and played them in all of their concert dates from October up until their 2013 Summer Tour. The songs were "Let's Go", "First Time", and "Wedding Bells". However, they were just live performances of possible singles. For whatever reason, the trio never released them as a single. Among the three, only "First Time" was released as a single months after. They seemed to be not confident enough to do what they eventually did this time around with "Sucker".

First Time, a single released in 2013 from wikipedia.org

Sucker, a single released in 2013 from tuftsdaily.com

5. Instead of having a big concert to announce their reunion, the Jonas Brothers went back to their roots and performed a short set of songs to surprised, and lucky fans in New York, Los Angeles, Atalanta, and the Penn State Bar. Tickets to those pop-up shows had to be won in a radio contest. You would surely know that the Jonas Brothers was successful in making a comeback when you see those jam-packed concert venues, like the one they played last April 6, 2019, in Minneapolis wherein they played a 19-song setlist.

The pop-up show in Penn State Bar wherein "Cool" was played for the first time from wbsradio.com

The Jonas Brothers playing at the NCAA Final Four concert in Minneapolis from startribune.com

We are so lucky to have the Jonas Brothers back again. It feels so good that they finally got their shit together, and for them, we did bear with them and waited for them to give us timeless music once again.

Rizal, the Hero and the Lover

This year, 2018, marked the 122nd death anniversary of  Dr. Jose Rizal. The very first Rizal day was commemorated back in 1898, two years after he was executed in Bagumbayan, Philippines. 

We all know already Rizal as the patriot who loved his country until his final moment.  This time around, let us try and know him as the man who experienced love in his lifetime.

Dr. Jose Rizal from KAMI.com.ph

Here are some of Rizal's many lovers over the years.

1. Segunda Katigbak

Segunda Katigbak from ironexplores.com

Rizal knew Segunda Katigbak through her brother, Mariano Katigbak, who was Rizal's friend and classmate. Rizal was very much like all adolescent boys when he met her. Because Segunda was studying in the same school as her sister, Rizal would go to La Concordia College not only to visit her sister but also to have the chance to see Segunda. He lost hopes on pursuing her when he knew that Segunda was arranged to marry Manuel Luz.

2. Leonor Valenzuela

Leonor Valenzuela from spot.ph

Rizal used his excellence in writing to get his way with Leonor Valenzuela. He wrote letters to her using invisible ink. The invisible ink would only be seen when touched with light. According to historians, this trick of Rizal made Leonor fall for him. Although, the most probable reason for Rizal to use this trick was that he was also fond of another girl that time who was also named Leonor, coincidentally.

3. Leonor Rivera

Leonor Rivera from en.wikipedia.org

Leonor Rivera was a distant relative of Rizal. They were also childhood friends. You know what happens with childhood friends. As they grow and mature, they notice changes and soon after, they become childhood sweethearts. Leonor learned about Rizal's nationalistic aspirations and she was not happy about Rizal leaving the country. Eventually, Leonor was arranged to marry Henry Charles Kipping. Rizal was hurt upon learning about her marriage.

4. Nellie Boustead

Nellie Bousted from ourhappyschool.com

Rizal met Nellie Boustead on one of his European trips. He stayed with her family and even hanged out with Antonio Luna, who was pursuing Nellie at the time. Little did Antonio knew that Nellie was developing feelings for Rizal. Antonio burst out on a gathering under the influence of alcohol, raging into sarcastic remarks about Rizal and Nellie. According to historians, a duel was about to begin between Rizal and Antonio. Luckily, they were intercepted and apologies were made. This has got to be one of the biggest "what ifs" in our history, but they say that there are no "what ifs" in history.

5. Josephine Bracken

Josephine Bracken from en.wikipedia.org

Josephine Bracken is Mrs. Jose Rizal. They met when Josephine and his father reach out to Rizal while he was exiled in Dapitan to treat the ailing eyes of her father. Soon after, they fell for each other and settled in Dapitan.

Jose Rizal was indeed adored by many, there were also Suzanne Jacoby, and O-Sei-San, to name a few more, and maybe that was because of his personality. He was a very clever man. Because he was a frequent traveler, he had to have the personality of a man willing to adjust and adapt to any culture and nation.

He was clever enough to successfully interact with different people and actually leave a mark on their lives.

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.

Ang SKIP Train at ang SIKIP Train

This is a poem written in Filipino pertaining to the commuter trains being used in Manila, Philippines. 

Alin ang gusto mong sakyan?
Ang tren na walang laman
O iyong puno ng taumbayan
Na siguradong ika'y pagpapawisan

Wala rin namang ibang mangyayari

Hindi ka makakapili

Kung ano ang tumapat sa sarili

Doon ka na mayayari

Kapag maluwag ang pasukan

Siguradong 'di ka mahihirapan

Pero kung masikip ang madatnan

Magiging madugo ang labanan

Ang maluwag na sasakyan

Minsa'y hindi naman tumitigil

Habang ang masikip naman

Ikaw na mismo ang magpipigil

'Di mo rin naman malalaman

Hindi mo mapaghahandaan

Pumila nang maayos at dahan-dahan

Kalma, swertehan lang sa pwesto 'yan!

CONGRATULATIONS!

I just want to congratulate this year's batch of Mechanical Engineering Licensure examiners from the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP)! You all did a great job making our school the Top 2 Performing School in this recent board exam!

Results from PRC

Although I'm not part of that examination in any way, I'm just so glad because most of the examiners are my friends, and classmates before. 

Technological University of the Philippines - MANILA

I know that they have spent their whole time over the past months reviewing and preparing for that examination which leads to the greatness that was also displayed by the reveille center where most (if not all) of my friends went, the PRIME Review Center, who has been consistent in delivering excellent Board Passers! Kudos to the ever-excellent professors and reviewers and I hope they may also share to me and my batch their greatness!

PRIME

Here's to them contributing to the improvement of our country!

Here's to us seeing each other in the field in the near future!

Here's to hoping that some time next year, I am going to have that feat also!

Again, congratulations!