REVIEW: Jonas Brothers provide their own electricity at vibrant Chase Center show

Jonas Brothers, Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas

Jonas Brothers perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 8, 2019. Photos: Joaquin Cabello.

SAN FRANCISCO — Conventional wisdom would say that the first time Chase Center would truly shake and rumble would be caused by Steph Curry draining a 3-pointer or Draymond Green blocking a dunk. But that would’t take into account the Jonas Brothers‘ Tuesday night pop spectacle at the arena in Mission Bay. The reunited trio brought its tour supporting new album Happiness Begins to the Bay Area to celebrate a little nostalgia and the brothers’ musical growth.

Throngs of fans in their late teens and early twenties roared their approval as the trio descended from the rafters on a floating platform donning loud multicolored suits in front of shooting sparks for opening song “Rollercoaster.”



But the sparks also flew in the next moment: The opening guitar lick of 2007’s “SOS” sent fans into frenzied pandemonium, offering the first time during the evening (but certainly not the last), that the arena actually seemed to shake.

Jonas Brothers, Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas

Jonas Brothers perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 8, 2019.

While much of Northern California awaited to see whether it would lose power during the course of the evening, the Jonas Brothers’ performance and production provided the electric spark to seemingly power an entire city block. The stage was covered in an array of steps, ramps and curved projection screens to create an optical sensory experience.

The reunion is somewhat of a full circle moment for brothers Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas, who split in 2013. In the years that followed Nick and Joe Jonas launched solo career. The musical development of all three showed Tuesday.

“When my brothers came to me and asked if I wanted to get back together I asked them ‘would anybody care?'” Kevin Jonas said early in the show, before a dramatic pause. “San Francisco, you clearly care.”



The band’s sound was versatile throughout the night, from the reggae-infused “Only Human” to the pop of “That’s Just the Way We Roll” and “Fly With Me.” While the brothers staked out all corners of the large stage, some of the biggest crowd reactions came when they came together in the middle to harmonize and jam as a single unit.

Jonas Brothers, Joe Jonas

Jonas Brothers perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 8, 2019.

Twice, the band sprinted down the narrow pit separating each half of the crowd to a smaller stage at the rear of the room. The rotating stage lifted them up high for tender ballad “Hesitate.” The brothers played to thousands of cell phone lights.

Possibly taking a request from the crowd, the Jonas Brothers launched into “Can’t Have You” as well as Joe Jonas’ track “Gotta Find You.” Next, Nick Jonas sang with a soulful falsetto on his solo track “Jealous,” with a little help from Joe Jonas. Then the two switched for Joe’s infectious summery DNCE tune, “Cake By the Ocean.”

The band traded in its bright colors for white and black suits for the show’s second act, opening with the piano-driven “Comeback.”



“We’re hitting my favorite part of the show right here,” Nick Jonas  said before ballad “When You Look Me In the Eyes.” The song started a massive singalong as the three again made their way to the smaller stage.

Jonas Brothers, Nick Jonas

Jonas Brothers perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 8, 2019.

“We have something like 200 songs,” Joe Jonas said. “Obviously we can’t play all of them, so we thought we’d try this out on you.”

The band followed with a medley of early material, including “Mandy,” “Got Me Going Crazy,” “Play My Music” and “World War III.” The bouncy “Lovebug” and a cover of Busted’s “Year 3000” concluded the main set.

For the encore the Jonas Brothers performed a fiery rendition of “Burnin’ Up,” fittingly with fire not only shooting up from multiple areas in the stage, but downward from the rigging above them. Finally, the band closed out with the Ryan Tedder co-penned ear-worm “Sucker,” replete with more pyrotechnics and confetti, sending fans home full of the ‘Happiness’ promised by The Jonas Brothers.

Bebe Rexha

Bebe Rexha performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 8, 2019.

Pop songwriter and songstress Bebe Rexha preceded the headliners. Her set wasn’t dramatically different from her scintillating Outside Lands performance in August, but when you’re working with a winning formula that good, there’s little reason to change course. It included songs she’s penned as well as some of her features.

After a soaring instrumental intro, Rexha opened with G-Eazy’s “Me, Myself, & Im” with a series of dynamic starts and stops that added to the drama of the moment. She continued with her own hit “I’m a Mess” before moving into Eminem’s “The Monster.” Rexha dedicated Post Malone’s “Better Now” to her ex, encouraging fans to post videos of the song with a gloriously explicit hashtag in his honor.

Keeping the pace up, Rexha expertly moved through her collaborations with The Chainsmokers (“Call You Mine”), David Guetta (“Hey Mama”) and Cash Cash (“Take Me Home”), Martin Garrix (“In the Name of Live”) and Florida Georgia Line crossover smash “Meant to Be.”

Singer-songwriter Jordan McGraw opened up the concert with a set of upbeat pop and pop-punk.



Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewaldFollow photographer Joaquin Cabello at Instagram.com/joaquinxcabello.

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