KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES FOR LIVE NATION
From left, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, Demi Lovato and Kevin Jonas at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Aug. 10.
I’m not sure if they are going to keep doing it. As far as I know, they have not pledged that they will. But for the first five concerts of their Jonas20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour, The Jonas Brothers have had surprise guest performers every night.
I’m not talking about opening acts — they have those, too — or Marshmello, who has performed during the Jonas Brothers sets as an officially billed guest. I’m talking about unbilled acts, mostly pretty prominent, who come out and perform with them.
KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES FOR LIVE NATION
Nick Jonas with Jesse McCartney at MetLife Stadium.
Aug. 10 at MetLife Stadium, they had four of them. They performed “This Is Me” and “Wouldn’t Change a Thing” with Demi Lovato (watch below), “Meant to Live” and “Hold On” with Switchfoot, “Beautiful Soul” with Jesse McCartney, and “Love You Better” with Dean Lewis.
Aug. 12 in Bristow, Virginia, they performed “Dear Maria, Count Me In” with All Time Low (watch below).
Aug. 14 in Camden, they performed “Just the Girl” with The Click Five (watch below).
Aug. 15 in Virginia Beach, they performed “MMMBop” and “That’s Just the Way We Roll” with Hanson, and Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” with Adrienne Warren.
Aug. 17 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, they performed “The Reason” with Hoobastank, and “Say Anything (Else)” with Cartel.
Will this continue? Who knows. But judging by online fan-group chatter, Jonas Brothers devotees are now expecting each show to include at least one guest, and are having a good time speculating on who will show up for whichever show is coming up next. The tour is currently scheduled to run through Nov. 14.
I am not aware of any rock or pop group having an unannounced special guest at EVERY show of a tour, so it will be quite a feat if The Jonas Brothers can keep the streak going.
Other artists, of course, have tried to build some variety into their setlists in various ways. On her Eras Tour, Taylor Swift performed two solo songs at every show — one on guitar, one on piano — that were not heard at any other tour stop. Bob Dylan experimented with playing a song related to the location of each concert in 2023, but didn’t stick with it for long. In 2009, Bruce Springsteen played different albums of his, in their entirety, on different nights.
And of course, it is not wildly unusual for an artist to bring out a surprise guest. But to do it on every night of a tour … that’s something that’s never been done before, as far as I know. And this isn’t just someone else coming out and doing a song on their own; this is The Jonas Brothers doing one or two songs with them.
(UPDATE: The Jonas Brothers have continued to have guests at most, but not all, shows. I am keeping a complete list at njarts.net/160808).
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