Just over a month ago, my favorite band in the world kicked off the JONAS20: Greetings From Your Hometown tour. To be honest, I still haven’t recovered from having my mind blown at three incredible shows in its first week, but I have finally emerged from the “Jonas bubble” enough to share my thoughts.
Although I was confident the bros had plans to put on this 20th anniversary tour with a bang, I wasn’t sure how it could compare to the remarkable feat that was their Five Albums, Every Night Tour in 2023. But thankfully, it doesn’t compare! Apples and oranges! While they share the same central celebration of the fans and their shared history with the band that has been present at every Jonas Brothers live production since they reunited in 2019, the two tours are entirely different, one a demonstration of scale and endurance and the other…well, this one feels like the truest Jonas Brothers show yet.
It’s also the most nostalgic yet. And I’ve come to mean that in the best way possible, as someone who has a complicated relationship with the concept of nostalgia, mostly filled with disdain. Sure, I like to dwell on the past, rewatching my favorite seasonal movies from childhood each year and going through old photos and videos and writings and memories with loved ones…but I don’t often find myself wanting it back. Maybe because, as I’ve come to understand through personal experience and in watching nostalgia be weaponized in contorted and bigoted ways in American politics, it can be unhealthy and at worst dangerous to slip into a permanent attitude of romanticizing bygone days or eras. It can be all-consuming, at times, the pain of existing in a constant loop of longing for “the way things were” (which didn’t seem all that remarkable when you were actually in it) instead of living for today. The past cannot be changed, only learned from, and to me, the present and future feel charged with open space to do that, opportunities for active energy and potential I can try to harness to shape my life into what I dream of and value and desire.
But with their current tour, the Jonas Brothers are putting their own twist on nostalgia that makes it both a comforting and exciting sensation to linger with, leaving me and countless other fans feeling more connected to our tween and teenage selves than ever.
JONAS20: Greetings From Your Hometown is proof of the power of nostalgia when it’s done right, when an artist excavates, examines, and embraces their history with love and authenticity.
The brothers have been vocal throughout the promo cycle for the album the tour is supporting, Greetings From Your Hometown, that the general theme is “going back to your roots.” The lyrical and visual material definitely supports this ethos — not sure if it gets more Jersey than a photoshoot on the side of I-95 and at an old-fashioned Italian restaurant — but in my opinion, it really is best exemplified and brought to life on stage.
Actually, it begins before the crowd even sees the stage!
Select shows on the tour feature a smaller version of JonasCon, the free all-day fan event the band held at American Dream Mall earlier this year (an epic kickoff to what has shaped up to be an epic 20th anniversary year). As soon as each attendee’s ticket is scanned they can join the throngs of fans in a variety of Jonas-themed activations, including:
- Signing a replica of the original red van the band drove in their early touring days
- Walking through a mini-museum display of outfits, awards, and memorabilia collected over their 20 years as a group
- Radio station karaoke and dance contests for the chance to win seat upgrades or meet & greets
- A station with city-specific “Greetings From…” postcards and a mailbox for fans to send cards to the boys
- Screen printing and t-shirt embroidery stations
- Meet & greets with different people in the Jonas circle, such as the legendary Big Rob, Jack Lawless, Greg Garbowsky, etc.
I love that JonasCon intercepted us right away for a different kind of chaos before the usual pre-show “grab food and merch” chaos. The activations inspired an immediate display of high-energy fan camaraderie and put me at ease among my people. The first waves of nostalgia hit me as we passed through a huge “Lovebug” singalong and signed the van, evoking memories of seeing and signing the JB tour bus at my very first concert. Just having an extra pocket of time to meet up with fan friends I’ve made online and IRL through the years and freak out about the show ahead of us was amazing; at this point the concerts feel like family reunions to me, which is magical! JonasCon was the perfect way to set the tone for the rest of the night.
Now, turning to what sits at the center of it all…the music! The familial bond is first evidenced with a fantastic set from Franklin Jonas, promoting his upcoming folk/roots project, Franklin Jonas & The Byzantines. The nostalgia continues with openers All-American Rejects and Boys Like Girls, a familiar fit for the largely millennial audience.
Then, time for the main show, where every element of what happens on stage feels like quintessential Jonas Brothers. The boys emphasize their roots through the stage design, which includes a replica of the George Washington Bridge, a huge billboard that doubles as a video screen, and a catwalk made to look like a highway road. The first thing they say after ripping a few songs (they’ve started changing up the opener at each show, keeping things fresh and keeping fans on our toes!) is a heartfelt acknowledgment of Wyckoff, New Jersey as their hometown as they beam with pride.
The setlist is a wholehearted embrace of the brothers’ and the band’s history, telling their story in boomerang points throughout 20 years of their career — the first 20 years, as Nick J likes to point out, which healed something within me as a 2013 breakup survivor. Since the brothers are well aware of and accustomed to reaching out across the different generations coming to see them perform (adult fans still going with the parents who took them to their first show, or all grown up and bringing their own children), there’s truly something in the mix for everyone to enjoy through nearly every Jonas Brothers era…from the fan favorites that helped launch them to superstardom to Joe’s and Nick’s solo music, side projects, hit collabs with Marshmello, and tunes from their most recent albums.
The sentimentality shines through in the speeches each brother will give before certain songs that played a pivotal role in the band’s success or are personally meaningful for them, the way they bring out our beloved Big Rob at every show to perform his rap verse on “Burnin’ Up” just like the old days, the fan requests that get progressively more obscure as the tour goes on (deeper cuts hold deeper meaning, and many OG fans like to test the boys to see if they actually remember the lyrics to any song from 2009 or earlier!).
The encore holds two of the biggest tearjerker moments I’ve ever experienced at a concert: following an adorable video of the teenie-bopper brothers from 2005, they humbly walk downstage to sing “Please Be Mine” by acoustic guitar, the first song they ever recorded together and a standout track on their underrated debut album It’s About Time. It’s flown under the radar to the masses but long been cherished by the core fanbase, and in the years leading up to this tour they’d only performed it live a handful of times. Though it’s a romantic song, I’ve always felt like the lyrics naturally lend themselves to the band’s story and their relationship with the fans, going both ways:
But I’ll be there forever, you will see that it’s better
All our hopes and our dreams will come true
I will not disappoint you, I will be right there for you
‘Til the end, the end of time, please be mine
As if that wasn’t emotional enough, hey, remember that familial bond I mentioned earlier? The final song is their 2007 ballad “When You Look Me In The Eyes.” The boys wrote it with Papa Jonas (a former pastor with a powerhouse voice that he clearly passed down) in their old living room back before the band was even created…so of course, every night they invite him and younger brother Franklin on stage to join in. One big singalong! A Jonas family affair! The tipping point that turns my puddle of tears into a flood as I burst with pride and awe seeing the fruits of this family’s labors! I have to admit it does give off a Texas megachurch vibe, in a wholesome way. It’s a powerful and full circle moment to witness all 5 Jonas men singing such a poignant song, and the very best way to end this show. Back to the roots.
As an obsessive fangirl, I would truly love this tour just as much if it was just the JoBros and their phenomenal live band and family & friends. But there is one unique component that’s grabbing headlines and elevating the “nostalgia factor” of the 20th anniversary to another level…the surprise guests! This has become the sweet cherry (a real one, not a Maraschino) on top of an already sentimental show. Fans online like to joke that Joe is the mastermind behind it all, texting people at random from the seemingly endless list of fellow musicians he must have in his contacts, but these surprise acts are clearly chosen with care. Just across the shows I attended, we were graced with performances by:
- Jesse McCartney, the first artist the Jonas Brothers ever opened up for on tour, singing “Beautiful Soul”
- Dean Lewis, singing “Loved You Better,” their song from the new album
- Switchfoot, whom they’ve cited countless times as an early inspiration for the band and also collaborate with on the new album, singing “Meant To Live”
- In an internet-breaking, world-shifting, dream come true miracle…DEMI FREAKING LOVATO!!!!! She and the boys sang “This Is Me” and “Wouldn’t Change a Thing” from the Camp Rock movies.
- The Click Five, whom Joe also cited as a musical influence and just announced a reunion, singing “Just The Girl”
- Cartel, singing “Say Anything (Else”) from their debut album, which they are about to rerelease and tour for its 20th anniversary. This was unexpected but tailor-made for the not insignificant cross-section of alternative/emo Jonas fans, lest we forget the bros’ first album had very pop punk roots!
- Hoobastank, singing “The Reason”
All Time Low, Hanson, JoJo, Dashboard Confessional, Ryan Cabrera, Fifth Harmony, Jason Mraz…the list goes on! It seems to be a wonderful mixed bag of: artists the boys directly worked with/crossed paths with professionally/loved listening to when they were coming up, artists who also have an anniversary or something major going on in 2025 that is ripe for promotion, and artists who literally call that city their hometown.
Yes, this has proven to be a brilliant PR move that benefits both JB and the guest act, as evidenced by the sudden increase in social media chatter and ticket sales; casual fans and non-fans are actually paying attention to the tour, now that there’s the added anticipation of a surprise guest. If grabbing headlines was what mattered to the brothers, they could have leaned in even further, made it a bit to bring out every artist with a Billboard Top 10 single from the 2000s or gone full-on Disney Channel nostalgia bait…but they didn’t. They’re not the exploitative kind anyways, always intentional, and the idealist in me chooses to see this component of the show as yet another way of illustrating the Jonas Brothers story, possibly the most relatable and authentic way of all — Nick, Joe, and Kevin are sharing their own personal favorites and love of music with us. In real time on stage, they’re honoring the impact of certain artists and hit songs in their lives and throughout the band’s journey, tying a thread that connects millennials’ shared musical and cultural past to the creation of that unique Jonas Brothers DNA and into the present.
As a result, they’ve created a special moment in time and what I like to think of as a “new nostalgia” for the current age. This is nostalgia with purpose when we need it most. Purpose is the main thing sorely but unsurprisingly missing from the vapid, consumeristic version in the zeitgeist every day as the time between trend cycles continues to shrink — endless film and TV sequels and remakes marketed to us, TikToks from the youths “wishing I was a teenager in 2016” (which was NOT EVEN TEN YEARS AGO, HELLO!), the Y2K-style clothes targeting a generation that either wasn’t old enough or wasn’t alive to experience the real thing. It’s empty pandering designed to make us spend more money chasing illusions and aesthetics, barely skimming the surface of our twenty-first-century American cultural touchstones.
Real nostalgia, like the kind the Jonas Brothers bring to life every night through this show, invites a wistful and grateful look back on our individual journeys through memories, media, and music that resonated with us along the way. Nostalgia is jumping around and singing our lungs out to “Year 3000” just like we used to all alone in our poster-clad childhood bedrooms. And it is also a living, breathing thing found in tens of thousands of people (including the three people we’re all there to see) passionately screaming every word to “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” or “The Reason,” or another huge banger from the 2000s that has lurked in the back of our collective mind all these years. No matter how hard or busy or complicated life may be now, at our core we will always be the kids we were then, and it can be a great and necessary comfort to revisit that through a simple song for a few minutes. Just the right dose of memory, suspending reality for a few hours to remind us of who we are as we plod on into adulthood.
So, is there a decent amount of rose-colored-glasses-peering going on? Yes, which is to be expected with a big anniversary tour like this one…and thank goodness for the indulgence, since this nostalgia fosters a true full circle feeling of gratitude and growth for (and from!) the boys and their fans. It’s a palpable exchange of energy and acknowledgment of the band’s history we’ve co-created since 2005. When you take off the shades of the past and sit with what you remember thinking, feeling, and experiencing, you have a deeper appreciation for the essential role it all plays in creating the present.
The Jonas Brothers innately understand storytelling through song, and now they’ve applied it to the stage to tell their own story in an honest and celebratory way, melding the personal and professional points of their journey, bringing so many influential people in their orbit (and outside of it) along for the ride. All the choices made in bringing this show to life, down to the embroidered details on their outfits, beautifully connect back to the heart of who the Jonas Brothers are as a band and a family, and that extends to the fan family they’ve had by their side through the ups and downs of the last two decades.
Their 20th anniversary makes it clear that these three boys from Wyckoff, New Jersey never lost sight of their roots. The nostalgic newness shaping this era also illuminates our own roots as their fans, millennial music lovers who have stayed with them and leaned on their songs to shepherd us into adulthood. Watching the Jonas Brothers perform in 2025 after being a fan for eighteen of their twenty years together, doing so much growing up and self-discovery and stumbling through life in between with plenty more ahead of me, I’ve never felt more at home, more childlike, more myself.
