The Jonas Brothers played their first-ever New Zealand show at Spark Arena last night. Photo / Dean Purcell
The Jonas Brothers played their first-ever New Zealand show at Spark Arena last night. Photo / Dean Purcell
REVIEW:
The Jonas Brothers shot to fame at a very specific time in pop music, when we hung posters of Justin Bieber on our walls, defined ourselves by our favourite member of One Direction, and spent our afternoons watching Disney Channel, Hannah Montana, and Camp Rock.
But while peers One Direction broke up in 2016, Bieber hasn’t released an album since 2021, and Miley Cyrus has reinvented herself multiple times, the Jonas Brothers are still going strong — despite a six-year hiatus, their latest offering The Album marked their fourth number one album on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart last year.
Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas brought the energy from the moment they burst on stage in brightly coloured jackets to open with recent hit What a Man Gotta Do.
What followed was a nostalgia trip that spanned nearly two decades of music, from 2006 album It’s About Time to their post-reunion Happiness Begins. Pausing to speak to the crowds early on in the show, Nick pointed out, “this is our first time here as the Jonas Brothers — we’re so thrilled, y’all.
Nick Jonas admitted that a New Zealand Jonas Brothers show was long overdue. Photo / Dean Purcell
“This is long overdue, and I’m sorry that we took too long, but I’m so glad we’re here tonight,” he continued, adding, “celebrating a near 20-year journey together, it’s hard to believe it, but we’re here.
“We don’t take a single moment of this for granted, and we are so grateful to be on this journey with you.”
The brothers split in 2013, with Nick and Joe going on to pursue solo careers, and Kevin taking a break from music. Nick has arguably enjoyed the greatest success as a solo artist, with hits such as Chains and Jealous to his name, while Joe joined pop group DNCE to create the chart-topping 2016 hit Cake by the Ocean.
When they announced their surprise reunion in 2019 with the comeback song Sucker, which hit number one on the Hot 100 and became the longest-running number-one Pop Airplay Single that year and earned them a Grammy nomination, we listened up.
They’ve since released two more records, including last year’s The Album. But before we got to those, we sang along to all the songs we grew up with - from S.O.S. to Hold On and Hello Beautiful. A second, smaller stage across from the main stage, linked by a path through the crowd, meant the trio could split up and share the love with different sections of the audience, as well as show off their instrumental skills.
Nick serenaded the crowd from the grand piano on the small stage with A Little Bit Longer, before his brothers joined him for a stripped-back version of Camp Rock’s Introducing Me. It might be 15 years since the first film came out, but we haven’t forgotten a word.
And the highlight of the night had to be when Kiwi singer Paige Tapara, who performs as Paige, took to the stage. The 25-year-old artist had been gunning for this moment ever since the brothers saw her acoustic cover of Joe’s song Gotta Find You on social media and invited her to perform with them.
Speaking to the crowd, Joe told how he’d been scrolling through TikTok and kept getting tagged in the video.
Admitting that he’d “teased her a little bit” by leaving cryptic comments on the clip, Joe went on to say, “She had a hopeful dream to perform a certain song with us on stage ... we got to meet this amazing person today.”
Pointing to the pounamu around his neck, he added, “She gave me this beautiful necklace,” before introducing Paige herself to deafening applause.
Singing This Is Me and Gotta Find You alongside Joe, Paige got to live out her dream on stage and more than held her own. She counts the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Billie Eilish among her celebrity fans, but credits her passion for music to watching Camp Rock as a kid. And as the performance drew to a close, she opened her mouth in seeming disbelief that she wasn’t just face-to-face with her idols, but singing alongside them live.
She later shared on Instagram, “To sing with your heroes let alone be eye to eye with them is an unbelievable thing and something we all hope for.
Joe Jonas sang alongside Kiwi singer Paige on stage. Photo / Dean Purcell
“For me, this is the pinnacle. Thank you so deeply for seeing me, for giving me this moment. The most fun I’ve had in my life. I will never forget it.”
As the show progressed, we didn’t quite get the full setlist of more than 60 songs that they’ve performed in the US — a decision that’s drawn some criticism from diehard fans on social media.
But the 2.5-hour show was still packed with all the hits you’d expect to hear, from Burnin’ Up to Nick’s solo hit Jealous and DNCE dance anthem Cake by the Ocean. If the setlist was longer, you wonder whether some of their lesser-known songs would have gotten a bit lost in the mix.
And despite some lulls from the crowd during those songs, the brothers kept up the energy throughout, backed by a truly impressive band featuring saxophone, trombone, and anthemic vocals.
Closing with Leave Before You Love Me, they proved that in nearly 20 years, they haven’t lost their appeal.
