The Jonas Brothers Go From Busts to the Big Leagues in No Time at All Quick Hits
By Patrick Ferrucci, New Haven Register, Conn.
Jul. 25–When the Register first talked to the Jonas Brothers back in early 2006, the band, made up of three brothers all 20 and younger, talked excitedly about “It’s About Time,” a debut record they assumed would be released very soon. Of course, Columbia kept delaying the album until later that summer. When the disc his stores that August, it barely caused a ripple, selling merely 50,000 copies.
Fast forward to March of this year, barely two years later: The Jonases had no issues packing the Chevrolet Theatre. The trio was riding high on the success of its self-titled, platinum-selling sophomore record put out by Disney’s Hollywood Records. The music was very similar to the debut, but Disney marketed the band better, putting them on tour with Miley “Hannah Montana” Cyrus and featuring the guys — Kevin, Joseph and Nick — on various television programs.
As the guys get closer to the release date of their album, “A Little Bit Longer,” they’re still getting more popular. Come Saturday, The Jonas Brothers will almost complete their run of large Connecticut venues by performing at the Dodge Music Center. Back in 2006, all they cared about was talking about writing songs and jumping up and down on the stage. Having fun. But like most things connected with Disney, The Jonas Brothers have been Disneyfied.
When asked about the ages of their fans, most of whom can clearly be put in the tween demographic, and how they can’t drive themselves to shows, Kevin Jonas, 20, says, “You know, sure there are some that can’t drive themselves … (but) we can’t wait for people to be driving to our shows and coming and we have different sponsorships with corporate like Chevy that are doing some really amazing things with going green and, you know, driving to the shows and, you know, making a contribution to the environment.”
Between very specific outfits and haircuts and a clear marketing strategy, The Jonas Brothers now come across as more a brand than a rock band. Most everything they say is aimed at generating attention to the enterprise, not the upcoming album. During a recent teleconference, when asked about 20 minutes through about lack of questions about music, the band doesn’t seem to care.
“I think for us we love the fact that we have been given lots of other opportunities,” explains Nick, 15, “things that are going on in our career, besides just the music, you know, the acting, the tour, it’s all so amazing and important to us.”
It not as if The Jonas Brothers make bad music. In fact, most reviews pin the youngsters as a mediocre act that can produce and co-write some very poppy, anthemic tween rock. When the trio toured with Cyrus, many of the reviews said the Joneses put on the better show. And two years ago, all the guys could talk about was a love of music and getting better at their craft. Now, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“The new album is actually not that big of a change,” says Nick. “It’s a really good, you know, continuation of the last record. All of these songs that we were writing, we kind of started writing actually even before the last record released. We were so excited that these things were happening and just writing all of these songs and then we recorded the record.”
But even though Nick, Kevin and Joseph now all speak of endorsements and other opportunities, they still clearly care about their fans. The three understand that bigger venues mean a less intimate experience, and when they arrive at the Dodge Saturday, they know they’ve done everything possible to make the venue feel as small as the Webster.
“You know the numbers have grown in our shows in how many people come to the concerts and it’s amazing and we know that there are people in the back — in the back of the auditorium or the back of the lawn and the amphitheaters,” says Kevin.
“But what we do as a band is we always want to try and get as close as we can, so that’s why we built our tour in a way so that we can get out into the audience as far as we can by building a 45-foot runway that goes right out into the audience, and there is no barricade around the runway so that fans are just right up there — right up close to the thing so there’s nothing holding you back from like reaching out and you know being right there on the stage. It’s really amazing.”
IF YOU GO
–Event: The Jonas Brothers with
Avril Lavigne, Demi Lovato –When: 7 p.m. Saturday –Place: Dodge Music Center, 61
Savitt Way, Hartford –Tickets: $33.50-$85.50 –Info: (203) 624-0033, www.
livenation.com
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