My sister-in-law, Kristin Vailliencourt, and her niece hit the big Jonas Brothers show at the Bradley Center Thursday night. Here's their joint review from the eyes of a 13 year-old and a 40 year-old.
OMJ (Oh My Jonas) They Rocked the House
By Ruby and Kristin Vailliencourt
My thirteen year old niece, Ruby, is in town, and we scored some Jonas Brothers tickets at the last minute. She was ecstatic and I was skeptical (as I am 40 and don't know them or their musica at all).
Before the concert, she gave me a "Jo Bro" crash course using their recent Rolling Stone cover shot. I epically failed, as any near 40 year-old would, only knowing the recent news of Kevin's engagement. (I didn't even know which one that was).
Prior to the Jonas Brothers taking the stage, we were entertained by three opening acts. The first was Honor Society, a young (Kristin says) band with good song lyrics, cute members (Ruby says) and a catchy song "See U in the Dark" which has great instrumental content that really got the audience moving. Neither of us knew their songs going in, so at times they were hard to understand.
During their performance, they (Honor Society) announced that the Jonas Brothers were starting their own record label and that they were the first band to be signed to it. A bit of a scoop for the Milwaukee concert audience.
The next entertainer to take the stage was "American Idol" Season Six winner, Jordin Sparks. Her stage presence was polished and fun and the audience enjoyed singing along with her. Jordin continued this interaction with the audience, by talking and waving like we were her BFFLs (best friends for life). Her outfits could have been better (Ruby). In a 90% female audience, it was great to see that her band members were mostly girls (Kristin).
The last opening act, from Japan, was the less-than-wonderful WonderGirls. Although their outfits were retro-fun, their one song fell flat in an audience that was eagerly awaiting the main act.
Finally, the Jonas Brothers came out in a fog of smoke to Queen's "We Will Rock You". The brothers were in their usual attire of tightly-clad skinny jeans. The stage show was very entertaining with their awesome stage presence, rotating stage, trampolines, side stages, and levitating platforms that allowed the band to get up close and personal with their fans - even spraying them with water.
The entire show had a definite "feel good" Disney twist -- appropriate for all the ages that attended (Kristin). Joe really worked it with his muscle flexing in tight t-shirts and acrobatic stunts! I love Joe! (Ruby)
We may be 27 years apart in age but there was no difference in our opinion of this concert - the Jonas Brothers rocked the house!
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
