bonus jonas

any jonas fan worth their salt knows that term actually refers to the jonas brothers' little brother, frankie. but last night, for us, it meant extra performance time. bonus! see? get it?

the two shows at the honda center were being filmed for their upcoming 3D concert movie, a la the hannah montana/miley cyrus flick that came out earlier this year. a disclaimer had been posted on the ticketmaster site, which also stated that there was a possibility of the show running longer than normal - for re-takes and audience close-ups and fun stuff like that. of course, the girls were excited at the prospect. and today's show attendees included yours truly and the teen, plus BFF and one of my cousins - seven.

after a huge disappointment at the closest starbucks to the arena (it was CLOSED!), we arrived at the arena and the entire car of estrogen noticed the adorably cute traffic cop who directed us to the nearest parking lot. i asked the attendant where the best parking was, and she said "well, since the show's already started, this is the best you're gonna get." at our blank stares, she said "yeah, it started at 6."

WTF?? a quick glance at our tickets confirmed it - and the girls started to panic. but i reminded them of how long it actually took the boys to make their grand entrance, and they relaxed.

by this time, we were standing at the curb, waiting to cross the street. i whipped out my camera and nonchalantly snapped a shot of mr. hot cop, and seven and the girls laughed their asses off. and i was so not slick about it, because he totally noticed what i was doing, grinned, and pointed me out to the other cop standing next to him. dahahahaha!

well, i was busted, so i took the opportunity to snap another shot - and this time he flashed me a bright smile. so accommodating! seven was melting into a big pile of mush next to me, and as we crossed the street and passed him, i looked up, smiled, and chirped "hi!" the girls damn near lost it, and the others who were crossing the street with us were totally amused.

and then it was like the day before - bag inspection, ticket scanning, eyeing the food booths (i was determined to get food this time, because we all starved last time), finding our seat. and we were happy to see that our assumptions were dead on this time - the venue was much smaller and more intimate, even with our top-level almost-nosebleed seats. whee! we had a great view of the stage, albeit off to the side. and we noticed these signs, with disclaimers about the filming of the concert.

seven bears a remarkable similarity to another disney channel star, brenda song. i made the comment that it would be awesome if we got bumped up to better seats because of how much she looks like her, which drew an exasperated look from seven and longing squeals from the girls. she said that she's been mistaken for brenda song so many times that she's actually ended up having to sign a couple of autographs for a few tenacious, overzealous fans. too funny.

we decided to go out and get food before it got too crazy. and once we saw folks walking around with giant milkshakes from ruby's, we were set.

but the lackluster food offerings (cheeseburger nachos? ick. boring hot dogs? blah) sent the girls off in search of better choices, while i stayed behind to order those lovely shakes. and as i waited, i could hear lots of screaming, both inside and outside - plus groups of giggling girls excitedly running down the stairs. having noticed a bunch of fans down on the floor near the stage, i figured they'd been chosen to join that group for filming.

seven and the girls reported back with dismal findings - nothing exciting, food-wise. the teen and BFF decided to take the shakes and go back to their seats, so seven and i decided to grab whatever we could find. and as we stood in line for teriyaki chicken bowls, we chatted and caught up on each others' lives - it'd been a while since we'd had a chance to talk.

behind us, another group of excited girls were running towards the stairs, and this time, we noticed an official-looking dude wearing a headset and a name badge that identified him as an employee of the filming crew. we walked up as he was handing out wristbands to another set of girls, and when i asked him if he had any more, he held up his hands and shook his head.

"i wish i did, but those were the last ones i have, and i'm the only one assigned to hand those out. i'm really sorry," he said. and even a bribe didn't get me anywhere. boo. the girls would have flipped the eff out. oh, well.

we finally got our food and returned to our seats right as the show was starting. and just like the day before, they opened with my favorite song, so the food sat on the floor near our seats while we jumped and danced and sang along and had a good ol' time.

the teen's favorite brother, nick, was diagnosed with diabetes a couple of years ago, and part of the show involves a screening of an interview with him, where he talks about living with the disease and how it affects his life at home and on the road. and then he appears in the center of the stage, sitting at a piano, and performs a song he wrote about it. the teen always gets all teary and sympathetic at this part.

and when it got to the last song and the band disappeared along with the boys, the lights didn't come on like they had before. of course, this always signals the "real" end of the show, right? but not today. nope. instead, the group's manager came out and announced that everyone was taking a 15-minute break and then would come back out to perform a few more songs. of course, this was all for the sake of the concert film, but everyone was stoked - bonus jonas, remember?

while we waited, we watched the filming crew set up, cheered for the jonas parents when they came out to join the crowd on the floor, and noticed taylor swift being escorted out into the audience and into an area that was roped off from the general ticketholders.

then the boys came out, recreating their big entrance - complete with fireworks, dressed in their original outfits, and performing the opening song again. they followed it up with about three more songs, all while being closely followed by the giant cameras, and then it was over. the lights came on, they shouted out thanks to the parents for letting the audience stay for the filming, blew kisses, and then it was over for real.

as we walked out of there, we realized that we were directly across from where the tour buses were parked, and had a great view out of the windows. we hung out there for as long as we could, hoping for a glimpse of the band, until security came along and politely asked us to make our way over to the exits. ha! so much for our perfect vantage point.

it was easy to find our car, as we'd made it a point to park near the exit (i'm finally getting smarter about that kind of stuff), and that was that. being closer to home, we walked in the door at 11:00, and right as i set my bag down, i heard the bean cry out as she woke up.

one more show, and tonight's seats are the best of the bunch. we'll be a level below where we were, and a little more towards the center. it'll be a much better view, hopefully with yummier food choices, and we're planning to get there earlier in the hopes of hunting down that audience wrangler dude. maybe the best actually WILL be last. i hope so, because the teen's already bummed at the end of her big jonas brothers-filled weekend coming to an end.

wish us luck.