jonasfest, 2009

after months and months of waiting, the weekend that the teen had been dying for was finally upon us:

yup, we had tickets to back-to-back shows again, just like last year. although this time, it was only two shows - not three. there actually WAS a third show on sunday, but i simply couldn't justify the ticket purchase to the hub for it. hell, it was tough enough sucking it up to tell him we had the ones we did.

after fighting through a bit of traffic, we walked up to the entrance to the venue - good ol' staples center. we were a little later than we'd planned, so a lot of folks were already inside. made it easier for us to get through the bag check and find our way inside.

the teen eyed this sign longingly:

and i gave this one similar wistful glances as we breezed by:

we headed to our seats to check out our view. not horrible, not fantabulous - it was decent. hey, it beat the nosebleed section that was waaaaaaaay above us.

since we'd totally lagged, we hadn't had time to even hit up a drive-thru for some food. i'd already seen this as we headed towards our seats, and i knew instantly that this was going to be my dinner:

$11.50 for a freaking corned beef sandwich. damn pricey ass stadium food. but it sounded really good, and i was hungry. and while i was at it, i grabbed a pack of popcornopolis' kettle corn, too. that shit is tasty. and i didn't know it at the time, but it would become a pattern for the rest of the weekend. ha!

you know i passed this stuff up. no, instead, i had a bottle of water. staples center is a pepsi arena, and pepsi is gah-ross.

almost immediately after i managed to plunk my ass down in my seat, grub in hand, the lights went down and the first of three - yes, three - opening acts hit the stage. i didn't even have time to take a proper photo of my sandwich! bastards.

the band was honor society, a group that the teenyboppers were introduced to last year via the JoBros world tour. along with demi lovato, they'd served as the warm-up acts for the boys and had managed to attract their own following. there were lots of girls up out of their seats, dancing and singing along to the songs.

not my girls. heh. they both like honor society (not nearly as much as the JoBros, obvs), but neither of the two are big on dancing. they look super excited, yes?

the second group to hit the stage was [supposedly] the newest "asian pop singing sensation" - the wonder girls. they were dressed up in cheesy matching dresses and singing their "highly anticipated" single, "nobody." apparently, this group is huge in korea, singapore, thailand, and even my own homeland, the philippines. knowing my people, this is true - they totally eat this kind of shit up. completely up their alley. they sang one sang and pranced off the stage.

american idol's jordin sparks was the final warm-up. she did a great job of performing and getting the crowd all riled up and super excited for what was to come. i may not be a huge jordin fan, but i sure do love how much she reminds me of my dear friend r. they could seriously be sisters.

her keyboardist, who was also serving as an emcee of sorts, jumped up onto the stage as jordin disappeared backstage (under the stage? whatever, you know what i mean) in an effort to keep the level of excitement up. with this crowd, all one has to do is utter the words "jonas brothers" and they're screaming their freaking heads off - and that's just what he did.

and then as he left the stage, the lights went back up - which was a total buzzkill. the whole arena went "awwwwww..." as top-40 music came through the speakers to fill the air. i can't remember anymore what song it was, but there was a little girl sitting in front of us who looked about six years old, with her mom and little sister (who was probably about four). and as the music played, she got up and started dancing around - but it wasn't the "oh, she's so cute!" kind of dancing. she was busting out moves that belonged on a freaking stripper pole. and she kept looking at us to see if we were watching, as did her mother, who beamed like the sun with pride.

[blank stare]

we ignored them as best as we could, and then we heard it - kelly clarkson's "since u been gone," immediately followed with weezer's "my name is jonas." from last year's jonas extravaganza, we'd figured out that these songs must serve as a cue of sorts for the performers to get their shit together and be ready to hit the stage in about five minutes. and then the teen finally got excited.

and sure enough, the lights went down and queen's "we will rock you" came on. we pounded our feet and clapped our hands to the beat, and then the boys made their entrance.

i won't bore you with all the details of the show, but it was good fun and really entertaining. they really stepped it up from last year, with the lasers, special effects, and multi-leveled stage. we had a pretty decent view, although my piece of shit point-and-shoot camera took really crappy pictures. and this is after i took it out of "auto" mode and adjusted the settings for ISO and all that good stuff. bah!

is it really bad that i know all of the songs so well that i immediately noticed when joe fucked up the lyrics to two of them? because i did. muahahahahaha.

jordin sparks came out towards the end to perform her newest song, "battlefield," with the brothers serving as her back-up.

the requisite "let's spray the audience with foam" gag. i was glad to be on the opposite end of the arena, although the girls were disappointed to be foamless yet again.

but on our end of the stage offered something else: an elevated platform from which the boys performed one of their songs from "camp rock" with help from some of their string section.

kevin popped up from underneath the stage dressed in a raincoat, as a circle of water poured down and the other two brothers appeared on center stage to sing "lovebug." this is actually one of my favorite JoBros songs (yes, i have several favorites, shut up). and the "rain" was cool, too, because as they sang, the water came down in different forms - shaped like hearts, squiggly lines, the word "lovebug." very cute.

all of the evening's performers came out to take a final bow, and then they were gone. or were they?

of course not. as always, the lights stayed low for just a few minutes, and as the crowd began to chant "jonas! jonas! jonas!" the screen lit up with flames, fireworks shot up, and they reappeared to sing "burnin' up." and that song isn't complete without an cameo appearance from big rob, the official Jonas Brothers' burly bodyguard.

we got stuck waiting in the parking garage for about 15 minutes before the line finally began to move and we got the hell outta dodge. of course, we hit horrific traffic on the freeway (despite the fact that it was damn near midnight) and i totally regretted not grabbing a coffee earlier. guh, i was tired.

on to day 2!

we parked in a lot this time, so as not to get stuck in the underground maze again, and walked the block and a half to staples. we were earlier this time, and there was the usual crowd at the entrance.

radio disney was present and accounted for, and had set up a karaoke contest to keep everyone occupied.

i was amused at some of the outfits i observed. i was also appalled at a lot of them, but i couldn't take pictures of them without being noticed. oh, well. i'm sure you can imagine.

when we finally got past the bag check and metal detectors, we found ourselves in front of the box office, where tickets for the "official jonas brothers afterparty," hosted by honor society, were being sold for $10.

the teen looked at me with those eyes, and although i was tired and was really looking forward to dropping face-first onto my bed, i bit the bullet and let her buy the tickets.

please. like i could deny this face anything.

since they hadn't bought t-shirts the night before, they stopped at a kiosk on our way to our seats. we managed to find one that wasn't crazy crowded, and i was grateful.

the show was exactly the same as the night before, although the crowd was amazingly even MORE animated and loud this time. oh, and i had more popcornopolis. ha! and the moment the guys stepped off the stage, the race was on to get across the street to l.a. live and club nokia for the afterparty.

since we hadn't been in the first 400 to buy tickets and receive a wristband, we were assed out of getting into the very front section. boo.

that picture was before i damn near came to blows with this stupid bitch who pissed me the hell off. now, i'm fully aware of the protocol when it comes to small clubs: it's a free-for-all, with manners and politeness tossed out the window. throw dem 'bows. i know this. but it's really hard for me to be rude like that, it really is.

so we were standing behind the first row of people in our section, and when two of them (sporting wristbands, we couldn't understand why they were standing there anyway) decided they'd had enough of the pushing and shoving from behind, they took off and sashayed into the front section. as i went to move forward, trying not to slam into the lady who was leaving, the bitches next to me completely bulldozed through and i had just enough time to jam in and get my hand onto the railing, preventing one of them from taking the entire space. of course, she proceeded to use me as a backrest while i gripped that handrail for dear life. so i twisted and bent my arm so that my elbow was in the middle of her back and kept it that way, determined to make her ass as uncomfortable as possible.

and it must've been working, because she turned to one of her friends and said "dude, that's someone's mom behind me." and they both turned to look at me, while i just gave them an "eat shit" grin and tightened my grip. fuck you, bitch. i might've let go after a few minutes, but you had to go and open your fat mouth. fuck you.

even the teen was getting riled up and pissed off, despite her excitement at being in a "club" for the first time. although it was like our experience last year at the palladium, she was annoyed at the pushing and shoving, and then we had a moment:

she dropped her first f-bomb in front of me.

BFF whipped around and looked at me with wide eyes, while i looked at the teen and tried really, really hard not to laugh. but i failed as soon as our eyes met, and i cracked the hell up.

"did you just say what i think you said??"
"sorry, mom, but i was just really pissed off!"

and we all laughed some more. man, that was funny.

i finally did let go when honor society finally appeared on stage, though i let the crowd push me forward and i might have accidentally whacked her again with my camera and maaaybe i stomped on her flip-flopped foot. take that, you stupid cow.

they were fun and full of enthusiasm, and i couldn't help but bounce along, although i still wanted to junkpunch that bitch and all of her friends. but they were undoubtedly underage and i sure didn't want to go to jail. heh. i'm all talk, though, folks. i'm no fighter, but i sure felt like changing my status just then.

after playing a few songs, the four members of the band gathered up front to talk to the audience and thank them for their support, blah, blah, blah. they announced that it was their two-year anniversary as a band, which i thought was interesting - so it took them less than a year of playing together before being "discovered" and opening for the jonas brothers? nice work.

and as they talked, they turned their heads to the side and the screaming began in earnest as nick, joe, and kevin jonas appeared onstage. i won't lie, i was just as excited as the girls, because it was really cool to be that close to them after all of the shows we've been to.

and then nick turned his head:

and out popped jordin sparks to join in the fun.

they all sang one song together, and then they all disappeared.

honor society came back to do a couple more songs.

and then it was over.

the teen is such a sucker for concert tees.

it wasn't until after we'd left that i realized that this sign had said the band was going to make an appearance after the show to meet their fans and take pictures. oops.

but it was already 1:00 and i was dead tired. we dropped BFF off at her house and headed home. shockingly, the bean and the hub were up - they'd been to that night's dodger game and the bean was having trouble getting settled. they both looked relieved to see us arrive, and she fell asleep in the bed with me not long after that.

two down, one to go.