Review: Jonas Brothers at Mohegan Sun By:Eric R. Danton

 By

Eric R. Danton

 on October 10, 2009 12:28 AM
Truth be told, the Jonas Brothers didn't have to do much of anything for the crowd to shriek with rapture Friday night at Mohegan Sun, and they knew it.

"You guys will scream at anything!" Joe Jonas remarked during the first of three shows at the casino (the other two are Saturday at 3 and 7:30 p.m.).

All the same, the trio worked to earn the adulation, roaming around the stage, mugging for fans and issuing a steady stream of standard-issue concert banter.

If you weren't a tween girl overcome with the delirium of seeing your pop crushes in person, though, the show got off to a slow start.

(See more photos here.)

The energy felt strangely flat for the first half of the 75-minute concert, as if the trio (which played with a 10-piece band) couldn't quiet settle into a rhythm on bright pop songs with catchy hooks -- and more than a little audience assistance in singing them.

A few technical glitches didn't help, either. Nick Jonas' microphone never seemed loud enough, for starters. Worse, when it came time to play a song on a baby grand piano, the instrument wasn't audible at all.

While he and a pair of techs fiddled with the piano, which never did end up working, Joe Jonas stalled for time by bringing up a fan to help the brothers sing a song -- except that neither Joe nor brother Kevin, or the band, could quite remember how the intended tune, "Leave It On the Line," went.

Eventually, they moved on with a sure-fire crowd pleaser, "Year 3000."

A few songs later, the band finally clicked when Nick Jonas took over on drums for "Video Girl," a punchy pop song adorned with strings and horns.

From then on, the brothers looked like they were having as much fun as the crowd, throwing in a cover of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" for the parents and showing a funkier side of their wholesome pop on "World War III," which featured the added bonus of Joe Jonas shedding his shirt to reveal a blue tank top and buff arms that were cause for additional screaming.

After the lovelorn ballad, "Lovebug," anchored by Nick Jonas picking out an accompaniment on acoustic guitar, the band finished the main set with "S.O.S." before returning for a two-song encore.

The first, "When You Look Me in the Eyes," layered strings and gooey, soaring synthesizer over an acoustic guitar. The second, the funk-laced rocker "Burnin' Up," ended the show on an upbeat note with steamy wah-wah guitar riffs and, of course, more screaming.

Set list
1. Paranoid
2. That's Just the Way We Roll
3. Poison Ivy
4. Hold On
5. Play My Music
6. Year 3000
7. I Gotta Feeling
8. Gotta Find You
9. Please Be Mine
10. Video Girl
11. Sweet Caroline
12. BB Good
13. World War III
14. Lovebug
15. S.O.S.
Encore
16. When You Look Me in the Eyes
17. Burnin' Up



Some Photos From The Show:

 Source: Courant