Joe Talks Tour - Shortsleeves / Tank Tops / Shirtless?!

If you read teen magazines or frequent fangirly Web sites, you’ll know that Joe Jonas usually gets labeled as “the cute and funny one” of the Jonas Brothers.
Think of him, then, as a combination of Paul McCartney and Davy Jones (cute), and Ringo Starr and Micky Dolenz (funny), who previously held those titles during adolescent frenzies over the Beatles and the Monkees.
Jonas, 19, doesn’t seem fazed that two boy-band torches have been passed his way. The JoBros are experienced multi-taskers, accustomed to working on CDs and tours and TV series and movies and a book, pretty much all at the same time.
Now his band is headed to Birmingham’s BJCC Arena on Aug. 16, as part of a world tour that will travel to 44 cities in the United States and Canada. The Jonas Brothers will make some stops in Europe and South America as well.
This particular Jonas - who rules millions of hearts along with sibs Kevin, 21, and Nick, 16 - is on the phone and willing to talk about the labels attached to the band members. He’s also game to chat about the fans, the shows, the goals and anything else that will fit into an 18-minute conversation.
So, how does Jonas feel about being called the cute and funny one? Or about the capsule images attached to each of the Jonas Brothers?
“I think it’s fine, because we’re so used to it now, and that’s what people say,” Jonas says. “And it’s kind of true, we’re all different in our own ways. My brothers are great guys and they definitely live up to their nicknames.”
So, then, for the uniformed: Kevin is “the cute and romantic one,” and Nick is “the cute and sensitive one.” Cute, of course, is the unifying factor, and it has helped the Jonas Brothers to become a breakthrough sensation over the past couple of years.
These pop-rockers from New Jersey are undeniably hot, with a No. 1 album in 2008, “A Little Bit Longer,” several Top 10 singles, a handful of Teen Choice Awards and a Grammy nomination as best new artist.
They’re all over the Disney Channel, playing in cinemas with a new 3-D concert film and linked to teen phenoms such as Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and even Hannah Montana herself, Miley Cyrus.
When it comes to live performances, bookings for the Jonas Brothers tend to sell out quickly, and the venues they dominate have leapfrogged in size from malls and amusement parks to arenas and stadiums.
“On this tour, I think we’re going to try our best to reach people in the very last row,” Jonas says. “We’re doing the shows in the round, and that will be cool. It’s a totally new thing for us. We’ll be surrounded by fans in every direction.”
Jonas says he isn’t at liberty to discuss the special effects touted in the tour announcement, which will include a circular water screen that’s supposed to be one of a kind. Nor is he positive that the Jonas Brothers can beat the Backstreet Boys, who made a spectacular entrance at the BJCC in November 1999, flying from the ceiling on neon-lit surfboards.
“It would be a hard thing to top the Backstreet Boys,” Jonas says, “but we have an amazing team that has ideas that would blow your mind away.”
The Brothers’ publicist does reveal a few specifics: a 140-foot stage, multi-colored lasers and a giant crane that will levitate over the audience. Every high-tech gizmo employed by the band has one ultimate purpose, Jonas says, and that’s “connecting with the fans” in the most thrilling way possible.
Bear in mind, however, that the Jonas Brothers remains a family-friendly ensemble. That means setting strict limits on stage behavior and exposed skin. In the past, for example, other boy bands have been known to strip off their shirts during performances and flaunt their buff bods, inducing shrill screams of approval.
“I don’t really judge people on their own thing,” Jonas says, “but for us, individually, we don’t think that’s necessary to get the audience excited. We do play with the audience, do play with the girls sometimes. I don’t know about taking our shirts off right now - maybe we’ll do short sleeves or tank tops.”
Source: Birmingham News