My memory of the time Jonas Brothers came to Peoria is a bit cloudy, but I am proud to say that I was there. I didn’t get too drunk to remember or anything; I was just six years old. Somehow my mom snagged eighth-row seats to the sold out show for me, my two sisters, and a friend to accompany my oldest sister, Hannah. I was so excited. 

“The audience had either people who really wanted to be there (kids) or really did not want (adults) and there was no in-between except for me and [my friend],” Hannah recalls. She and her friend were freshly eighteen and probably feeling “too cool” for the Jonas Brothers at the time.

Rooney opened the show and I remember Hannah being pleasantly surprised about it. She was probably more part of Rooney’s target demographic than the Jonas Brothers’. I stood on a chair as Hannah helped me keep my balance, and I had a great time.

I was a huge Jonas Brothers fan as a kid-- such a big fan that when those three boys took the stage, I started to ugly cry. They were happy tears, but my first grader brain just couldn’t handle the excitement of seeing my favorite band in the flesh. I was uncontrollably sobbing from excitement, and the screaming crowd was loud enough to make it seem like my sobs were a normal volume. 

At the time, I was recently diagnosed with a heart condition that gave me random palpitations. Hannah thought that I was crying because I was having one of those heart palpitations, and she got very worried. She asked me what was happening, but I could only reply between sobs.

“I’m just.. so… happy,” I cried. Luckily, we have photo evidence of this event.

The rest of the night is a blur, but I know it was great. According to the Wikipedia page for this tour, the setlist was full of hits from my youth:

"Year 3000"
"Just Friends"
"Australia"
"Goodnight and Goodbye"
"Hello Beautiful"
"Take a Breath"
"Underdog"
"Shelf"
"Pushin' Me Away"
"That's Just the Way We Roll"
"Games"
"Take on Me"
"Still in Love with You"
"Hollywood"
"Burnin' Up"
"When You Look Me in the Eyes"
"Hold On"
Encore: "A Little Bit Longer” & "S.O.S."

I remember that the band stayed at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria, and I think about it every time I drive past that hotel. There was a Peoria Journal Star article about some girls meeting the Jo Bros there, but it seems to be gone from the internet. In my search for that article, I found this LiveJournal entry about a few superfans creeping on the band during their stay.

Whenever I meet people around my age who grew up in Peoria, I often ask if they were at this concert. A lot of people have said yes, and it’s always a fun bonding moment. Were you there?