If you couldn’t tell from the roar of the crowd outside, the Jonas Brothers were at Rupp Arena this past Sunday night. The stage was amazing, the lighting and effects were jaw-dropping, and the house reached a new decibel level with their cheering. Given their young ages, you would think the Jonas Brothers might be a bit overwhelmed by everything. In fact, they seem more comfortable headlining their own in-the-round world tour than most artists who are twice their age playing much smaller venues. Regardless of whether you like their music or not, it is hard to deny that they know how to work the stage, engage the crowd, and exceed all their fans’ expectations.

Before the show, the Jonas Brothers set up a make-shift wiffle ball diamond in Rupp’s back parking lot. Any gaps between the various trucks and buses were filled with adoring eyes of Jonas Brothers fans. Wiffle ball games and segways aside, this tour had the most pre-show activities I have ever seen. If you crossed the street in front of Rupp Arena, in the parking lot you would find a couple tour buses that fans tagged with their names, a merchandise stand, and a number of different booths by sponsors ranging from Verizon to Burger King. I was offered enough BK apple fries to feed a small town. In addition, after you walked in the doors to the arena lobby you could instantly see at least 3 photo or video booths where fans could be green-screened into pictures and music videos with the Jonas trio.

Before long, the lights dimmed, and the wail of the first guitar note of perked the ears of any stragglers and had everyone rushing to their seats to view the various opening acts that acted as appetizers for the show. First up…

An MC took the stage as soon as the lights went out, and was quick to introduce the first opening act of the night, Honor Society. The band is the first to sign to the Jonas Brothers’ new record label, and exploded onto the stage with tons of energy. Their music didn’t sound that different from the JoBros, which are heavy on pop with a dash of rock thrown in for good measure. As they continued to play, it seemed all the more appropriate that Honor Society was touring with the brothers. Their fun antics and pop lyrics caught the attention of all the fans in the audience.

Honor Society played about 5 songs, with their final one being the most exciting. Although personally I wasn’t a big fan of their music, it looked like they took some tips from the Jonas Brothers and worked hard to get the crowd involved and excited. I am sure when their CD debuts soon, they will have plenty of fans rushing to the store [or their computers] to snag a copy.

Next up on stage were the South Korean quintet, the Wonder Girls [Am I the only one that can't help but think of the movie, 'That Thing You Do'?]. The girls spent most of their short stage time teaching the audience the ‘dance’ to their hit single, “Nobody.” After performing the song, they said a quick goodbye and then disappeared under the stage before anyone could notice.

Having as much success as they have had overseas, one would think they would have performed more songs, and spent less time talking and teaching dance moves. That said, I by no means am knocking their performance. They have had a ton of success in South Korea and I am sure this is not the last we have seen of them.

Next to hit the stage was the up-and coming [or perhaps already here], Jordin Sparks. Fans will likely remember her as one of the winners of American Idol. Jordin has seen quite a bit of success over the last couple of years, with a few hits songs that have seen plenty of radio time. There were a couple songs where a majority of the crowd sang along and cheered.

In addition to doing a great job performing and singing, she was a nice break between the pop band openers, and the Jonas Brothers and provided a chance of pace while still appealing to the same audience. While Jordin’s set wasn’t as elaborate as the other acts, and there weren’t any wild drum and guitar solos, she more than made up for it with her flawless set of pipes that showed off her singing talent.

There was a nice long gap between Jordin Sparks’ set and when the Jonas Brothers took the stage, but when the lights went down again, the whole arena vibrated like a soon-to-be-shattered wine glass from nearly 20,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs. Immediately after they took the stage you could sense their confidence in their performance, and see that they were comfortable on stage and excited to be performing.

Their stage was extremely complex, with a center circle in the middle, and two thrusts on opposite sides that had smaller circle stages at the end of them. The audience soon found out that when it came to the stage, there was far more than met the eye. The center circle was able to raise another 5 feet in the air and had a variety of layers that spun around in opposite directions similar to a giant turntable. One of the small circles at the end of the trust ended out like a crane and panned over the crowd at one point while two of the brothers hosed everyone down with foam suds. The other circle thrust scissor-lifted about 20 feet in the air and spun around with the Jonas Brothers and two violinists teetering over the edges. The most amazing effect was when it began to rain around the edges of one of the circles and at first rained in patterns, and then rained down hearts and the JB logo. It’s hard to explain in words, but it was as if there was a digital screen displaying falling logos and hearts, but it was only raindrops. I can honestly say I have never seen something anywhere close to that before, and it left my eyes wide and my jaw dropped.

Although I may not be a huge fan of the Jonas Brothers music, I have no problem saying it was one of the best shows I have ever been to. The stage, lighting, and water effects alone would make any show interesting, but the Jonas Brothers really put on the finishing touch with their stage presence and connection with everyone in the crowd, from the front row seat on the floor, to the top row in upper arena. If you went to the show on Sunday then I would love to hear what you thought of it. Were you as impressed as I was? Was it what you expected?