You Make Every Day Feel Like It's Christmas

Happiness Begins Tour, November 2019. Leg two of the tour. Let’s get it, lets go! I originally bought tickets to both nights of Madison Square Garden for leg one, and Barclays Center for leg two. Just knowing that there were more tri-state area shows, I knew that was never going to be enough. On top of that, I desperately needed to experience Pit and B Stage. There were two general admission pits in the front, so obviously you can’t get any closer than that and that was a must. B Stage was a special back of venue experience where the Jonas Brothers had a second stage that was setup by a bar, and every night they cheers with the fans, take fan request songs from that area, and Joe even gives his tambourine to someone every night (all us die hards know how important that tambo is).

The 3 shows and 3 meet & greets I initially bought were already plenty of money spent up front, so I had to take a temporary chill pill. I later bought a Pit ticket and a B Stage ticket on Stubhub because yolo and fomo. The Pit ticket was delivered almost immediately, the B Stage I waited for up until the day of the event because the seller has up until 10am the day of to send it. I didn’t feel good about that the whole time from August to November, but I also had hope that it was normal being that it wasn’t a traditional ticket and maybe it wasn’t as readily available for that reason. The exact moment I tried to open a claim with Stubhub, the seller reached out to the them saying they mislisted the ticket and it was really a Pit ticket. I was distraught because there were no longer any B Stage tickets available anywhere in the country even if I wanted to travel, and I already had a Pit ticket that cost less on top of that. I was ready to go straight to the show from work, with my fan request poster song and all that would now never be seen. I came to a resolution with Stubhub that I would exchange it for a Pit ticket in the opposite Pit from where my other ticket was so I could still at least have two different experiences (one on Kevin’s side and one one Nick’s side) and they would refund the difference between the two tickets.

I was still of course excited to go to the show and Pit is literally as good as it gets but I was mourning the loss of the experience I would never get to have. I got to Prudential Center extra early to wait in line to ensure the best possible spot in the pit. Turns out it was a free for all, because there was no official line. It was about to be a lion’s den with whoever gets in first from whatever security line. I had a good spot in my line, but I didn’t know what I was up against around the whole building. Once I entered a section where you could access the floor, I saw one pit was half full and one was empty. When it clicked in my head that I had a ticket for the empty pit, I darted. I was getting the barricade in that pit if my life depended on it. I made it. Dead center. Couldn’t have had a better spot. I sensed the girl next to me was also alone, so I befriended her. Brianna (with two n’s), what are the odds! Once they came out, I realized how close I actually was. WOAH. Never have I ever in a venue like this. Small shows for their solo careers, sure, but this was next level. I had Kevin’s pit, and it was clear he saw me the whole time.

Which leads me to the next night at Barclays Center, my final meet & greet and Christmas present. As soon as I walked in Kevin said, “Did you have fun last night?” That was the final piece of the puzzle I needed, for Kevin to remember me. I knew with the videos and pictures I had from the night that we were constantly making eye contact and it wasn’t just in my head. It was my last shot to say something to them. I told them what happened with my ticket mix up, and that now they would never see my fan request poster. Joe said, “We still see posters from the floor.” But I didn’t say I had a floor seat. Did he see my tweet about the incident that also said I had a floor seat tonight that got retweeted by a fan account? Or maybe he just expects at this point I would never sit higher than the floor 😂

Anyway, as fate would have it, I am 5’2” and who ended up sitting next to me in a venue that holds 17,732 people? My new friend Brianna who’s about 5’9”, who I had never met in my life before the night before and didn’t even exchange contact info with. What kind of kismet is this?! We excitedly explained to my mom and her friends that we were both the other Briana/Brianna. Back to posters! During the fan request portion of the night, she helped me hold my poster up where at least there was a chance they saw it, but alas “Pushing Me Away” was not sang that night, and I don’t think any night on this tour. I haven’t made posters since I’m like 16, but my goal was to get on the Jonas Brothers Instagram. I had a general poster too for when I was center aisle when the Jonas Brothers come down the catwalk because that is a prime photo taking opportunity from their concert photographer, but I never got a shot. I worked hard on my posters and they’re beautiful so they can stay on display in my house, and maybe they’ll see the light of day on another tour.

My last and final show was my original pit ticket in Atlantic City. I was really so sad that this was all about to be over. What a ride it had been from March to November. I felt like I was on tour too. Next time I want to go to even more shows, and definitively the first and last wherever they are! I am grateful for the pit ticket mixup because I had two totally different experiences, the first one being way better. This time around in Nick’s pit, that was the pit that already had people in it as I rushed down to get there. I was in the second line of people which I was not satisfied with, until I realized another new friend I had met for the first time the week before at Barclays was right in front of me! More kismet! Everyone was kind enough to let me be on the barricade by association, but this pit was just so much more crowded than the other show. I felt like I was crowd surfing the whole time and didn’t have the best view, Nick definitely didn’t see me the whole time like Kevin did just days before. On the upside, this was my first time at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall and I absolutely LOVED it. It’s a pretty intimate venue for an act that big, and I would definitely go back. It seems as though you would be able to see from anywhere, and the tickets were more decently priced than Brooklyn/NYC venues. Plus, as a special treat they sang “Like It’s Christmas” and it snowed all over the whole venue, it was so pretty and whimsical! In the end, my last show was more than sentimental, and though I went alone I didn’t leave alone with all the friends I made along the way, and thank you to them for my confetti shower photoshoot. Confetti was a huge part of this tour, everyone collected it at every show they went to. I, like many others, made a Christmas ornament out of it so I have the memory forever. This tour was very colorful and the confetti emulated that along with the iconic Floaty Man (if you know, you know). There’s literally no words for what this tour has meant to me after everything I’ve been through as a Jonas Brothers fan over the past 12 years since meeting them at a Jesse McCartney concert. Happiness has only just begun again and I already can’t wait for the next ride on this “Rollercoaster”!