Nowadays it’s almost impossible to imagine life without social networking sites, especially Twitter. Yesterday, Nick Jonas the youngest of the three Jonas Brothers decided he wanted to play an intimate show in effort to give back to his fans in DC while he was in the area; and he announced it via twitter.
At around 1pm he tweeted “Hey people in the D.C. area I’m thinking of playing an acoustic set tonight with @JohnLloydTaylor somewhere. I’ll give you more [details] soon!” and followed up with two more tweets saying, “Here’s the info for tonight. Tickets are free! Jammin’ Java 227 Maple Avenue East, Vienna VA 22180” and “We’ll be going on sometime around 11.”
Although the show was extremely late, junior Jazmine Bounds said convincing her parents to let her go was easier than she thought. “I was really surprised that my mom said I could go since it was so last minute and late at night/into the morning on a school night. But she seemed interested when I told her about all the fan girls going crazy.”
Jammin Java’s Door Gal Meiilyn Verba said, “We received word around 1pm. The venue is well known with adapting to last-minute, just-announced shows. But what always surprises me is how well everything comes together behind the scenes via coordinating with management, employees, and production.”
So how did this last minute show compare to others at Jammin Java in the past? “The main difference was social media, via Twitter and Facebook. The response was instantaneous. It reached replies all over the country, even as far as Valenzuela[City, Philippines].”
“I was sitting in class when my sister texted me, it was like 1:30[pm],” said junior Jessica Campanilla. Her sister had seen Nick’s tweet and was determined to go to the show. “We got there around 2:45-3ish.” Although the doors didn’t open until about 10:30pm, Campanilla and her sister waited outside in the cold.
But put a bunch of screaming fan girls in a small room and you can bet there’d be chaos. Things like pushing and shoving, and cutting in line, fighting and screaming went on through the night. But Jammin Java’s staff handled the crowds extremely well.
“To some degree, it was as crazy as I thought it would be. Once the show was announced, the phones rang non-stop asking if people are already in line. I knew it would be crazy when I received quite a few calls from Pennsylvania, saying they were on the road to Jammin’ Java already. I wasn’t too surprised the first person to arrive was around 2:30. As expected, we did reach capacity. However, since a few could not stay all the way through the show, as people left, we were able to allow a few more to gain entry.” said Verba.
“I love Jammin Java, it’s really small and intimate and the staff knows what they’re doing.” said Campanilla. “I like the intimate shows much better than the stadium ones.”
A few hours before the show, Nick tweeted his fans telling them he needed help figuring out the set-list, wanting fans to reply. He would choose the best one. The setlist he ended up choosing was Last Time Around, Rose Garden, Before The Storm, Give Love A Try, Lovebug, Olive & An Arron, London Foolishly, BB Good, Fly With Me, SOS, Who I Am, and a few others.
When asked what her favorite song was Campanilla replied, “Stay, because Nick played the song at a past concert I went to and I love the lyrics.” And Bounds said, “I enjoyed his covers of Just The Way You Are and Teenage Dream, but I liked the whole thing.”
All in all the show went really well. And after the show, Nick tweeted, “What an amazing night! Thanks to everyone who came out! I truly have the best fans in the world.”
So if you don’t already have one, it might be a good time to get a Twitter and stay in the know about events just like this one. And while you’re at it, go follow the Ablast @ahstheablast!
