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Jonas Brothers Play Surprise Show at Champs Downtown

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By

Geoff Rushton

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Reporting by Mikey Mandarino, Elissa Hill and Anthony Colucci.

After a day of rumors that it would happen, the Jonas Brothers played a surprise show at Champs Downtown on Allen Street on Friday night.

The band’s visit to State College came after Joe Jonas spent the past few weeks leading the charge for Champs in the #BarstoolBestBar Twitter tournament. His band DNCE played an impromptu show at the bar in 2017, and his friends and former managers, State College natives, brought him to the Phyrst and Champs on North Atherton Street on his 21st birthday in 2010.

The brothers arrived just before 10 p.m. at University Park Airport on a private plane, accompanied by each of their partners — Joe’s fiancée, actress Sophie Turner; Nick’s wife, actress Priyanka Chopra; and Kevin’s wife, Danielle Jonas — who also made their way to Champs.

 


Before heading to the bar, the group made a stop at Beaver Stadium for a photo.

 


Once inside the packed Champs, which had a line wrapping around the block onto Beaver Avenue, they were introduced by Penn State football coach James Franklin, who also invited them to be on the sidelines for the Nittany Lions’ White Out game this season.

“I want to make sure we welcome these guys as part of the Penn State family,” Franklin said. “Have fun tonight, enjoy them, and show these guys how we party in State College.”

 


It may have been tough to get into Champs on Friday night, and the $10 cover was a bit higher than normal, but a steal to catch a club performance from the recently reunited band, which has released a pair of strong new singles this year in ‘Sucker’ and ‘Cool,’ which came out on Friday. (Back when they played at the Jordan Center in 2008, tickets were $20 to $27.50)

Their set began with the catchy classic “Year 3000.” They then went on to play “S.O.S” — the first top 20 hit in Jonas Brothers history — and the two new singles, making it the first live performance of ‘Cool.’

 


The brothers kept the Penn State spirit alive and well with a short version of “Seven Nation Army” and plenty of “We Are” chants between songs, saying along the way that they didn’t go to college, but if they did, they would have gone to Penn State. Their brief set ended with “Burnin’ Up,” perhaps their most iconic single, and Franklin returned to the stage to once again invite the JoBros to the White Out game. He also presented the brothers with football jerseys — white ones, of course — to wrap up the show.

 


Turner, who stars on ‘Game of Thrones,’ got some love from the crowd as well with chants of ‘Lady Stark.’


The Jonas Brothers thanked Champs for its hospitality on Instagram following the night’s action, and Joe went a step further by paying for an open bar for the rest of the evening.