How to meet the Jonas Brothers? Get on the front page of the Ottawa Sun
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The power of the press helped a group of
Ottawa superfans finally meet the Jonas Brothers
, the American pop-rock superstars they’ve been following for decades.
“It’s the best gift ever,” said Erica Geller, a Toronto-based 34-year-old who travelled back to hometown Ottawa to see
show on Dec. 15 with longtime friends Justine Walker, Chelsea Roggie and Mandy Read, all 33.
Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas and their band performed at Canadian Tire Centre as part of their 20th anniversary tour, dubbed Greetings From Your Hometown. Erica, Mandy, Chelsea and Justine were among the thousands of local fans who bought tickets months ago.
Their excitement didn’t stop there. The friends had always wanted to meet the brothers, and Geller decided the Ottawa show would be the moment.
To get the ball rolling, she wrote an email to this reporter, reminding me of a story I had written about her and her friends in 2009, focusing on their role in galvanizing support to bring the Jonas Brothers to Ottawa that year.
Sixteen years later, they were still superfans and planned to get the old gang back together to see the JoBros in the city they grew up in. I wrote again about their fandom in the week leading up to show day, and this time the article appeared on the front page of the Dec. 11 edition of the Ottawa Sun.
Armed with several copies of the Sun, Geller and her friends arrived a little early on Monday night, settling into their floor seats.
“I literally got to the venue and something just came over me and I was like, ‘I am making this happen,’” Geller said of the mission to meet the brothers. She spoke to every security guard she saw, asking if they could get a copy of the Sun’s front page to the Jonases backstage.
That strategy didn’t work, but fortunately the women’s seats happened to be in a convenient spot near the catwalk and its photo pit. When a photographer apologized in advance for possibly getting in their way, Geller saw her opportunity.
She asked if he would give the newspaper to the brothers. He instead promised to give it to the tour manager.
“I wasn’t sure if he was actually going to, but we brought a few copies, so we had extras,” Geller said, “and then 30 or 40 minutes later, this man with a lanyard comes up to us and is like, ‘Are you the girls from the newspaper article?’”
They confirmed they were, and they were told to be ready to go backstage in 15 minutes.
“That was shocking,” Geller said. “I did not expect that at all, but I went for it and it worked out.”
The meet-and-greet took place before the brothers hit the stage. It was brief, but there was an exchange of small talk and, most importantly, photos were captured.
As for the show, “It was amazing,” Geller gushed. “It was so good. By the time the lights went down and the show started, it was completely full.”
Two days later, Geller was back at work in Toronto, still pinching herself. “Literally, it was just like fate,” she said. “If we weren’t sitting in those seats, then it wouldn’t have happened.
“What a great way to cap off the year.”
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