The Jonas Brothers touch on 65 songs at massive Milwaukee concert at Fiserv Forum

For any fans disappointed by the 32-minute runtime of the Jonas Brothers’ latest full-length “The Album,” the band is sure making it up to them with “The Tour.”

At a near-capacity Milwaukee stop at Fiserv Forum Monday, Joe, Nick, Kevin and their smooth 15-piece backing band touched on 32 songs — in the show’s first act.

Then after a 16-minute intermission, the band touched on 33 more songs.

Yep, it’s the Jonas Brothers’ take on Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” with the band adding the deepest cuts to tried-and-true setlist hits from their five-album discography, with one-off songs and side-project singles along the way.

Granted, six songs Monday were instrumentals led by the backing band, including “The Album” standout “Wings,” which deserved a more dynamic treatment (although at least it was performed, unlike "Miracle" or "Montana Sky" Monday). And, naturally, several songs were abbreviated, although those selections, like the dated “Video Girl,” largely sufficed as 15- to 60-second snippets.

But combined, the Jonas Brothers offered fan service at its fullest, confirmed by the ecstatic dancing and exuberant screaming prevalent during most of the show's stuffed two hours and 26 minutes.

Despite the extensive backing band — including two percussionists, four horn players and four backing singers — nostalgia was key for run-throughs of early material, with very few delineations from the recordings. It was frustrating at times watching clearly versatile musicians relegated to exuberant onstage cheerleaders, but ecstatic fans belting out straight-forward renditions of "S.O.S.," "Year 3000" or "Burnin' Up" suggested that that was the right approach.

Yet even as the brothers honored their past, they demonstrated how much more talented they are in the present.

During the retrospective of their self-titled 2007 album, Nick Jonas showcased some spunk on the drums for "Australia," enough so that I hope he carves out more time behind the kit on future tours. And both Nick and Kevin demonstrated some guitar dexterity coming out of "Tonight" and into "Lovebug" from 2008's "A Little Bit Longer" — the live rendition in 2023 illustrating how much more robust Nick and Joe are as singers, with richer harmonies and a climactic, flying falsetto from Joe he couldn't pull off with such finesse in his teen years.

Those two albums were centerpieces of the 73-minute first act, while 2009's "Lines, Vines and Trying Times" and comeback album "Happiness Begins" from 2019 got their own showcases during the 73-minute second act.

The highlight from the “Lines, Vines and Trying Times” tunes was “ Much Better”; live Monday, it was, well, much better, with the horn section given some space on the stage’s runway to bust out some swagger. The horns also made “Only Human” the highlight during the “Happiness Begins” retrospective, enriching the reggae-pop vibe.

As for "The Album," it was represented throughout the show's two acts. And even if it's short, it's by far their best work, smartly and soulfully drawing from the golden '70s rock and pop sounds of the Doobie Brothers, Kenny Loggins, Hall & Oates and other acts of the era.

Parental love ballad “Little Bird” was beautifully rendered, the vocal splendor of Nick and Joe given plenty of space to shine, and with Nick sweetly dedicating it to a fan who's due to give birth to her second child in 28 days.

And “The Album” finale “Walls” was the night's grandest legitimization of the massive backing band, slowly building to a soulful, drum-walloping, vocal harmony-blasting finish.

Atop of all this, the band still visited five songs from other eras, like standalone 2020 single "What a Man Gotta Do" and Nick Jonas' solo single "Jealous." JinJoo Lee, guitarist for Joe Jonas' other band DNCE, got a standout moment during "Cake by the Ocean," ripping into an elaborate solo while lying on the center of her stage on her back as a tsunami of confetti flew over her. "Camp Rock" song "Play My Music," a tour rarity last played in September, got a massive ovation.

And Joe Jonas whipped a scarf around his neck and put on a Christmas hat tossed onto the stage by a fan for a toasty rendition of their original holiday tune "Like It’s Christmas," complete with fake snow falling on the stage.

Yet by the time the band approached the finish line with the Marshmallo collaboration, "Leave Before You Love Me," Joe Jonas couldn't disguise the fatigue in his eyes any longer — which, given all that preceded it, was understandable. He, his brothers and their backing band gave their Milwaukee fans everything they've got.

6 takeaways from the Jonas Brothers' Milwaukee concert, including opener Lawrence

• In addition to frequently working the tips of the Y-shaped runway, the Jonas Brothers and some band members made ample use of the B-stage throughout the night, more so than nearly any act using that tried and true tactic that I can recall. That’s where the brothers performed while Joe Jonas operated a crowd-pleasing “kiss cam” during a swooning rendition of “Love Her” from “Happiness Begins.”

• Nick Jonas talked Monday about the "special connection" the band has with Milwaukee, mentioning that the music video for "When You Look Me in the Eyes" was filmed at a show at the Rave's Eagles Ballroom. Asking if anyone at Fiserv Forum Monday was at that Eagles show, Joe Jonas estimated about half of the people in the crowd cheered, which he rightly concluded was far higher than the Eagles' capacity.

• Joe Jonas mentioned another Milwaukee connection, suggesting that touring guitarist Tom Crouch was from the city — although his bio on his website suggests he's a native Brit based in Los Angeles. But hey, maybe he spent some time living in Milwaukee at some point?

• Perhaps Crouch's ties to Milwaukee are dubious, but Joe Jonas did sport a shirt for the second act he almost certainly picked specifically for this show — a vintage, sleeveless "Milwaukee Iron" Harley-Davidson shirt.

• A lot of fans sported costumes and JoBro-specific attire for the show, and several people on the floor wore Santa hats and got plenty of screen time during "Like It's Christmas." But my personal favorite were two fans, one with an inflatable microphone, the other an inflatable guitar, who sported flannel and wigs that resembled the JoBros' "Camp Rock" era. Joe Jonas spotted them at one point and offered his admiration with an appreciative chuckle.

• Lawrence singer Gracie Lawrence conceded that her band with her brother Clyde was the less cute sibling band on the tour. But the eight-piece from New York was determined to be just as memorable. Gracie Lawrence sang with shake-down-the-church intensity for their breakout soul-pop hit “Don’t Lose Sight,” and dropped down to do 10 push-ups before conquering the Jonas’ entire stage for a funk-jazz rendition of Sean Paul’s “Get Busy.” Guitarist Jonny Koh did an Olympian-scale leap, guitar in hand, then instantly flexed through an intricate solo after touching down during a cover of NSYNC’s “It’s Gonna Be Me.” During the cute love song “Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me,” five members — Koh, Clyde on keys, trumpet player Marc Langer, and sax players Sumner Beckner and Jordan Cohen — huddled together and played each others’ instruments without missing a beat.

Jonas Brothers' Fiserv Forum setlist in Milwaukee

1. "Wings" (instrumental)

2. "Celebrate!"

3. "What a Man Gotta Do"

4. "S.O.S."

5. "Hold On"

6. "Goodnight and Goodbye"

7. "That's Just the Way We Roll"

8. "Still in Love With You"

9. "Australia"

10. "Hollywood"

11. "Just Friends"

12. "Games"

13. "Hello Beautiful"

14. "Take a Breath"

15. "When You Look Me in the Eyes"

16. "Year 3000"

17. "Summer Baby"

18. "Vacation Eyes"

19. "Sail Away"

20. "Little Bird"

21. "A Little Bit Longer"

22. "Can't Have You"

23. "Sorry"

24. "BB Good"

25. "Shelf"

26. "Got Me Going Crazy"

27. "Video Girl"

28. "One Man Show"

29. "Pushin' Me Away"

30. "Tonight"

31. "Lovebug"

32. "Burnin' Up"

33. "Americana" (instrumental)

34. "Summer in the Hamptons" (instrumental)

35. "Waffle House"

36. "Fly With Me"

37. "Hey Baby"

38. "Poison Ivy"

39. "Much Better"

40. "World War III"

41. "Don't Speak"

42. "What Did I Do to Your Heart"

43. "Paranoid"

44. "Play My Music"

45. "Like It's Christmas"

46. "Jealous"

47. "Cake by the Ocean"

48. "Walls"

49. "Comeback"

50. "Rollercoaster"

51. "Strangers"

52. "Used to Be"

53. "Cool"

54. "Trust"

55. "Every Single Time"

56. "Happy When I'm Sad"

57. "Love Her"

58. "Hesitate"

59. "I Believe"

60. "Only Human"

61. "Sucker"

62. "Leave Before You Love Me"

63. "Lonely" (instrumental)

64. "Who's in Your Head" (instrumental)

65. "Remember This" (instrumental)

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on X at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The Jonas Brothers touch on 65 songs at massive Milwaukee concert