DNCE brought their upbeat songs and energetic dance moves to The Wellmont Theater.
Tuesday, Feb. 4 was a big night for the funk pop band, DNCE, as their show at Montclair’s The Wellmont Theater was a hometown show for band members Joe Jonas and Jack Lawless. Before the doors of the venue even opened, there was a line that wrapped all the way around the block turning onto Bloomfield Avenue. Excited fans anxiously waited to enter the venue and to see DNCE perform.
Once doors opened, people began running into the venue to ensure that they secured the closest spot to the stage. As it became closer to showtime, fans continued to pack tightly into the theater.
“I’m stoked,” said longtime fan Alexa Rosado before the show. “I’m so excited to see DNCE for the first time. I’ve heard they put on a great show, and I’ve been obsessed with Joe Jonas since I was nine.”
The Skins opened up the show with an energetic performance that got the crowd dancing and riled them up for DNCE.
DNCE made an impactful entrance, as two people dressed in Stormtrooper masks entered the stage first to the Star Wars theme song, as they waved “team DNCE” flags. Soon after, the members of DNCE – JinJoo Lee, Cole Whittle, Jack Lawless and Joe Jonas – came onto the stage. They were clad in masks and holding lightsabers. The audience exploded in cheers and yells as the group began to battle each other with their lightsabers.
As the band energetically danced around the stage to “Naked,” they went into a cover of Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles.” Attendees all sang along to the iconic song from the viral mannequin challenge trend.
DNCE had a range of interesting pieces to their show, such as smoke cannons throughout the night, their use of a shopping cart covered in bras as a keyboard stand, confetti cannons and money with the band’s name and lead singer Jonas’ face on them, which were promptly thrown into the crowd during the song “Pay My Rent.”
Touring their debut album, DNCE, the band played many favorites such as “Toothbrush” and radio favorite “Cake By The Ocean.” The whole theater was dancing to every song. It was impossible not to dance along to their infectious funk pop beats. Their long instrumental music kept the people cheering as they repeatedly got on their knees and played, as well as somersaulting across the stage. Bassist Cole Whittle repeatedly played with his bass behind his head.
Along with their more upbeat songs, DNCE also played a fantastic acoustic set during their performance. Before beginning the song “Truthfully,” Jonas talked about how they chose to play in New Jersey over New York, as it is more significant and a home state. Jonas also took some time to talk about the bras being thrown onto the stage throughout the night, and even mentioned one that had an Instagram account written on it.
Once DNCE began their acoustic set, The Wellmont Theater erupted in song as well. At some moments it seemed like the voices from the crowd were louder than DNCE themselves. For their acoustic songs, Whittle changed from bass to ukulele, adding in a different sound. Many couples throughout the room grabbed their significant others and swayed during these heartfelt songs.
DNCE never fail to shake things up, as before their song “Jinx” they performed a kazoo solo. The band also took someone’s phone from the first row, and told everyone to hold up the flashlights on their phones for the picture. The audience then kept their phones up for the rest of the song, swaying and illuminating the entire theater. As it was a hometown show for half of the band, the crowd was filled with family members dancing and singing as they cheered on their relatives. Jonas even Tweeted after the show, saying, “Hometown show was one of the highlights of the tour for me. Thank you to everyone who came out tonight.”
DNCE formed in 2015 and recently put out their debut, self-titled album. To hear more from DNCE, you can go to their website at dnce.com, and to check for upcoming shows at The Wellmont Theater, you can go to their website at wellmonttheater.com.
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