THE LOOP — Crowds of teenage girls flooded upper Wacker Drive Wednesday on a tip that the Jonas Brothers were nearby.
In town to start their latest tour at the FirstMerit Bank Pavilion that evening, the threesome stopped by Kiss FM for an interview Wednesday morning, and dozens of fans grouped outside the Illinois Center hoping to catch a glimpse of them on their way out.
"They're very nice. They will go out of their way to please their fans — I'm almost positive that they'll come out and meet us," said Angelina Gradilla, 19, a self-described Jonas "expert" who's seen the band 13 times and met the brothers "five or six times since 2007."
Gradilla got a chance to play volleyball with Nick, Joe and Kevin Monday after her friend won a scavenger hunt that sent them around Chicago, recreating images of the brothers snapped at the Bean, Buckingham Fountain and Navy Pier.
But the squeals never came: A security guard at the building told DNAinfo.com Chicago that the brothers were escorted from the building using "a private exit," possibly plugging into the pedway or using a service entrance.
Undeterred, fans who traveled from as far as Minnesota and Michigan said they were looking forward to tonight's show — and that they would keep trying to track them down in the meantime.
"Are they staying at the W?" Lizzie Schaider, 18, from Deerfield asked the crowd of girls on Columbus Drive at South Water Street.
"They're staying at a hotel in Indiana," Gradilla corrected her. "Since they're playing there tomorrow."
For the record, Gradilla said she and her friend beat the musicians in their volleyball game.
"I played volleyball in high school and the Jonas Brothers weren't very good," she said. "But they were really competitive, and they tried really hard."
Are they still her favorite band?
"I'd say they're my favorite people."
