On The Road With Selena Gomez’s Worldwide ‘Revival Tour’: Opening Act Performers Joe Jonas Of DNCE And Ruby Carr Of Bahari Tell All

Selena Gomez is currently touring with not one but two great opening bands, DNCE with Joe Jonas and Bahari with Ruby Carr. Ms. Gomez is glad to be on the road again. Selena told the San Diego Union-Tribune she’s excited to perform and just can’t wait to get out on that stage for her San Diego performance.

“This album marks a new and very important chapter in my life. I can’t wait to get on stage and perform this new material.”

Joe Jonas, formerly of the Jonas Brothers, told the Oakland Press he is having a great time with the tour. Jonas is the lead singer for DNCE. Other members of DNCE include Jack Lawless on drums, Cole Whittle who can play a variety of instruments, and guitarist Jin Joo Lee. Joe is excited about his new band and the Selena Gomez “Revival Tour.”

“It’s been incredible. It’s nice going on a tour when you know it’s sold out. You feel like you don’t have to do as much work. We definitely have fun, and on stage, we try to bring a party everywhere we go.”

Selena Gomez is excited, of course, to be promoting her album Revival, Ms. Gomez loves performing and enjoying the crowds. This is her first tour since the 2013 “Stars Dance Tour.” Ms. Gomez is more than ready to put on a great performance every night. Joe Jonas always loves being on stage. He’s really enjoying himself. But what about the three girls who are experiencing their first tour ever? This is Bahari’s very first tour. Naturally, they are thrilled. Ruby Carr, the keyboardist and singer for Bahari, told Entertainment Weekly her band had very little experience with touring.

“Before we started on tour with Selena we were with Birdy for about a week and a half on the East Coast. That was playing theaters and club venues, and then we started with Selena the day after one of our dates with Birdy. We jumped from playing venues of 2-3,000 people to playing venues of 20,000 people. For us, there’s not much you can do to actually prepare for something like that. You just have to make sure you’re well-versed in your music and you’re confident. You have to just go up there and do it and give it your best shot.”

Joe Jonas speaks a lot more confidently, with far more experience under his belt. Accustomed to touring with the Jonas Brothers band, Joe may be young, but he’s been around big venues before. Still, Jonas is very excited about every performance. He seems just as enthusiastic as the girls in the Bahari band. Joe told the Oakland Press he’s having a great time on tour with Selena Gomez.

“Obviously, we take the music very seriously and we’re proud of the body of work. But when you come to the show you can tell that it’s just a good time. We try to make it light, fun, crazy and make people feel like they’re on a spaceship with us somewhere, having a blast.”

Selena Gomez’s three young female proteges Ruby Carr, Natalia Panzarella, and Sidney Sartini of Bahari are just getting the hang of touring. They are having fun and learning while under the wings of pros like Ms. Gomez and Joe Jonas. Ruby tells Entertainment Weekly just how much comfort she and the others draw from Selena.

“We watch her every night! All of the team is like, “Oh, you’re still here?” It’s been unbelievably inspiring to watch everything that goes into it. On the first day, it was overwhelming: the production was so big and so involved. But to be able to watch someone like Selena, who on this album made such an incredible transition into a strong independent woman, get on stage and rock it is so inspiring. All these people screaming her name and being so happy to see her up there, that’s something we want to eventually be able to do. We’re kind of sad that it’s ending soon.”

Selena Gomez is a great inspiration to the girl band Bahari. Not only did Selena give them a tremendous opportunity, but she’s also spending time with them and making sure they have a great first experience touring with her. The girls just wish it would never end.

While Joe Jonas is “having a blast.” the girls, all still teenagers, are really working hard to make sure they do everything right. This is their first big break, and so, of course, the pressure is pretty great, even though they are doing a great job of entertaining the crowds. Still, pressure or not, the girls are having a lot of fun on the Selena Gomez tour. Playing the big venues is a lot different than playing clubs, as Ruby Carr explained to Entertainment Weekly.

“The biggest difference is the fact that you have to be so much more animated because there are people so far away from you and you want to grab their attention. The biggest thing for us is making it 10 times bigger and really emphasizing the music with our performances. That took a while to get used to. And honestly, the most important thing is to have a good time on stage. If you look like you’re having fun and are connected to the music, then everyone else is going to feel that.”

Joe Jonas is certainly a good example of what the girls are learning. He always seems larger than life, and he’s always having a good time on stage. Selena Gomez is also teaching by example. Her shows are all about audience involvement, and the crowd gets really pumped up because the performers are excited.

Selena Gomez has been very supportive of the girls. She’s always there and always making sure the girls have a good experience on the tour. Ms. Gomez takes the time to encourage them, protect them, and give them advice, Ruby explains.

“The best advice she’s ever given us is to be ourselves. And that’s really underrated advice: know who you are and don’t try and be anybody else but that person. She’s always been someone that we looked up to. She’s an icon and she’s so famous, but she took the time out of her day to support us, and we didn’t even have one song out. She also encourages people on her tour to be nice. She’s said to us, “Is everyone nice to you?” We’re like, “Yeah!” And she goes, “Good. Because I don’t have time and space for people who don’t treat other people well.” She makes sure that everyone is really kind on her crew. It’s always really cool to be apart of something like that.”

Joe Jonas said it perhaps best, and the girls concur. No one wants this tour to be over — not Ruby Carr certainly and not Joe either. Being on tour with Selena Gomez is a wonderful experience, and no one wants the ride to stop.

“I definitely would say yeah, I want to continue this journey. It’s been nothing but fun, and I really want to be able to continue to be in this band and create, and hopefully this ride won’t stop anytime soon.”

A Selena Gomez tour with nothing but sold out shows, 20,000 plus venues, and 41 tour dates is hard to top. Still, when the last show finally ends, they still have their careers. After the tour, Bahari has a few gigs in Canada, and they still aren’t quite finished with their album. They will have to choose six of their many songs to add to those already picked and add some other finishing touches before the LP can go out. Joe Jonas will likely continue touring and making albums with DNCE. Both bands have a bright future ahead.

Selena Gomez is not only a brilliant performer, but she is also an excellent mentor for young artists like Joe Jonas, DNCE, and the girl band Bahari.

[Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images]