All grown up

Nicholas Jerry Jonas is a man in-between. At 17, Nick Jonas, the youngest member of the platinum-selling Jonas Brothers outfit, is in the midst of orchestrating one of the most delicate rebranding efforts ever undertaken by a performing artist. The maneuver requires an admittedly tricky transition between groups, genres, images and — most dangerously — fan bases. While Jonas has publicly and repeatedly assured legions of disconcertingly devout fans that his new project — grandly titled Nick Jonas & The Administration, a reference to the ingénue’s oft-mentioned presidential aspirations — is in no way a harbinger of a future Jonas Brothers disbandment. He seems fully invested in the new musical enterprise.

Nick Jonas & The Administration’s four-night engagement at the Wiltern ends tonight, concluding a brief run in Southern California. The performances are part of a tour organized in support of the group’s upcoming release.

The two greatest resistances to Jonas’ efforts to recast himself as a serious musician are the Jonas Brothers’ existing fan base — primarily comprising rabidly enamored tweens — and common sense. Foolish though it may seem to alter an image and business model that has been proven successful a million times over, Jonas was insistent on pursuing a more mature sound through his new project. In many ways, Tuesday night’s show at the Wiltern characterized what might prove to be an uphill reinvention effort.

Jonas’ set consisted primarily of songs from the group’s as yet unreleased debut album, Who I Am.

Shaky audience recognition of original material from Nick Jonas & The Administration — a phenomenon probably not unique to the group’s Los Angeles appearances — made for an unusual atmosphere at the Wiltern: The youngest of the performing Jonas siblings (don’t forget Frankie, “the bonus Jonas”) is probably unaccustomed to anything less than 100 percent crowd participation by way of sing-along. The impeccably prompt set was bookended by the two most recognizable songs from the upcoming record, opening with “Rose Garden” and closing with the title track “Who I Am” in the encore.

Jonas (probably wisely) peppered the set with favorite numbers from the Jonas Brothers’ repertoire, including “Black Keys,” “Tonight,” “A Little Bit Longer” (complete with compulsory audience interaction in which Jonas describes his diagnosis with type one diabetes in 2005), and a decelerated acoustic interpretation of “Inseparable” from the Jonas Brothers’ eponymous first album with Hollywood Records. Much to the delight of the Disney fans in attendance (read “the audience”), Jonas also confirmed that production plans had been announced for a sequel to 2008’s wildly popular Camp Rock.

All titillating revelations aside, the seamless medley Jonas performed unaccompanied midway through the set was one of the highlights of the evening. The songs sampled ran the gamut from Owl Ciy’s “Fireflies” to “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon; perplexingly, Nick also elected to incorporate Grammy-nominated “You Belong With Me,” the hit song by older brother Joe’s ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift.

For all his mature posturings, Jonas is essentially the same person as he was in all previous tours with the Jonas Brothers. He has always been the most grounded of the group, the trio’s de facto leader in spite of his age. Nick has also always been the most musically talented of the group: His acting credits include Broadway productions of Les Miserables and Beauty and the Beast, and he also wrote most of the material on the Jonas Brothers’ first four albums. Despite Nick’s onstage concessions that he wasn’t necessarily comfortable in the role of front man — Joe has fronted the Jonas Brothers for most of the group’s existence — it’s clear that he relishes the opportunity to exercise even greater control over his group’s artistic vision.