‘An absolute dream for all boyband lovers’: Everybody Say JLS: The Hits Tour | Music | Entertainment

The foursome left the crowd, which mostly comprised of women in the late twenties and early thirties, caught in an emotional chokehold as teenage dreams very much came true.

JLS, the 2008 X-Factor runner-up, had an unbelievable career, beginning with two number-one singles, ‘Begin Again’ and ‘Everybody in Love’. Aston Merrygold, JB Gill, Marvin Humes, and Oritsé Williams have stolen girls’ hearts ever since.

For the Everybody Say JLS: The Hits Tour, the band were on a mission to wow their fanbase, city by city.

London’s first night opened with a crowd favourite, Eyes Wide Shut, in proper rockstar fashion, with smoke machines and trap doors, with the boys coordinated in different variations of black leather trousers and white tops.

They arrived hot and heavy, with slick and crafty movements and perfectly synchronised choreographies.

With Day One/Finesse and Do You Feel What I Feel, the band called out the day-one fans. It was a special evening for JB Gill, as his wife, Chloe, was celebrating her birthday, and the audience sang Happy Birthday.

So Many Girls was the highlight for all the front-row fans, as the lads delivered a combination of sultry, thrusting dance moves.

The band then decided to take it to the next level by inviting four girls onto the stage. At the end, the lucky girls were being serenaded with I Know What She Likes. “That was nice; up close, and personal,” said Marvin.

The next song, taken from their debut self-titled album, Close To You, felt extra special, with a memorable view of the entire crowd lit up with phone torches.

Upbeat hits like Hottest Girl in the World, The Club is Alive, and She Makes Me Wanna turned the O2 into a fun playground; JLSters screamed every single lyric at the top of their lungs.

JLS wanted to give everyone an unforgettable show. The boys had an on-stage, head-to-head DJ-off: Williams and Humes versus Merrygold and Gill. They opted for hits of the noughties.

If that wasn’t enough, JLS had a special guest as Olly Murs, the 2009 X Factor runner-up contestant, emerged. All phone cameras were up in the air, filming Murs’s hit Heart Skips a Beat. 

After Beat Again, JLS teased but returned with an encore that felt like an absolute dream for all boyband lovers.

Emotions were high, confetti was everywhere, and the boys said goodbye with Everybody in Love. The atmosphere was surreal.

“Now everybody say, JLS, forever and ever,” JLS closed the evening with the signature smooth boyband harmonisation.