JLS are back together - and they should have never broken up.
That’s not just my opinion, or that of the fans whose hearts broke when they heard the news that Aston Merrygold, Oritise Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill were calling it quits after five years together in 2012.
It is in fact a line from the boyband’s first-ever hit single which they have reunited to celebrate with the Beat Again 2021 tour.
Their comeback began at the start of 2020 with a brand new single and a tour planned for the same year - and we all know how that went.
READ MORE: Noel Gallagher to play Delamere Forest in 2022
But eight years after seeing the four-piece band in tears as they performed for what was then believed to be the final time at the 02 Arena in London, I am back, and the buzz of excitement and size of the crowd here in Manchester tells us JLS may never have actually gone away.
Within the sea of people - from young children to parents who remember all too well what it was like the first time around - there were flashing lights, glimmers of what came to be JLS’ official coloured hoodies, and a few more cheeky beverages than I last remembered.
Support act Cassa Jackson was the first to hit the stage with what she described as a bunch of “sassy break-up songs” which entertained some of the younger members of the crowd.
Hits Radio DJ James Barr followed with a DJ set that would fit well in any city centre club, getting the crowd energised for the rest of the night.
But with barely a spare seat in sight, it was clear the crowd were only here for one thing - or should we say four people - in particular.
As the lights went back down, the screaming began - and never really stopped - but just before the band appeared from below the stage, a voice behind me said: “I’ve missed this feeling.”
And that feeling did not stop as the band appeared with a bang from below the stage - with no dancers or other gimmicks.
They kicked off with their 2010 track The Club Is Alive which really got the party started followed by Do You Feel What I Feel.
“Manny”, as the crowd have been dubbed, didn’t let the boys down with every potential quiet moment covered by screams, singalongs and more moves than you could shake a stick at.
The band were quick to crown the city the loudest so far - and they didn’t expect any less.
With initial chats with the Manchester crowd out the way, it was a quick whistle-stop tour through some of the group’s slower, romantic hits.
There is one song though that any JLS fan from back in the day wants the band to perform during a gig.
Only Tonight is a throwback to the first album the band ever released, and they were the first to admit that no one was listening to them sing it as the screams became louder as they grabbed their canes and hip thrust to the chorus.
Before performing one of their newer tracks Day One, Oritise popped to the side of the stage to pick up a t-shirt they had been given by a member of the crowd.
In an emotional moment, the boys paid tribute to fan Hayley who had recently passed away. Her friends were in the crowd and had made t-shirts with her picture on which earned rapturous applause from the audience.
With JLS’ back catalogue spanning four studio albums, there was chance for the fans to pick a snippet of the next four tracks through deafening screams.
During a quick outfit change, fans were briefly transported back to when the band first burst onto the scene on The X Factor with an acapella version of If I Ever ringing out through the arena.
JLS returned with one of their later singles, Hottest Girl in the World but nothing quite got the audience as rowdy as She Makes Me Wanna - with the dance moves still intact from the video back in 2011.
The set wouldn’t be complete without their comeback single Eternal Love and the song that started it all for Aston, Marvin, Oritse and JB - Beat Again.
They ended on a nostalgic high - a good 12 years on from when the song became a radio earworm - but the crowd knew that wasn’t it. Any JLS fan knew it wasn’t it.
They know the show isn’t complete without one song and the chants of ‘we want more’ flooded the AO arena.
The guys returned to the stage for a performance of Proud, the song they released in 2012 as the official Sport Relief charity single.
This song has more meaning now then it ever did, and was the biggest tearjerker of the night as they performed to the backdrop of a video of themselves with their families - including the eight children they have between them.
There was an emotional thank you to the crowd before the band tried to tease the audience once again that it was the end of the show, but they couldn't be fooled.
A slightly jazzed-up version of their classic hit Everybody In Love with coloured lasers and streamers put an end to a night that was so familiar to these fans, transporting them back to the early 2010s.
But what was different was the maturity of the band, still, with the cheeky antics their loyal followers have come to expect - just with less plunging V necks.
A nostalgic night of boyband joy transported many of us back to our teenage years, and for that, we couldn’t be more grateful Aston, Marvin, Oritse and JB chose to do this all over again.
But this is all about JLS 2.0 - and the best could be still yet to come.
