The band paused the show to help a fan named Sarah
09:05, 14 Nov 2025
JLS halt their performance at the M&S Bank Arena(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
What we witnessed last night felt like a rarity in modern pop – a dying trade, even. Few things are more disheartening than paying for a live show only to discover the artist is leaning almost entirely on backing tracks, occasionally chiming in with a live vocal just to prove they haven’t fled backstage. Thankfully, JLS have never subscribed to that trend, and last night’s stop on The Club Is Alive tour was refreshing proof.
Seventeen years on from their breakthrough on The X Factor, where they finished runners-up to Alexandra Burke, the four-piece have settled comfortably into their role as a nostalgia-fuelled pop act.
Having seen other success stories from the show – Leona Lewis, Little Mix and the like – one thread ties them all together: they can sing live, and they can perform.
The setlist at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena was stacked with hits: Beat Again, Everybody in Love, The Club Is Alive, and She Makes Me Wanna. Each one triggered a wave of deafening cheers and, in some cases, full-body, teenage-flashback screaming.
As promised in the press notes, this was “a show packed front-to-end with classic pop bangers” and the group’s slick harmonies and tight choreography delivered exactly that.
Aston Merrygold on crutches (Image: David Munn Photography)
One of the night’s standout moments, and biggest shocks, came from Aston Merrygold, who performed on crutches following an accident just 10 days earlier.
On stage, he admitted he’d been told the tour “was done”, but there he was: singing live, pushing through, and refusing to let an injury dull the mood. The determination was obvious and, frankly, impressive.
Midway through the show, Marvin Humes and Aston swapped mics for DJ decks, launching into a chaotic, nostalgic and thoroughly brilliant run of 2000s staples – Crank That, OMG, and other songs that instantly transport you back to the glorious noughties. The arena briefly became a nightclub run by your younger self, and everyone, absolutely everyone, went with it.
There were more tender moments too. At one point, the band paused the show to help a fan named Sarah with a gender reveal. A folded piece of paper was opened, and the big news landed, instantly erupting the previously silent arena into cheers.
JLS performing at The M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on their The Club is Alive(Image: David Munn Photography)
By the end, everyone, including the reluctant partners, who absolutely swore they were “only there because someone needed a lift”, were on their feet singing along as star-shaped confetti rained down.
If you overhear someone in the office today claiming they endured rather than enjoyed it, know this: they’re lying. They were up there screaming the chorus to Everybody in Love with the rest of us.
JLS may not dominate the charts anymore, but in an era where overprocessed pop can make it feel like everyone is an industry plant, they are a reminder of what a boyband was and should still be: polished, playful, charismatic and, crucially, live.
If this tour proves anything, it’s that the club is still very much alive and JLS are nowhere near finished.
