It’s been fifteen years since JLS released their self-titled debut album and they’re still filling arenas.

Review and photos by Stuart Duthie

After a cold walk from station to the First Direct Arena in Leeds, we all needed a bit of thawing out. Who better to do the job than Example bringing summer club vibes to a cold Leeds November evening?

Accompanied by his DJ, Example got the party started from the get-go. London-born he now lives in Brisbane and paused only to share the sense of conflict being so far away from family while clearly enjoying the thrill of the performance.

It wasn’t long before he is conjuring up the euphoria of an Ibiza sunrise during an all-nighter before launching into Watch The Sun Come Up. All too soon Example is closing on Changed The Way You Kiss Me, leaving us wanting more.

And a short twenty minutes later we had it. JLS promised nothing but bangers for their “The club is alive: 2025 Hits Tour” and that’s what we were here for. On top of that was a great stage presence and a really engaging show.

The music was immediate, opening with The Club is Alive. The stage show was more progressive, building gradually with the boys occupying the back part of the stage for the first numbers with enormous video screens backdropping their songs.

Aston Merryfield had suffered a foot injury during rehearsals and appeared on stylish black crutches before taking a seat on the platform in front of the display for the first few songs.

As the show progressed and the boys moved forwards Aston wasn’t going to be deterred and joined in at the front of the stage. I was surprised this was to be a “seated show” but let me tell you there was no sitting down, with the whole arena up and dancing, including the back-stage crew.

It took all the strength of the venue security to dam the aisles, holding back the pressure of the audience as, half-way through, the band (minus Aston) toured the crowd to meet their fans.

Back on stage the hits kept coming, their own and a well-executed cover of Rihanna’s Umbrella.

We had a celebration of JB Gill’s Strictly Come Dancing appearance last year (while he didn’t win it, he has won the 2012 Christmas special). We had pyrotechnics, flames, the band shot t-shirts into the crowd and took a camera on stage to capture members of the audience. It was quite the show.

The encore brought two final songs, closing with Everyone in Love. This was an evening and a performance to love and remember.

Example and JLS played at First Direct Arena, Leeds on Thursday 20 November 2025.