EVER wondered what the noise would be like if you stood in the path of a jet engine?
I imagine it would be a little like the sound around 10,000 pre-pubescent girls and their mums made as JLS hit the stage for the second of their two night stint at the Echo Arena.
In fact, the banshee-like shrieks which greeted Marvin, Aston, JB and Oritse as they abseiled in for the start of their two hour 4th Dimension show only confirms that the hunger for cash cow boybands is as insatiable as it ever was back in the days when Take That and Boyzone were the new kids on the block.
But it would be unfair to criticise the one-time X-Factor finalists for being too much style over substance, even if the set – with its absence of musicians on stage – is more like a glorified karaoke show.
The choreography is slick, the stage show managed to perfection, despite the odd minor glitch here and there.
The songs themselves have a certain edge to them that could give Gary Barlow a few sleepless nights.
Ranging from almost hard-core Techno to R’n’B, with the odd sugar-coated ballad thrown in for good measure.
The band takes us on an abs-flashing journey through the four dimensions, winning coloured gems by getting the better of dancers dressed at various stages as stormtroopers, rejects from Tron and Mad Maxesque PVC-clad hookers.
It’s a show that embraces its audience’s culture at every turn, one minute flying through the air as Jedi Knight complete with light sabers, the next wearing futuristic armour, then, finally, and with more than just a nod to their army of older female fans, midriff-bearing white costumes at the climax of the show.
With the likes of One Direction and The Wanted nipping at their heels, JLS seem determined to work hard at keeping themselves top of the boyband pile.
The show is nothing if not action-packed, kicking off in the centre of the arena with Take You Down and The Club Is Alive before the lads run through the ecstatic crowd to the main stage.
Other hits belted out include Eyes Wide Shut, Outta This World, a pyrotechnic enhanced 3D, Eyes Wide Shut, Everybody In Love and She Makes Me Wanna, before bringing the house down with this year’s Sport Relief anthem – Proud – and Do You Feel What I Feel.
JLS may not be at the forefront of musical innovation, but it seems they have come a long way since their X-Factor dreams were crushed by Alexandra Burke.