BOYBAND JLS bid farewell to their North East fans in style at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle tonight (Thursday, December 12).

The Brit award-winning foursome performed all the favourites from their five-year career as they brought their Goodbye The Greatest Hits Tour to Tyneside.

The crowd went wild as the boys - Marvin Humes, JB Gill, Aston Merrygold and Oritse Williams - opened the show from the sound stage in the middle of the arena before making their way through the crowd onto the main stage.

This unusual entrance meant that hundreds of fans got the chance to be within sniffing distance of their idols and as the show progressed, the boys had enough energy, costume changes and charismatic cool to keep their largely female fans happy.

The performance and the scale of their farewell tour certainly show just how far JLS have come since playing second fiddle to Alexandra Burke in 2008's X Factor.

And the clear affection that fans have for them makes one wonder how long it will be before they follow in the footsteps of some of the country's greatest pop bands and return to the stage again for a reunion tour.