Brimming with excitement, hundreds of music fans queued around the block in the bitter February cold to get the chance to see pop sensations JLS live.

IPSWICH: Brimming with excitement, hundreds of music fans queued around the block in the bitter February cold to get the chance to see pop sensations JLS live.

The band, who shot to fame as the runners-up of 2008's X-Factor, performed in front of a sell-out crowd at The Regent Theatre in Ipswich last night.

Groups of teenagers wearing JLS jumpers and T-shirts, some waving homemade banners and posters, waited, screaming with huge smiles on their faces for the theatre's doors to open.

For some the wait had lasted the whole afternoon, with dozens of fans turning up at noon to try to catch a glimpse of the band as they arrived.

Becky Manning, 22, of Claydon said she was overcome with “14-year-old like excitement”.

Wearing their 'I love JLS' T-shirts, she and her friends said they had been “massive fans” of the group since their first X-Factor audition.

And younger fans, Tiana Bailey, ten, and Rochelle Scoulding, nine, from Ipswich, who were there with their mothers, said they had been “waiting forever” to get their chance to see the band live.

Rochelle said: “I am really, really excited. I have been waiting forever - for months and months. We are their biggest fans, Aston is so cute.

“I wish I was in my 20s then I could marry them.”

Another fan, Natalie Osborne, 18, travelled from college in Cambridge with her friends to get to the gig on time.

She said: “I am seriously excited. I could not sleep last night, I was so excited.”

Braving the cold, those lucky enough to have secured a ticket waited in line for hours, in a long queue snaking around the Odeon cinema and up Woodbridge Road.

Meanwhile, fans Emily Hall and Emma Hinds enjoyed a pre-gig treat when they bumped into the band on the Waterfront.

JLS had been eating lunch at the Salt House Harbour Hotel when the lads agreed to pose for a picture.

Did you see JLS in action? How did you rate their performance? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

JLS FastFacts:

JLS stands for Jack the Lad, Swing.

The group is made up of Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, Jonathan “JB” Gill, and Orits� Williams.

They rose to fame during the 2008 X-Factor talent show, mentored by Louis Walsh and voted runners-up to Alexandra Burke.

The group are nominated at this year's Brit Awards for Best Single for 'Beat Again', their debut single which went straight to number one in July last year.

Their second single 'Everybody in Love' followed the success of their first reaching number one in November 2009, selling more than 120,000 copies in the first week.