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They came in packs, waving hand-scrawled posters, wearing homemade T-shirts and unleashing ear-splitting shrieks of excitement.

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AP

The Jo Bros arrive in canada: The Jonas brothers from left, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas and Kevin Jonas attend the Camp Rock premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater in this file photo. The pop-punk singing brothers arrived in Toronto for a TV appearance on MuchMusic Thursday and were greeted by many frenzied fans.

Hundreds of mostly squealing, screaming teenage girls took over several blocks of downtown Toronto on Thursday to greet tween sensations the Jonas Brothers as the trio prepared to kick off a hotly anticipated North American tour.

Fans began lining up as early as Tuesday for the afternoon appearance on trendy Queen Street, where the singing brothers were to hold court with a live Q&A on MuchMusic.

"Their music is just so inspiring and good and just the fact they have so much talent at such a young age," 14-year-old Shai Williamson, of Mississauga, Ont., gushed by way of explaining why she lined up a day in advance to catch the boys.

"They're just like amazing singers and, like, their music is so good and they're so good-looking!" added 14-year-old friend Ciera Chin, who taped cut-out pictures of Joe and Nick Jonas to each of her cheeks, with a picture of Kevin Jonas taped to the body of her T-shirt.

Police estimated the crowd to be about 2,000 strong by early afternoon, with devotees setting up camp in lawn chairs and blankets and holding impromptu sing-alongs.

The line stretched all around the MuchMusic building and surrounded a second city block.

The pop-punk singing brothers - 20-year-old Kevin, 18-year-old Joe and 15-year-old Nick - are known for their wholesome image, boyish good-looks and catchy love-themed hits like Burnin' Up and last year's S.O.S. They come to Canada after supporting Miley Cyrus on her winter tour and Avril Lavigne on her European tour but their only Canadian stop will be at an outdoor Toronto amphitheatre on Friday.

Tickets for the Toronto show were selling for as much at $300 apiece online, with 15-year-old Kelsey Barnes saying she paid $500 for her tickets through EBay.

The Burlington, Ont., teen was first in line for the MuchMusic appearance thanks to her Tuesday arrival.

Barnes said she hoped her preferred spot would assure her some access to the boys.

"I hope it would do something 'cause they're like my role models and my inspiration," Barnes said.

"They don't forget who they are and they're very humble and they've gone through so much and through all the changes. I've been a fan for, like, two years."