Wednesday 13/12/06 Ghosts, Frame 3-13 @ The Barfly, Cardiff

If history is anything to go by, then the Levi’s One To Watch Tour is a jaunt most up and coming bands should be throttling their promoters to get onto. Only twelve months ago, the likes of Editors and The Kooks were sharing the same bill on a pokey Barfly stage. The headliners for this years event are Ghosts, a London quartet who play unashamedly brazen pop which echoes the likes of Talk Talk and The Delays - making for an interesting  melting pot of sounds.

Support came from Swansea based trio Frame 3-13 - an incredibly likeable set of adolescents who brought so many fans down from Swansea they were deemed the unofficial headliners. The stop-start funk of ‘Suicidal Sister’ had the front rows bellowing each word back to excitable front man Jack Brimacombe - who savoured every second of the bands brief set. It concluded with ‘The World Won’t Stop’ - a rumbling tune that paid it’s dues to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers circa ‘Mother’s Milk.’

By the time Ghosts had made their way onto the stage, the majority of punters had decided they’d had their lot and headed back onto the M4 west. A shame really, as Ghosts ploughed through a slick set of tunes destined for the bigger arenas. The band’s coy interaction mirrored the fragile tunes on show - especially apparent on the acoustic jangle of the self-titled Ghosts.

The suave ‘Stay The Night’ had lead singer Simon Pettigrew wearing is leering advances firmly on his sleeve, back dropped by rasping percussion and a seamless melody instilled after a single listen. The glorious ‘The World Is Outside’ followed, with helium vocals and robotic synths that had its sights set firmly on the indie big league.

As the set concluded, Jack Brimacombe swaggered his way towards the front of the stage to watch the competition menacingly. Almost nonchalantly, Pettigrew dedicated the song to Brimacombe and wished him the best of luck - extinguishing any possible unnecessary rivalry. The slow-burning ‘Mind Games’ closed proceedings, with a rasping verse blossoming into an arms-aloft chorus. If either band manage to achieve a fraction of what previous groups have on the tour then they’re onto a winner - whether it will be as meteoric - only time will tell.