First on are newcomers The Muscle Club, all I'd heard about these guys were that the sounded very 'new', this put the fear of God into me and give me visions of a band trying to be too trendy and coming over all second rate Foals. Luckily this wasn't the case at all, to me they sounded a bit like a stripped down Los Campesinos!, jangly guitars, duelling vocallists, one slightly yelpy, one not, I did hear someone compare them to The Libertines, I guess they could be a reference point given the way the two singers fed off each other. The most important thing though are the tunes and The Muscle Club have plenty of them, check them out when they open for Bedford Falls in Clwb on the 25th April.

Next up were Frommars, I could be accused of being biased here, they are my mates but if they were shit, I'd tell you. They weren't. I've seen them many times over the years, when they were a 3 piece, after Matt joined, after Matt left and in their current line up. This was the best I've seen them. When they're on form the songs seem tense, claustrophobic while still retaining hooks that grab you and choruses to sing along too. There are post-punk bands I could refer you too, the singer loves mclusky and Joy Division, all these are thrown into the melting pot and they're beginning to mold them into something special. They are currently recording their second album, on this form it should be well worth waiting for.

Now the headliners, what can I say? In all the years I've been watching Future Of The Left and mclusky and Jarcrew before them I've never seen a bad live show. This was better than most, from the opening Kept By Bees to the closing Cloak The Dagger (complete with drum dismantling and Kelson's press ups), the band were at their witty, tight, funky (yes, funky) best. They're unlike any other band of the moment, they don't rely on sticking dance beats in the background or writing overwrought lyrics about their broken hearts, they write 3 minute pop songs, albeit with an abrasive edge that should be heard not only by old fans and the sort of people that bought the last Les Savy Fav LP but by the kids that go and see the Arctic Monkeys and The Cribs. Hopefully the video for Manchasm will start the ball rolling and their second album will give them the exposure they deserve.

All in all a brilliant night of music and credit to Music Events Wales for putting a great bill together.

That photo is from a Le Pub gig last year, I didn't have one of Friday so don't start commenting that he was wearing a different t-shirt or anything!!