All roads lead to city gig for One Direction

X FACTOR stars One Direction have revealed they are heading to Edinburgh for one of their first public performances - and it is sold out already.

The Simon Cowell-backed boy band, who came third in the TV show, are to play at the 1500-capacity HMV Picture House in Lothian Road next Tuesday as part of a short tour of Scotland.

Promoter Cameron Craig said the band were proving to be a hit with fans, who have snapped up tickets despite the gig not even being advertised.

He said: "One Direction will be the biggest thing since sliced bread - the demand has been phenomenal - we've booked five gigs in two days.

"I've done all these X Factor gigs, I did JLS and I can see this being louder, with more screaming girls than any of them. The demand has been unbelievable.

"Most of the gigs are sold out and we didn't even announce it, word just got out and it got mentioned on Facebook."

Although the Picture House has an over-14s only policy, the audience is expected to be largely made up of teenage girls - and perhaps their parents.

Mr Craig said the band had huge appeal to the teenage market.

He said: "It's obviously because of the way they dress, they're young, good-looking boys up for a bit of fun and there's not been a boy band like that for a while.

"I think that's what Mr Cowell and his people see in these boys."

He said the performance would only be a short gig, as the group have not had a chance to record their own material since they were voted off the programme.

"They'll probably perform about six different songs from the X Factor show so it will be things that everybody knows," he said.

"It'll be good fun. They've done one show since leaving the X Factor, which was a corporate gig, but these five are their first actual gigs to a paying audience since the final.

"I've not met them yet, I've spoken to a couple of them - they're really nice, they're very keen to get out there and meet everybody and do what they've been trained to do."

Earlier this month, 35 people were treated for minor injuries after a crowd surge when One Direction gave an open-air performance in Wolverhampton.

They were all treated at the scene, and described as suffering from "the effects of the cold and over-excitement".

However, Mr Craig said he was expecting no such scenes in Lothian Road next week, with tickets unavailable on the door, and the venue's usual security team on hand.