My search for good places to play turned to a monthly local band shindig named Acoustic Plus that is held in The Cheese and Grain in Frome. The "Plus" part of the name actually seems to stand for everything else other than acoustic and it was this that was in the ascendency last Friday night.


When I arrived I found they had curtained off half the hall which was a good idea. The C&G is actually pretty sizeable venue for a little market town and just using half helped to ensure a good atmosphere from an audience forced into some proximity with each other. I gleaned from the stage chatter that A+ has been running for around 8 years although further information on it's origins are hard to come by. This show, and I guess all the shows before it, have been organised by Nick Waterhouse and Caroline Radcliffe with the intention of giving a showcase to local artists performing original music 4 of whom we heard tonight. 


Roscoe was the first act with an intricate plucking classical/folk acoustic guitar accompaniment and voice reminiscent of Peter Gabriel. He was clearly a very accomplish musician and made a good mellow start to the evening. I am pretty sure Roscoe must have been around the local music scene for a while but other than the fact that he has one album (Princes Of The Hollow Tree) his website elicited very little information about him which is a shame as I would have liked to have found out more.


Attila and the Huns were up next, a definite move away from acoustic as they had electric lead and rhythm guitars, bass, drums and some kind of lap-based instrument. It wasn't slide guitar or pedal-steel though but what it actually was I do not know. Their sound immediately put me in mind of "Them" era Van Morrison with their "Baby Please Don't Go" style guitar sound. They false started on a couple of songs but I can forgive that as they seem like they are just starting out and the rest of the performance was pretty polished other than a bit of giggly between song chatter and daft jokes. Their songs were well orchestrated and they had clearly put alot into the arrangements. Unusually for a young band the singing was note perfect, nothing out of tune at all. A bit of tuneful divergence can usually be forgiven under the mantel of style but there was no need here. One area that they have let themselves down though is in information. A quick search of the web only found their FaceBook page with nothing on it of note except their appalling spelling. Although many of the online music networks are just a sea of musicians all listening to each other it is still important to have some kind of web prescence that can be looked at after a gig. I am sure the boys will get this sorted soon. Come to think of it...I think this may have been their debut gig...in which case I take it all back! When they do get it sorted then a change of name might be required as there seems to be another US Attilla and the Huns well established on myspace.


Three Corners took the stage next. 3C's is actually Nick and Caroline's band and are clearly a well rehearsed outfit. I was pretty astonished to see them perform as an 8 piece. Singer, guitar, bass, 2 percussionists, trumpet, saxophone and bass saxophone! My boggles just at the logistics of getting 8 people al together for rehearsals let alone a gig. But rehearse they must have as they sounded pretty note perfect, or at least well practised enough to cover the mistakes! Caroline's voice has certain Annie Lennox quality with the sound behind it being full and expansive. The songs were pop fayre but with some quirky rhythmic and melodic motifs. They look relaxed and enjoying it, like being on stage was where they were most comfortable. Good stuff.


Finally, Burley Chassis got the assorted beautiful people of Frome up and dancing. They absolutely rocked with their acid influenced funk breakbeats. Part Ozric Tentacles/Eat Static, part Prodigy, part Odyssey they featured a live drum of epic ability and banter, bass, guitar and at the front a couple of analog synth wielding geeks. I say geek in the sure knowledge that I cannot offend as I am one also. Or maybe a nerd. Their bass player was sumptuously talented as well the famous bassline mashup tune that was played for the encore ably demonstrated. Sadly there is also a little name confusion when you try to find them online as there is a metal band of the same name gigging up around Manchester. There are a lot of words in the dictionary, it shouldn't be too difficult punnerise some others to find a unique name. Their myspace page say they are vgoing to make you shit your pantaloons. I'll be sending them my dry cleaning bill :)


Oh...and yeah yeah yeah the whole point of me going there was to check it out. I spoke to Nick at the end of the night and he advised I put my name on a list. While this was an underwhelming end to the evening I will nonetheless persist and as well as signing (nay starting) his list I will be messaging him this week via his myspace page with a pointer to where he can hear me. In the meantime I'll be brushing up my online tunes with a few new live tracks lifted from recent shows...watch this space...