11:33am Friday 12th February 2010
A passion for live music and the desire to give new bands a platform to bring original music to the stage led to the creation of MADMusic, who host their first gig night in Melksham tomorrow.
With three unsigned acts on the bill at the Assembly Hall, the promoters are hoping it will be the start of a series of gigs bringing vibrant new faces to the town, and giving people the chance to get out and hear real music.
“They’re all three-piece acts, and they all play their own original stuff, not covers,” said Pete Hulks, of MADMusic – the name stands for Melksham and District Music.
“That was important to us, we are fed up with X-Factor type bands and wanted to try and get real music back on stage locally.
“There is not a lot going on in Melksham, and if this goes well we want to try and do something every two or three months, depending on what’s available. I’m sure there are more acts locally who we could feature.”
The bands performing tomorrow night were all chosen after Pete and fellow promoter Dale Marshall trawled through hundreds of acts on MySpace, listening to their talents.
They wanted to get local acts, but were unable to agree dates with two Bath bands they had their eye on, meaning Swindon rock/reggae crossover act Mortdelamer are the nearest performers.
“We also wanted another Swindon band but they couldn’t make the date, so the next nearest are Carmen, who come from Cheltenham. They are more rocky, though they may not like that description,” Pete said.
“The final act is Magna Saga from London. Some of them have been going longer than others and have more material, but it was important to us that they all do their own stuff.
“We wanted to get back to the idea of no covers, no tributes, just real musicians doing what they do.”
The evening is raising cash for Cancer Research UK, as the promoters, who both live in Melksham, have seen friends and family affected by cancer.
“We both love going to concerts and love good music,” Pete said. “The idea really came after we all had tickets for two or three concerts at Bowood that went bust last year, and we were sitting in the pub afterwards saying ‘How difficult can it be to arrange a concert’ – and since then we have found out.”
Tickets for tomorrow’s gig have been going well in advance, with MADMusic riding the technology wave and using a Facebook page as part of their promotion. They will also be on sale on the door at £6, two for £10, with doors opening at the Market Place venue at 7.30pm.
Good news this week for The Silhouette Showgirls, who have won through the first round of the Live and Unsigned 2010 contest.
Daniel Gibbs and Matthew Coombs, both 26 and Matthew Green, 27, all from Chippenham, Ben Whelan, 32, from Calne and Joel Harding, 25, from Warminster, will now compete against 60 bands and artists in the regional finals in a bid to be signed by a record company and feature at the Live and Unsigned 02 Festival.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/trade_directory/