THE FRENZY PLAY AN INSTORE GIG AT SOLO RECORDS, TRURO (8TH APRIL)

St.Tudy to Truro - The Frenzy did their first ever gig in Truro on Saturday afternoon at an instore show in Solo Records on the 8th April. Setting up before hand you could see the usually confident Rich a little on edge as this was an uninvited public audience that the band were going to try and convert. This sort of environment doesn`t suit all types of live bands as the venue is quite small, (...it`s a record shop so the capacity must be thirty at tops!), so loud bands need to often `unplug` to get the best sound effect, but The Frenzy sound didn`t suffer in this confinement and filled the shop with thier music.

Playing a set list that comprised of the current EP `Watching the Shadows`, (almost entirely in order), the band showed that youthfulness does not have to always mean a lack of technical skill. Rich`s younger brother Ben played the drums with a confidence and ability of one much older and held the songs together tightly at all times. Quite a large crowd gathered and stayed for the whole set, showing their support, while others who were just popping into the shop to get a CD, often stopped and stayed to listen with quite a few who didn`t, passing encouraging comments to the staff about the band.

It`s easy to be critical of live music and original material if it`s not to your taste or not as professional as people who charge you for your presence, but everyone has to start somewhere and even Eric Clapton was crap once upon a time, (...some would say he`s still a boring, beardy git)! The Frenzy are new and young, and yes, there are places where they need more practice in the performance, but this is the whole point, because this is your opportunity to see them improve and grow. This is a young three piece (all 18 or under) that, rather than do a load of old covers, are creating something new that wasn`t there before they started and that is a far better thing to do than recreate a human jukebox any day, regardless of whether you like it or not. New talent is not born out of copy, but through innovation and originality and if you really like music of any type, you should support local bands that play their own material.

This sort of event works on many levels; the talent gets an audience, the store gets sales from the audience as they stand and listen and the local music scene gets publicity that is not only free, but unbiased. Solo Records should be applauded for taking a chance like this and promoting local musicians, innovations of this nature can only be a good thing.

(photo of Rich nicked from their own website; thefrenzyrock - ta!)