Rachel Fowler Centre, Melksham

THE annual spectacle of mostly young local talent, organised by mobsta, saw a varied line-up thoroughly entertain an enthusiastic crowd of supporters, some of whom had come to witness the final gig by the hugely talented band Liveo and others the very first outing for Sophie O’Donnell.

First up was mobsta regular Chloe Turvey, singing (haunting voice reminiscent of Evanescence) and playing guitar to an unusual but interesting range of covers from The Beatles to Twin Atlantic; followed by the youngest (not that you would know it from the confidence and performance), Clover Kayne, with four excellent covers, two to backing tracks, one to guitar and one accompanying herself on piano.

Sophie O’Donnell was up third for her first gig, covers of covers mostly, a lovely tone on the slow ballads and a rocky Avril Lavigne-style original. My Social Orbit, Frome ‘modfathers’, playing as a trio, rounded off the first half with a complete set of well-crafted and performed originals, a nod to Weller here, Oasis there, political comment everywhere.

The break for drinks, snacks and Cd sales was swiftly over as Hannah West took to the stage, guitar in hand, with a mix of originals, poignant and breathey, and a better than the original Florence & The Machine cover. Liveo treated the gig as if it was their last night on earth, tearing through a 40 minute set of their most popular originals with total effort but musical control. It is such a pity we are losing one of our best and most successful bands. There were tears, T-shirts and much whooping from their ardent fans. Jordan Whatley rounded off the evening in his usual humourous and self-effacing manner, with a nicely rounded set of covers and originals, amongst which Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ stood out!

£150 was raised for the Fund which has been running for 8 years and was set up in memory of one of the most outstanding voice coaches of her generation, Sheila Stanton. By putting on concerts of all kinds the charity raises money to give to individuals, groups and schools to further all forms of musical education. Since 2004, over £10,000 has been given out. Jordan Whatley played a mandolin bought for him by the charity.

A CD is still on sale of original songs donated by some of the performers from Saturday night. This now will probably be a sought-after item, since it contains the final recording from Liveo, the first from Sophie O’Donnell, as well as two tracks each from Hannah West and Jordan Whatley, and one track from My Social Orbit and Lauren Medway.

Please contact Mel Austin on 01225 705866 or 07516229485 or e-mail on austinm@nasuwt.net to order a copy (£3).

Any individual or project may bid for funding From The Colerne Music Fund by contacting Rodney and Janet Priest on 01225 742042.