The Cut III @ Open
A musical Venn diagram,
The line-up for this, the third edition of The Cut, has all the right ingredients to produce a classic. We have two acts selected to perform on the BBC Introducing Stage at last year's Big Weekend, plus a talented young singer-songwriter from this year's Next Big Thing Final. And not only that, but we have a packed house tonight – each act seems to have brought along a sizeable following, and everybody seems to be well up for a good night out.
Maya Law takes the stage first. She has been extremely busy since the Next Big Thing finals, securing gigs at the Waterfront, Gonzo's and The Birdcage as well as tonight's show. Her voice and stage presence belie her age, although a tendency to succumb to giggles each time she makes eye contact with friends in the audience reminds us that she is still only 17. Tonight's two Amy Winehouse covers quickly become audience sing-alongs, almost descending into karaoke, but interestingly the audience are now beginning to also sing along with her own compositions, complex songs like Tough Luck and At Sixteen. If there's more material like that in the pipeline, then we are surely in for a blinder of a debut album.
This is probably the last live outing before Claws go back into the studio to record a new EP, and singer Josie Steward's voice is in fine form tonight. In fact, this is probably the slickest set that I have ever seen the band turn in. The audience are dancing not only to classic favourites like Tango Hotel and I'll Never Learn but also to songs so new that one is introduced merely as New Song. Conor Etteridge (Box of Lights) is deputising on bass tonight, and he seems to be really enjoying himself, hurling his instrument to the ground with triumphant rock'n'roll fly at the end of the set.
Franko Fraize is without doubt having a meteoric year. His Big Weekend appearance was followed by a recording deal with Polydor, he played Norwich again at Sundown Festival, and has recently been unveiled as support for Rudimental's sold out Forestry Commission gig at High Lodge this summer. This will surely become Thetford's ultimate homecoming gig. Not bad for a Breckland lad smashing his way into the usually urban world of rap and hip hop.
When I saw Franko supporting Kate Tempest at Norwich Arts Centre at the tail-end of 2014 I will admit I was initially bemused and slightly underwhelmed. His trademark “Oi oi!” call-outs, although delivered with consummate self-belief, fell onto deaf ears in some quarters. But his enthusiasm is infectious, and he is genuinely effusive in his garrulous praise to everyone he meets along the way, from tonight's hosts Outline Magazine and BBC Introducing, to his fellow performers on tonight's bill, and especially to his audience. He is a real star in the making and a supremely confident performer to boot. The band is tight, driving the beat and the bassline, whilst co-vocalist Tone adds complementing melody to Franko's spoken-style rhythmic delivery. The crowd is in seventh heaven, with arms aloft and Thetford's own incarnation of Bez leading the dancing.
Franko Fraize provides a fitting climax to what has been served up tonight, a three-course feast of disparate acts, each bringing its own audience to the table to merge, rather like a musical Venn diagram, to celebrate and enjoy the variety of music available within this region, and all served up for us by BBC Introducing, Open and Outline. Can't wait for the next one.
