A BAND who recently played the Cavern Club of Beatles fame as part of their mini-tour will be playing Worcester's Marr's Bar next week.

A Way To Manchua, who formed in May this year, describe their music as poppy punk with synth sounds.

Peter Adams, who sings and plays guitar with the band says the band think of their music as pop.

"Everyone else says our songs are punk songs," he says.

"We got the name of the band from a friend but I don't know where he got the idea from.

"He kept walking round saying Way To Manchua, but I do know the name is from Romeo and Juliet."

Pete says the Cavern Club debut in Liverpool was quite an experience.

"We seemed to go down well and we have sort of been asked back, but we haven't got any dates together as yet," he said.

The band has also been asked to play at the opening of another club in Liverpool in February.

Pete and drummer Chris Wemyss used to be in a band called Fry and Elsie, who have featured in the Evening News before.

After the band disbanded, Pete and Chris enlisted school friend Matt Pooler on keyboards, and the problem of finding a bass player was solved when Chris remembered that Tony Lunn, who had been living on his sofa for the past three months, was a dab hand with four strings.

Pete, who lives in Spetchley, revealed that the songs on the band's two EPs, Take Me Down and Do Me Dead, are both a personal and collective effort.

"We all write the songs together, but they're about things that happen to me, such as girls and drinking - the same as any other pop and really."

Pete and Chris took over fanzine Rhythm & Booze just over a month ago when previous editor and chief reporter Chris Bennion and Will Munn moved on to pastures new.

The fanzine promotes local and national bands and puts on a gig at The Marr's Bar on the last Thursday of each month.

But the fanzine is on hold at the moment until enough funds have been drummed up to get it back on the road.

"From the gigs we hold, we hope to get funding the fanzine," says Pete.

Pete and Chris Wemyss held their first Rhythm & Booze gig last month, and at the next one, A Way To Manchua will be supporting Sheffield pop punksters MYBE.

MYBE return to Worcester having recently played as part of Radio 1's Live Music Week in Nottingham.

MYBE have also supported punk legends the UK Subs.

Aberystwyth's The Hot Puppies will also be supporting MYBE, a foursome who are playing their first gig in Worcester after attracting record label interest during a series of gigs at Water Rats in London's Kings Cross.

The Rhythm & Booze gig takes place on Thursday, November 28.