A MANCHESTER musician is hoping her latest hi-tech showcase for up- and-coming bands will catch on.

Chi-chi Ekweozor has come up with the "3 Minute Gig".

Aimed at bringing emerging bands to iPods and PCs everywhere, the 27-year-old software engineer and singer songwriter is turning Manchester concerts into 180-second online video clips.

Featuring short introductions by the bands and live clips from venues, Chi-chi aims to give people the chance to experience new bands in bite-sized chunks.

The internet-based clips, which are small and quick to download, will also link to longer 30-minute videos featuring more of the gigs and interviews with band members.

All the clips are available on the website, www.realfresh.tv

Chi-chi, from Salford, came up with the idea after adding short live videos to a CD of her own music.

"I put them on my website in a format that allowed them to be shared and a lot of people picked them up," she said.

Atmosphere

"Then I realised I could film other gigs and make them available. I heard about video iPods and podcasting and thought it would be worth trying to see how it worked.

"They're only three minutes for technical reasons. It seems to be the optimum size for files at the moment - not too long to download, but long enough to let people sample the atmosphere.

"There has been a great deal of interest from people in Manchester, but also from the US where people don't really get to see breaking bands until they make it on to MTV2. We've only done two gigs so far, but we're planning another one on May Bank Holiday for Manchester band The Star Fighter Pilot and singer-songwriter Jenny McCormick."

The two videos available so far are from shows in February and March at the Late Room, on Peter Street, and the Night and Day Café, on Oldham Street.

Bands featured include Groucho, Josephine Oniyama, The Boy Lacks Patience, 52 Teenagers and This is Chi-chi.

Currently, Chi-chi is paying for the video production herself but is aiming to raise sponsorship to help fund the project.

"It's a bit of a labour of love at the moment but I'm hoping its popularity will attract sponsors," she said.

* Chi-chi can be contacted on 07885 949 266.