Punk and rock fans gathered at the Outback in Douglas last weekend for the inaugural ‘Manx Punx All Dayer’ event.

The new event saw a variety of island bands come together to perform on two separate stages for a total of ten hours.

Held from midday to 10pm, the event aimed to ‘showcase’ local musicians of all ages to promote them while also giving them the chance to play with two experienced punk bands from the UK.

Ten local bands took to the two stages; ‘Dysfunction Junction’, ‘138’, ‘The Martin Family Band’, ‘Impulsive Self Destructive’, ‘Mark. E. Moon’, ‘Swarf Damage’, ‘Croteau’, ‘Half Naked Headline’, ‘Shady Acres’ and ‘The Ballaghs’.

The two UK punk bands were called ‘Skint Knees’ and ‘The Restarts’.

The event was organised by Manx Punx, a non-profit organisation who have organised gigs across the island for more than 11 years, bringing over 14 UK punk bands to the island.

This has included artists such as ‘Riskee and the Ridicule’, ‘Grade 2’, ‘Blitzkrieg’, ‘The Sentence’, ‘The Nilz’ and many more.

Event organiser Matt Twist said that this new event was ‘the best way to repay our local music fans for all of their support’.

Talking about the first ‘All Dayer’, Matt said: ‘We are still processing this event. We are overwhelmed with the unwavering support we have had from every single one of you. The Manx Punx family really pulled together on this and showed what we can do as a community - we might be small but we sure are mighty!

‘To the crowd and everyone who came down to join in the mayhem, we thank you. We do these gigs for you but we couldn’t do them without you either.

‘An extra special thanks goes to those that traversed the Irish Sea to attend this event. That’s dedication to the scene and we love you all for it.’

Amongst those travelling the Irish Sea were the UK punk bands Skint Knees and The Restarts, who came over despite only being asked to perform two months prior to the event.

Matt added: ‘They blew the roof off the place! High-energy sets were played with hugely important messages, inspiring and empowering our little island scene who are behind them all the way.

‘Credit must also go to all the local bands that played. We simply would not have a scene without you and every single one of you smashed it.

‘It was great to see so many of you there all day supporting the other acts and the event in general. We hope you had a blast.’

Port Erin resident Martin Lane, who regularly attends Manx Punx events across the island, said: ‘Manx Punx have brought lots of big names across to the island, but never an all-dayer. It’s fair to say it didn’t disappoint!

‘It was really well organised by those involved such as Matt Twist and Jenni Smith who brought the whole thing together.

‘The atmosphere and the layout of the two stages in the Outback was great, with people jumping around in the moshpit all day.

‘I hope for the same again next year!’