It’s that time of year once again where we’ve arrived at the annual Battle of the Bands competition at held at Amber.

Commencing this Saturday and taking place every other Saturday night throughout November, the Loch Promenade, Douglas based venue sees a diverse cross-section and selection of some of the originals and cover bands plus singer/songwriters that the island has to offer taking to the stage.

Each weekly heat winner will take a £150 prize away and a place in the final on Saturday the 25th of November where a £750 grand prize is up for grabs.

I’ll be previewing and reporting each week as the competition unfolds.

So, without further ado, onward to the opening night this weekend and, first up, Alice Dudley, Dead Princes, Last Drags and Warbird get the contest underway.

Alice Dudley started learning guitar from the age of five and played her first live show at the age of just twelve.

Having been inspired heavily by female singer/songwriters she states that the first musician to really influence her was Ani Difranco.

Having come up through the ranks of Soundcheck IOM, she released her first EP last year and recently supported KT Tunstall at The Gaiety Theatre on her recent visit to the island.

Alice is also currently working on a follow up release for next year.

Dead Princes is a band whose line-up is completed by Owain Brimfield on guitars, Phil Bell-Scott on bass, Danny Mills on drums and Dan McKenna on vocals.

They base their set of covers with pieces from the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana and Biffy Clyro with a smattering of Queen, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie.

Last Drags is a band formed from the ashes of Rusty Jam Revolution.

Led by long time live favourite Teresa McNulty on vocals plus Terry George and Brad Mckevitt on guitars, Andrew Blake on bass and Simon Talbot on drums, the band creates an interesting and irresistably catchy sound fusing a blend of 70s rock, old school funk, soulful vocal harmonies with screaming solos and riffs, plus some funky, groove-heavy bass-lines thrown in for good measure.

Finishing up the billing for this first heat is new band Warbird.

Pulling out their main influence as Black Sabbath, the Rock, Metal and Blues band counts Stephanie Tomlinson on vocals, David Atkins on guitar, Jimmy Lee on bass and Mark Cain on drums in their line-up.

The doors for this first heat at open at 8pm, it’s free entry and the battle commences from 9pm.

It will be well worth a look at it if you’re in the area and fancy giving the bands your support.

You can keep up to date by following the Battle of The Bands 2017 Facebook page or the Amber Bar facebook page.