After a break over the winter months, Amber in Douglas re-opens its doors and commences the run of live events for 2018 this weekend.

Heading to the stage to kick off the run of gigs this Saturday night is Slow Decay.

The band count their influences from the likes of Sisters of Mercy, The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees and feature Mark Sayle and Steven Halsall sharing guitar duties, Sabina Jarzabek on vocals, Phil Cleary on bass and Stu Kneen on drums in their ranks.

Support for this show comes in the shape of a stripped down, acoustic version of alternative noisemakers Postcode, namely vocalist Marie Reynolds and guitarist Mikie Daugherty.

Completing the billing is the rock behemoth that is The Clown Calls For War.

Their line-up features Brook Wassall on guitar, Lee Stevens on drums, and Andy Clucas on bass and vocals.

Influence wise it’s pretty much a huge slab of Rock with a smattering of influence from the likes of Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, Oceansize and Muse.

The doors for this free show open at 8pm with the proceedings starting just after 9pm.

Next we head to west to the Creek in Peel to catch The Devil Note appearing at one of their regular gigs at the venue.

The band picks its influences very much in the British Blues and Rock explosion of the 60s. Cuts from the likes of John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton, Humble Pie, Cream and Free alongside pieces by Focus, B.B. King, ZZ Top, David Bowie and T-Rex will all be in the set.

The music kicks off from around 9.30pm.

The band has a number of live dates coming up this year and further information can be found at www.facebook.com/the.devil.note

To finish this week Dave Holland appears at The Thirsty Pigeon in Douglas on Friday night.

Dave is prolific with regard to his gig quota each year, and this Friday is no exception. He spreads his talents across numerous Gaiety theatre productions, and also appears with his group Totally 80s, funnily enough an 80s era band.

Rocking up as a solo effort on keys and vocals this weekend, if you’re a fan of anything from Elton John, Tears For Fears, ELO, The Beatles, Billy Idol, The Boomtown Rats, Sting, Queen, you’ll like this.

Dave’s setlist is incredibly wide, so this could be well worth looking in on if you’re in the area.

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading!