If there’s one thing you can say about this year’s TT - we have been spoiled for choice with how many gigs have been happening up and down the island.

I managed to catch two of our biggest and best tribute bands down at the Villa Marina; DC/AC on Saturday, June 4 and Pigs on the Wind on Tuesday, June 7.

And they were both absolutely brilliant - as per usual.

As DC/AC frontman Adrian Bruce put it at the close of their gig as he thanked the packed crowd for coming out: ‘It would’ve been madness to go anywhere else’.

...A slight dig at the other major draw this past weekend, Madness, who stormed through their own set further down the promenade.

He was spot on though, with a huge setlist jam packed with all of AC/DC’s hits, and more pyrotechnics than you could dream of, DC/AC further proved why they are one of the island’s premier tribute bands.

And on Tuesday, Pigs on the Wing proved why they are also vying for the top spot, by powering through a set of Pink Floyd’s greatest hits, played with such precision you’d be forgiven for thinking they are the real deal.

Among the set of classic Pink Floyd tracks, the Manx group played hits including Another Brick in the Wall, Wish You Were Here, Mother, Comfortably Numb and many more.

I sat down with bassist Dick Raine, who plays in both bands, and DC/AC frontman Adrian Bruce to find out how they thought the gigs went.

For most bands, it’s been a long two years during Covid of not being able to tour or play to sold-out crowds, but being Manx, both outfits have mostly been able to keep performing.

‘We were lucky, with DC and Pigs, we’ve both managed to have gigs in between [TT’s],’ says Adrian.

‘We’ve been alright, but it’s still been better, with the general atmosphere, it’s something you just can’t quite put your finger on. The atmosphere just feels better.

‘Obviously with regards to people coming to the gigs, it has been busier, and we’ve had a really good reaction.’

Dick agreed: ‘Numbers wise it’s made a little bit of difference having it during TT, but with both bands, we’ve got a really strong local following and it seems to be that regardless of how many times they’ve seen us, they still want to come back for more.

‘We always try to vary things, make it different, to give people value for money.

‘But they get value for money anyway, I mean, for £20, you see a really good show. Obviously over at 1886, they’ve got some big acts there, but its £65 and more, so we’re really good value for money I think.’

And they’re not wrong - every time DC/AC play, they up the ante.

Guitarist Paul Daugherty on the shoulders of Adrian for a prolonged guitar solo is a common sight that the crowd always laps up, but on Saturday, fans were treated to cannon explosions, flames, a giant bell, confetti cannons, and, in one priceless moment during Money Shot, real money and balloons dropping down onto the crowd below. (Okay, not real, but from the reaction, you would have thought it was).

Adrian said: ‘Our audience is local, so we’ve got to step up what we do every single time.’

As Adrian said: ‘It took so much logistics to get that working, we tested it, and it went wrong, and it there were clumps of money falling. We thought we were going to hurt people, so as soon as we got to that bit, and I went over and tapped him on the shoulder - because I wanted it to go off at exactly the right time - and then it did, and it worked, it was just a breeze after that.’

‘Our excitement for that bit of the show was quite pathetic, we were all so looking forward to it,’ Dick laughs.

Timing counts with these effects, and they hit the beat every single time on Saturday night.

The pair praised the staff at the Villa for always being up for helping them execute their vision.

‘It just shows that the more effort we put into it, the better it is,’ added Adrian.

‘We make sure it’s more produced now, and the money drop is a perfect example of that, it had to be done at exactly the right time to have a really good effect.’

On Tuesday night for Pigs on the Wing, there was less rock spectacle and more subtle technical skill.

Whilst the light design and visuals by Ali Robertson were phenomenal, punctuating every song perfectly, the finely tuned skills of the musicians did most of the talking.

As Dick put it: ‘It’s completely different in that it’s not so much dancing round, jumping and singing along - although people do usually sing along, especially for songs like Wish You Were Here - but it’s not quite the same.

‘It’s people who love prog music, and the really long songs.

‘Sometimes you think “can we get away with this?” - but Pink Floyd got away with it.’