Many of the island’s rock bands are gearing up to see off 2020 in as loud a style as possible.

The 2020 Bitching Party takes place on Sunday, December 27, in the Promenade Suite at the Villa Marina, from 7.30pm, and features another strong line up, plucked from some of the finest musicians the island has to offer.

The biggest and undoubtedly the loudest band of the night will be DC/AC, the gargantuan AC/DC covers band led by guitarist Paul ’Dockers’ Daugherty and singer Ade Bruce, who are more likely to be found on the larger Royal Hall stage rocking out in front of thousands of people.

Also playing will be the innovative electro-rock group Dusty Plankton, featuring singer Christian Clague and guitarist Nell Kneale, who will also appear with Mae Challis and the Dirty Legends, alongside local indie surf rockers Voodoo Bandits, who will top off a busy and successful year with an appearance.

There will also be an emotional appearance by the folk/funk fusion group Clash Vooar, who feature singers Aalin Clague and Breesha Maddrell, bassist David McLean and drummer Danny Kneale.

They will be paying tribute to a former band member and a much-missed member of the Manx music community, Anglin Buttimore, who sadly died in March this year.

As well as being a wonderfully-talented pianist, Anglin was a sound technician who helped many bands through their careers.

He was also a good friend and colleague of Phil ’Mo’ Maddrell, who originally founded the Bitching Parties of the 1980s and 90s, giving local band members a chance to meet up at the end of the year, have a drink and good moan together and listen to each other play.

Anglin was present last year to receive a lifetime’s achievement award for his valuable contribution to the island’s music scene and Ant Palfreman, who revived the Bitching Party in 2019, said that it was a very special moment to be able to honour him.

’We all knew Anglin very well and it was very special to have him there last year, especially knowing how ill he was then. I like to think that if Phil was also looking down on us, he’d be happy to see that he was being remembered.’

As with many other public events and concerts, hosting the Bitching Party brings home the fact that the island remains in a very fortunate position to be able to host live gigs in front of a packed crowd.

’One of the most noticeable things since the end of the lock down was how well supported local bands are at the moment,’said Ant.

’People are making a big effort to go out and see live music and the pubs are being very supportive in making sure bands have a place to play.

’There is a poignant aspect to this year’s concert, that we are in the very lucky position of being able to carry on as normal and get out to see bands.

’I don’t want to appear thoughtless, as I have a lot of friends across who can’t do any of this, but I do think that is something to celebrate now more than ever.’

Tickets for the Bitching Party are £10, available from villagaiety.com

by Mike Wade

Twitter:@iomnewspapers