A former lead singer of The Stranglers is to be a judge at the Guild.
Paul Roberts, who replaced Hugh Cornwell in 1990 as the band’s front man, will be the adjudicator for the Battle of the Bands at the Manx Music, Speech and Dance Festival.
Now in its third year, The Battle of the Bands is proving to be one of the most popular evenings of Guild week.
Paul, who sang with the Stranglers for 16 years, appearing on at least 30 albums and as many singles, has toured the world both as a singer and an actor since leaving the band.
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He now specialises in swing music and starred in The Great American Songbook in London’s West End, as well as on television, most notably in the BBC’s period drama Cranford.
Chairman of the Guild Sarah Kelly said: ’We always look forward to our professional adjudicators coming to the Guild and providing the competitors with the benefit of their professional experience and constructive feedback.
’We are very excited to welcome Paul Roberts to the 2018 Guild.
’He is the genuine article in rock band terms and I am certain our competitors will relish the opportunity to perform to an adjudicator of such experience and knowledge. It’s going to be a fabulous evening.’
As well as The Battle of the Bands, there are classes held all week encompassing music, drama and dance and varying from classical to pop song, from brass bands to recorder groups, from poems to Manx dialect and from ballet to modern dance.
Sarah continued: ’There is something for everyone at the Guild, and we were delighted last year to see our entry numbers continuing to rise. Our syllabus of classes has been available since October and we hope that competitors, old and new, will be heading into 2018 preparing their winning performances for April.’
The Battle of the Bands will take place in the Royal Hall at the Villa Marina on Friday, April 29, and entries to the Festival can be made by post or online to the Secretary by Saturday, February 3.
The Guild is sponsored by homebuilder Dandara. It will be held at the Villa Marina, Douglas, from April 20 to 28