If this column had been lucky enough to get some sort of media development grant, you would be reading this opening paragraph to the strains of Looks Like We Made It by rock and roll bad boy Barry Manilow. It didn’t, you aren’t, but would have been a nice way to start the year. We have survived the ravages of Christmas and New Year’s Eve and are hopefully all settled in to kick off another year of music in a town that, by and large, punches well above its weight.

As expected it is a fairly chilled start to the year as bands and venues take a breather, gird their collective loins and prepare to write a whole new musical chapter. And with everyone catching their breath this weeks column is understandably, like Home and Away legend Isla Fisher, short and sweet.

Things are a bit quiet tonight but on Friday you can catch Kaleido Bay at The Victoria. 2018 was a pretty good year for young, local indie bands and so this is the perfect way to get the ball rolling, a perfect blend of rock power and indie poise, commercial accessibility and cultish edge.

At The Rolleston you will find Lewis Leighton putting his own spin on songs from all decades with a few of his own creations thrown into the mix and Locarno Beat will be focusing very much on music from the 60’s and 70’s down at The Queen’s Tap.

At The Swiss Chalet Wrong Jovi will be doffing their cowboy hats in reverence to the music of Bon Jovi. If you are a fan of the Jersey Shore’s second most famous sons (Springsteen, since you ask) then get ready to sing your heart out and strut your rock and roll stuff as they are recreated in all their pomp and glory.

Rock is also on the cards on Saturday as The Electric Troubadours delivery sonic salvos from classic rock’s back catalogue at The Rolleston - heads down, no nonsense, mindless boogie indeed! A more wide-ranging musical platter can be found at both The Swiss Chalet and The Queen’s Tap with Echo gracing the stage of the former and Interlight delivering the goods at the latter.

And that’s it for now. I hope the year gets off to a great start for everyone and I’m sure by next week there will be the usual glut of musical fixtures and fittings to tell you about.