FIRST, blow dry your pet poodle and attach it firmly to your head, then pull on a ridiculously tight pair of ripped, bleached jeans (a well-worn shell suit will suffice if the strides are anatomically impossible), put on a battered leather or denim jacket rolled up to the elbows and grab your favourite air guitar. (No, not that one, the other one. It’s in tune…)

A quick check in the mirror and you’re good to go to The Power Ballad Show tomorrow night, Saturday, March 7, at Weymouth Pavilion.

It’s a top-notch and highly polished production packed with classic soft rock ballads, mainly from that iconic era of the 80s, the decade that missed out on restraint and sensible hairdressing.

All the bangers are there, you know, the ones you can’t help belting out and singing along with when they come on the radio and you’re stuck in traffic, something we’ve all been experiencing at the moment in Weymouth.

If your record collection includes Heart, Whitesnake, Bonnie Tyler, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Foreigner (Coming over here, wanting to know what love is… I dunno) and the like, it’s okay, you’ll be with friends here, there’s no need to feel ashamed, in fact some of the band have worked with David Hasselhoff, so you’ve nothing to be worried about.

Tickets are £24.50 from the Pavilion box office on 01305 783225.

Moving on, and the skill of the songwriter is a timeless art and, following the success of his one-man show last year, Steve Knightley, singer-songwriter, musician and one half of folk giants Show of Hands, returns to Dorchester Arts Centre next Thursday, March 12, to offer his take on the craft of penning a good tune.

Exploring his extensive back catalogue and introducing unheard, new material he explores the themes and stories that inspire him and shows how music and words can become lyrics and chords and notes and eventually become songs that acquire a life of their own.

Tickets are £20 from the box office on 01305 266926.

And finally, here’s advance notice of a festival coming up that I know you’ll want to be part of.

The Veterans Rock Festival takes place at the Wyke Smugglers in Weymouth on Saturday, May 9, which will be during the VE Day Bank Holiday weekend.

That’s rather appropriate as the event will be raising funds for the Weymouth Veterans’ Hub, which is just down Portland Road from the Smugglers and does such vital work supporting our ex-servicemen and women and their families.

Already, there’s an impressive line-up of turns confirmed, including Rob & Chris, The Unusual Suspects, Cock-Eyed Squid, Ironhide, Bad Uncl and Dead Man’s Clique, with the mighty Ironed Maiden headlining.

Tickets at just £5 went on sale this week at the pub and are already flying out the door with all proceeds from ticket sales going to the Veterans’ Hub.

Incidentally, it’s been an exciting few weeks for Ironed Maiden, with a series a storming gigs including Finns in Weymouth, over in south Wales and across the south west.

Not only that, but this week the band announced they will be topping the bill at the massive Bike4Life Festival on Sunday, April 26, at RAF Cosford near Wolverhampton in aid of the Midlands Air Ambulance fund in front of an incredible crowd of 10,000 bikers.

That’s an amazing achievement for the band who made their debut at the Park pub in Weymouth less than two years ago. Top work fellas.

Till next time…

NICK HORTON

TONIGHT 6

Ironhide (Finns, Weymouth)

Total Madness (Gloucester, Weymouth)

Open Mic Night (Hardy’s, Dorchester)

Monkey Jump (Golden Lion, Weymouth)

Buffo’s Wake (Belvedere, Weymouth)

Shauna and Nicky (Wyke Regis Working Mens Club, Weymouth)

Rolling Tone (Weymouth Working Mens Club)

Behind Closed Doors (Ropemakers, Bridport)

Finn (Royal Portland Arms, Portland)

Ricky Solo (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)

Speedway Snails (Fox Inn, Ansty)

Chill (Duke of Cornwall, Weymouth)

Georgie Broad (Duke of Albany, Weymouth)

Leanne Jackson (Black Dog, Weymouth)

Rob Davis (King’s Arms, Weymouth)

Farrago (John Gregory, Weyouth)

SATURDAY 7

Power Ballad Show (Weymouth Pavilion)

Cellar Rats (Finns, Weymouth)

Tree Fellas, Teresa Rabbets (Osmington village hall) It’s the Spring ceilidh. Tickets £9.50 from 07816 832554.

Stereoironics (Gloucester, Weymouth)

Rock Apes (Wyke Smugglers, Weymouth)

Hustle (Sailors Return, Weymouth)

The Katz (Kings Head, Bradpole, Bridport)

TBC (Little Ship, Portland)

Asha (Hardy’s, Dorchester)

Glass Spiders (Punchbowl, Portland)

Matt Wallis (Weymouth Conservative Club)

Studio 55 (Golden Lion, Weymouth)

Shelby’s Elbows (Belvedere, Weymouth)

Rockwaves (Wyke Regis Working Mens Club, Weymouth)

Dale Fender Band (Weymouth Working Mens Club)

Loose Connections (Drax Arms, Bere Regis)

Buffo’s Wake (Ropemakers, Bridport)

Finn (Park Hotel, Weymouth)

Ollie Coe (George, Weymouth)

Hazzard (Wyke Regis Social Club, Weymouth)

Rich Cooper (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth) 2-30pm-6pm, and at 9pm.

Martin Freed (Duke of Cornwall, Weymouth)

All Funked Up (Club Bambooza, Weymouth)

Modern Disciples (Black Dog, Weymouth)

Johnny King (King’s Arms, Weymouth)

Jackobites (Duke of Albany, Weymouth)

SUNDAY 8

Syd Lawrence Orchestra (Weymouth Pavilion)

Sunday Blues Jam (Belvedere, Weymouth) 4-7pm.

Howling Matt (Ropemakers, Bridport) 4-7pm.

Dark Descendants (Park Hotel, Weymouth) 3pm.

Open Mic with Roger Mac (Hardy’s, Dorchester)

Morgan Stott (Royal Portland Arms, Portland)

Ricky Solo (Sailor’s Return, Weymouth) From 3pm.

Sheryl Lee (Duke of Cornwall, Weymouth)

Georgie Broad (King’s Arms, Weymouth) 4pm.

Leanne Jackson (Black Dog, Weymouth) 4-6pm.

Di’s Open Mic (Duke of Albany, Weymouth) 7pm.

MONDAY 9

Acoustic session (Belvedere, Weymouth)

TUESDAY 10

Dougie Cooper’s Jazz Night (Star, Weymouth0

WEDNESDAY 11

Wessex Folk Night (Sailors Return, Weymouth).

Open Mic Night with Lee Beardmore (Duke of Cornwall, Weymouth)

THURSDAY 12

Steve Knightley: Pass Notes (Dorchester Arts Centre)

Finnian (Hardy’s, Dorchester)

Traditional Tune Session (Cove House Inn, ChiswelI, Portland)

Ukulele Sessions (Sailors Return, Weymouth)

FRIDAY 13

Chief Lazarus (Finns, Weymouth)

Komakino (Wyke Smugglers, Weymouth)

Rich Baxter (Gloucester, Weymouth)

Glass Spiders (Club Bambooza, Weymouth)

Skinful (Golden Lion, Weymouth)

Rexes Hollow (Belvedere, Weymouth)

Ricky Solo (Wyke Regis Working Mens Club, Weymouth)

Sammie (Weymouth Working Mens Club)

The Striking Clock (Ropemakers, Bridport)

TBC (Hardy’s, Dorchester)

Dan and Co (Royal Portland Arms, Portland)

Rich Cooper (Edinburgh House of Sounds, Weymouth)

The Cubes (King’s Arms, Weymouth)

Speedway Snails (Royal Exchange, Portland)