UNTIL now, the biggest show musician Marc Hudson has played has been his local pub.

So the 24-year-old BMW worker can be forgiven for feeling nervous about his next live show – supporting one of the biggest bands on the planet.

The singer fought off competition from more than 3,000 rock-lovers from around the world to win a place in the line-up of metal band DragonForce.

And his first appearances with the band will be huge shows in Belfast and London’s O2 Arena alongside rock megastars Iron Maiden.

It is quite an achievement for an artist whose career highlight so far has been playing the Red Lion pub in his home village of Eynsham.

But when members of his former band Clint learned that London-based Dragonforce had parted company with vocalist ZP Theart, and were looking for a new member, they encouraged him to give it a shot.

Marc sent the band three video clips of him performing and invited them to one of his gigs. And they were so impressed, they hired him.

“It’s a dream come true,” says Marc, who has worked as an engineer at BMW in Cowley for seven years.

“I have always been a big DragonForce fan, and saw them play at the Oxford Zodiac, so it’s really weird to think I’m now in the line-up and will be supporting Iron Maiden.

“Instead of playing to 25 people at my local pub, I’m going to be playing in front of 25,000. It’s a big deal.”

Marc, who lives in Tilgarsley Road with his mum Jackie, a clinical assistant at the village medical centre, and dad Chris, a design engineer at Owen Mumford in Woodstock, began his musical career with Eynsham band Sacred Divide, alongside his brother Lee.

“I’ve always day-dreamed about this happening,” he said. “What I want to do most is play live shows, go on the road and see the world for free.

“I am nervous and have no idea what to expect, but it is all very exciting.”

First to spot Marc’s talents was DragonForce guitarist Herman Li, 33, who said: “I could see his great raw talent as a singer.

“We had more than 3,000 applications, and went through every single one. But I liked what Marc could do.

“Everyone in the band is extremely excited. We haven’t felt this kind of energy for a long time. We can’t wait to unleash the next DragonForce album later this year.”

A big-selling band, DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames album saw digital sales hit 37,825 a week in 2007 after it was featured on video game Guitar Hero III.