After
a 2 year Covid-induced absence… it’s once more time to “Shiiine”! This, now a
regular fixture in the Rose social – let alone “gig” – calendar, was another
sad pandemic casualty in 2020, so when announcements arrived for the 2021 bill,
featuring some intriguing new – and more recent – acts to this predominantly
late 80’s/ early 90’s UK indie rock/ dance crossover flavoured festival, we
were all over it! Our “Core Four” this year were initially expanded to 6, last
year’s debutant Ady enjoying it so much that he was well up for a repeat, and
old friend James, who booked solo last year but joined us for “the hang”, also came
in on our 6 berth booking. Unfortunately, last minute withdrawals put paid to
James’ attendance and, more significantly, Rich’s. Bugger!
Still, at least that meant Matt and Ady would each have their own room in the
6-berther…!
So,
on an unseasonably bright and warm November morning, Rach and I picked Ady up
at 9.45 for a swift drive down to Minehead, parking up at Tesco for the usual
breakfast fixings and snacks shop, before being joined in short order by Matt,
hot-footing over from Wookey as usual. The usual catching up (damn, been too
long) ensued over shopping and the traditional seafront fish and chip lunch,
then a slightly different booking in process as we were all ushered to a new
hall at the back of the resort complex to get Covid-checked and individual
wristbands handed out. All very efficient, actually, so we were in our first
floor 6 berth apartment and settling in by early afternoon! Then out to the
main “Skyline Arena” (the big open space under the iconic Butlins tents) for
the first music of the weekend from THE CLAUSE at 3.45. A new name on me, this
young lot had one good song, soaring second number “Time Of Our Lives”, a few
other decent touches amongst their usual sneery 90’s Manc/ 60’s Stones blues
mix, and one later number, “Forever Young”, which owed a lot to U2 (the intro
riff very reminiscent of the intricate opening to “Where The Streets Have No
Name”!). Decent start… Looking to avoid Welsh baggy rap act Goldie Lookin’
Chain (that very description makes me shudder!), next up, we wandered over to
the already-late-running Inn On The Green for DIRTY LACES, another young band
with similar influences to The Clause, but playing it slower, looser and
baggier, with some chap in a lab coat (!) occasionally offering some Doors-ish
keyboard licks amongst his usual guitar work. Their fast and furious rawk
wig-out at the end of their final number was the most noteworthy element of an
okay, if slightly ham-fisted set. Still, waaay better than GLC…! Stayed put for
CROSS WIRES, next up, who were more like it; a bit all over the place
stylistically, with 60’s West Coast psych rock and Tex Mex inflections thrown
randomly into a dark, almost Gothy shouty post-punk Fontaines DC-like noise,
with an intense and energetic vocalist who was often scaling the front barrier,
wide-eyed and bristling with conviction, giving it loads, despite looking like
the kind of bloke who’d change your front lights at Halfords! I’m not sure I
liked the shouty, almost hectoring vocal delivery, but he meant it, maaaan, and
Cross Wires were easily the best of this initial crop of new bands, with set
closer “Twisted Up In Time”, eerie and haunting and their best number.
We
got drinks in then – all on water by 6 p.m. on Friday evening! Actually, I
lied, we weren’t all on water, Ady was chugging away as usual…! Then into the
Skyline Arena for THE PIGEON DETECTIVES, an intriguing post-millennial addition
to the Shiiine On roster of acts. I’d liked them fine a few years back, would
have seen them “live” at the Oasis back in 2007 were it not for a Hold Steady
gig being rescheduled for that day, but lost interest in their later, more
“landfill indie” releases. However, they were a pretty apposite band for a
burgeoning festival, lead singer Matt Bowman a tousle-haired, mic-juggling and
energetic stage presence (albeit modelling his post-lockdown home baking body,
as most of us are actually!), rabble rousing and energising the crowd into
laddish singalongs of their repetitively catchy, knockabout, almost
cockernee-sounding (despite hailing from Leeds!) indie pop. The “Teenage
Kicks”-like riff and terrace chant hook of “Going Out” was the first proper
roof-raising singalong of the Shiiine On weekend, with a rollicking,
high-jumping “Take Her Back” and the rather excellent actually “I’m Not Sorry”
a fine double whammy to end a better than expected set, during which I was admittedly
slightly distracted by a bloke wearing an inflatable pig costume (!), and
another guy asking to take a photo of my white creeper shoes (“they’re proper
mint, mate!”) !!
THE
CORAL, next up, were more Shiiine On debutants, with early numbers “When It’s
Gone” and “In The Morning” breezy and whimsically folksy numbers. However I’m
not a fan, and their somewhat gossamer music seemed a little lightweight after
the Pigeon Detectives’ more robust fayre, plus my knees were aching, so I
sought refuge in Hotshots bar, finding a seat next to a nice bloke called Mike
and chatting about England’s footy game against Alabnia (as the Butlins’ poster
called the National Team’s opponents tonight!). T’was 5-0 at half time with a
scorching Kane scissor kick the best of the bunch, plus my knee recovered, so
we headed back in for headliners FEEDER. Another band I liked fine and saw a
bunch of times around 20 years ago without really getting heavily into them…
they’ve always operated in similar territory to bands I’ve liked more (hooky
heavy post-grunge but not as good as Foo Fighters, chunky guitar singalongs but
not as good as Weezer, spritely energetic riff-heavy indie but not as good as
Ash, you get the idea…), so I was intrigued rather than enthused by their
headliner status here, hoping they’d deliver a Shed Seven-type of revelation. Taking
the stage to the Spaghetti Western theme to “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly”,
their slow-burn opener “Feeling A Moment” nonetheless got the crowd going with
some anthemic “who-hoo”s, although their second number was abandoned due to
bass problems, vocalist Grant Nicholas looking visibly agitated as he admitted
to us, “we’re trying to sort out a couple of things…” Fears about a set-long
Lightning Seeds-like issue were soon allayed, with a subsequent “California” a
proper banger, and “Fear Of Flying” an excellent companion piece to Ash’s “A
Life Less Ordinary” and a personal set highlight, heralding a sorting of the
sound. After a jumpabout “Buck Rogers”, however, the set for me descended into
a swathe of alright-ness – good honest indie rock, no doubt, but unremarkable
and a bit samey. A strong finish was called for, and actually the boys
delivered; old school proto grunger “Insomnia” and a proper first-album delve
for the languid singalong of “High” was then followed by an anthemic “Seven
Days In the Sun” and set finale, the messy but utterly banging amphetamine rush
of “Just A Day”. Finishing 20 minutes over time (!), Feeder, whilst hardly
being that Shed Seven-style reinvention (the earnest, serious Grant Nicholas
lacking Rick Witter’s overt swagger), delivered a good set that ended
splendidly and yeah, were pretty much worthy headliners, even to my cynical
ears. Well done boys.
So
as festivities ended in the Main Arena, we joined the queue for Centre Stage,
hitting this large ballroom venue midway through THE SHAKES. They for me
sounded an unrehearsed and messy early 90’s Manc nasal noise, and clearly
nowhere near as good as they thought they were, definitely misplaced arrogance
in my book. Going down well with this buoyant, slightly drunken crowd, so hey,
what do I know, but for me? No great Shakes! This bumped us up to 11, Rach
surprisingly turning in at this point, but Matt and myself (having also lost
Ady at this point) sticking around for Stone Roses tribute band THE CLONE
ROSES. I was never a massive Roses fan, so this quickly turned into a bit of a
trial for me, the Clones covers veering between passable and often
disappointingly insipid and understated. “Waterfall”’s plangent guitar work was
OK and “This Is The One” the best sounding of the set for me, but “Fools Gold”
was flat and dull and “She Bangs The Drums” disappointingly thin. And then we
got a drum solo! A fucking drum solo! The drummer must own the van, methinks.
After that bloated self-indulgence, I was done for the day, heading back to the
apartment at this overlong set’s conclusion at 12.30, with “Just A Day” ringing
in my ears!
What
turned out to be a landmark Day 2 started with a fried breakfast, this time
mainly provided by my dear lady wife! Then off with Rach and Matt to Splash Waterworld
for the pool party, which initially started OK with some vintage 60’s stuff
(Doors, Them, Motown deep cuts etc.), but then got all 90’s Technotronic! So I
did some lengths before cutting it short, heading back to the apartment for a rest, then meeting Ady at the Inn On The Green (quiet early doors,
pretty much everyone being up in Centre Stage for Stones And Roses, whom by all
accounts were a band I’d have utterly loathed!) and running into Dave, Gareth
and the rest of the Abstraction Engine lads, also here for the weekend.
UTOPIATES, who were a baggy bag of ol’ shite, and THE ROOM, who were doomy and
a bit dull, formed a distant backdrop for our chatting, but I was 1000% all in
for the next act…
The
lads from MIDWAY STILL had turned up earlier to load in, and happily drummer
Dec Kelly recognised me from their recent (I say recent, I mean back in 2005
and 2010!) Swindon reunion gigs. They then took a bench out on the Green and
after a suitable interval (and prompted by Ady!), I popped over to join them,
enjoying a convivial conversation with the fine gentlemen of The Still, centring
around my brother’s recent illness and the fucked-up post-Covid world we’re all
still trying to get accustomed to. I’d also mentioned that my next set-list
would be my 900th , at which point they mentioned they didn’t have
one for their set (!), then vocalist Paul Thomson duly wrote an impromptu one
up on the back of a receipt, giving it to bassist Russell Lee for safe keeping
onstage, as he had the best eyesight!
Thus
buoyed, I grabbed a bit of barrier for The Still’s late entrance at 4.30, in
front of a respectable crowd which, with my crew, the AE boys plus old mate
Steve and his wife Caz, included 10 Swindonians (!). The self-effacing Thomson
warned us to, “brace yourselves,” before kicking into galloping opener
“Counting Days”, which was driven at a supersonic, Ramones-like pace by Kelly’s
forceful, propulsive drums. “Sound OK?” inquired Thomson, to which some wag
down the front (OK, me…) shouted, “more guitar!”, which was duly delivered
during a looser yet tougher sounding “I Won’t Try” (their debut; “Single Of The
Week in the NME, and it’s been downhill since then!” quipped Thomson,
ironically). However, the subsequent “Daynight” took a couple of attempts to
start, sounding thin and understated throughout, Thomson ultimately calling a
halt and abandoning it midway through with an, “it’s not working…”. Uh oh…
Actually,
this proved an utter, if unexpected masterstroke, as the subsequent “What You
Said” was magnificent, bristling, venomous and visceral, setting a ridiculously
high bar which the rest of the set nonetheless lived up to in spades. Their
Husker Du/ early Lemonheads/ Buffalo Tom/ Dinosaur Jr. US proto grungy popcore
noise (which would have been right at home in seminal 80’s Boston venue The
Rat!) always took on another dimension “live” back in the day, and on the
evidence of this afternoon, time thankfully hasn’t dimmed The Still’s fire.
“Jamie And Gigi” was as superb as I’d ever heard it, Thomson’s languid vocal
inflections almost recalling a young Dando, and “Better Than Before”, one of my
favourite tracks ever to dance to at Levs in the 90’s, was fulsome, powerful
and infectiously catchy. Some bloke (not me this time) shouted out, “Fucking
mint! End of!” at its conclusion, a buoyed Thomson replying, “that is
correct!”, and I think we all felt that way. But the best was saved for last… a
savage, snarling cover of MBV’s seminal “You Made Me Realise” was punctuated
during the mid-song feedback-fest by The Still segueing in the whole of a
rampaging, undulating and utterly incendiary “Come Down”. Just awesome; this
afternoon the 3 reprobates of The Still delivered what I term an “American Hi-Fi”
moment – not note-perfect in any way, but as raw, ragged, exciting and
essential as rock’n’roll gets, reducing me to a sweaty, aching, gabbling mess
along the way – and in the process not only easily swept the Band Of The
Weekend honours (yeah, already!) but may have delivered my favourite
Shiiine On set ever. Yes, ever!
After
that, I was glad for a break in the proceedings – with no interest in the
Skyline shenanigans over the next few hours (never been a fan of The Farm,
despite “All Together Now” being an anthem for Shiiine On, particularly this
year, and as for Black Grape, well, I know from experience that anything
involving the Salford Village Idiot is going to be utter carnage and not worth
my time…), I headed back to the apartment, gratefully logging into Sky Go to
watch the Brazilian GP Sprint Race! A much-needed rest and some eats later, I
was back out for 8ish, aiming to go deep tonight and catching up with the crew
for CAST’s Skyline Arena headliner set. Never my cup of jangle back in the day,
I’ve seen Cast both deliver dull and relatively Alright (pardon the pun) sets here
in the last few years; unfortunately this one veered to the former, with a
dreadfully plodding opener, a subsequent “Sandstorm” and almost jolly “Fine
Time” double better, but the subsequent set descending into a sluggish and
stodgy acoustic strumalong plod. I was thinking, less like their evident heroes
The Beatles, more like the turgid likes of 70’s folk rock staples Fairport
Convention! Yikes! So after half an hour, I took the advice of “Walk Away”, and
escaped to Hotshots for a sit down!
Cast
were done at 10, at which point my crew headed to Reds for Neds (Acoustic this
time), but not being a fan, I was off to the Inn On The Green, and a
revelation… CANDY OPERA, a Liverpool 80’s band who totally passed me by back in
the day, eased into their set with a languid “See It Through Your Eyes”, which positively
oozed well-constructed blue-eyed soulful 80’s songwriting, variously recalling
Lloyd Cole, Prefab Sprout and the much overlooked The Big Dish! Subsequent
numbers evoked a 60’s, almost Motown feel aligned with some Lou Reed-like
laconic cool (a point I made to vocalist Paul Malone afterwards, his reply
being, “Lou Reed and Motown? That’s us!”), some more upbeat, hooky pop stuff
(viz. “Crash” and a rockabilly-inflected, almost Woodentops-like “#Text
Delete”), and one bona fide powerpop anthem in “These Days Are Ours” (Malone
commenting, “this was played at Anfield, which was a bit of a problem for me
[as an Evertonian]!”). A fine, intelligently crafted set, and kudos to the band
for handing out free t-shirts at its’ conclusion!
A
quick trip back to the apartment to dump my free tee and £5 CD, enjoying a
conversation with Malone about Liverpool rock on the walk back (“You saw Pete
Wylie recently? Isn’t he fat!!”), then a chat with Steve and Caz at the back of
the Inn on my return, subsequently missing all but the last, tambourine-led
number from THE WALTONES, but I was joined by my crew for THE CHESTERFIELDS, on
at ¼ to midnight. A “live” staple of mine back in the mid-80’s (usually whilst
drunk, with Rich, and in London), I’d also seen this new, ersatz line-up
a couple of years back (Sept 2019, gig 1,153), feeling that at that time they’d
done full justice to their history and the legacy of sadly departed main
vocalist Davey Goldsworthy. Tonight, unfortunately, was a little different; whether
down to the sound, the mix, the understated, almost polite delivery, whatever,
not sure, but these spritely jangle-pop songs of my youth initially sounded
limp, tired and disappointingly flat, with Helen’s vocal’s, which worked well
at The Louisiana a couple of years ago, sounding somewhat jarring. A chugging,
swayalong “Goodbye Goodbye” threatened to improve matters, but ironically, it
was a slow newie that turned things around; “Songbird”, written in homage to Davey
and featuring a list of their 80’s contemporaries and influences (glad to hear
the excellent Bodines getting a namecheck!) was plaintive and heartfelt, and
“Ask Johnny Dee” was excellent, easily the best sounding of the set. “Completely
And Utterly”, racier and pacier, was also a fine-sounding end to a curate’s egg
of a set, but one which at least ended well. I’m not giving up on them yet…
Into
the expanded Reds for the first time this weekend for me, for the last number
by the popular DEJA VEGA, pulling the second of their double shift by covering
for the late-withdrawing Bentley Rhythm Ace. Unfortunately said number was
one-note, monotone, one dimensional and interminably long, and a real trial by
ordeal, my knees and sides properly aching by now. But I was determined to get
to 1 a.m. and tonight’s denouement, THOUSAND YARD STARE… vocalist Stephen
addressed us as, “the final stragglers – more power to you, and we’re your
prize!” on his arrival onstage, then kicked into chugging newie “When It
Sparks”, before the ebullient, jet-propelled funky drummer bounce of oldie
“Buttermouth” and a harder-edged newie “Upping Sticks”. No apples this time (!),
but once again Stephen was a curiously captivating frontman, pacing the stage
like an expectant father, all nervous energy and off-mic rambling and chanting,
the band racing through TYS’ trademark energetic indie jangle behind him. A
slower burn, almost plaintive “Seasonstream” was a mid-set highlight, before
the inevitable frantic “0-0 After Extra Time” (“after all these years – no one
has scored!”) and oldie “Wonderment” concluded another very fine TYS Shiiine
set, well worth staying up for!
The
gang were however determined to make it to the end of Steve Lamacq’s Indie
Disco, however; I stuck it until 2.30, by which time everything South of my
non-existent belly-button was so sore, it was all I could do to hobble back
slowly and painfully to the apartment, thankful both for my bed and for the
post-Still rest earlier this afternoon. The gang made it to 4 a.m. though –
kudos to them!
A
fitful and achey night however still saw me feeling better for Day 3, which
started slowly, then saw us wandering into town on a positively balmy
sun-kissed November Sunday for a tasty Carvery roast lunch at The Hairy Dog! So
the entertainment started late for us, with Centre Stage hosts REPUBLICA at 3.
Like most people here, I only know a couple of Republica numbers, neither of
which I was inclined to sit through swathes of buoyant but samey electronic pop
to get to, despite vocalist Saffron’s enthusiastic and ebullient performance,
easily the best thing about this band. 3 numbers in, I was done and into the
Skyline Arena for DODGY, who were not as knockabout or trite as I’d feared,
instead impressing with some chunky 60’s influenced sweeping pop, with an early
“So Let Me Go Far” a decent hooky choon, and “Staying Out For The Summer” a
breezy and unexpectedly harmonic delight. Late replacements for The Bluetones,
they joked about this state of affairs (“who you gonna call? Dodgy!”) whilst
entertaining more than Mark Morris’ plodding and anodyne mob would’ve done…
Unfortunately, a schedule clash saw me abandon them midway through, instead
repairing to The Inn On The Green, putting up with some late-running chap with
an acoustic guitar leading the crowd through some singalong Britpop staples,
before former Inspiral Carpets vocalist TOM HINGLEY, erm, did the same
actually! However, his were all Carpets songs, initially delivered with lots of
bawdy, self-effacing humour (“I’ve had a couple of ciders so this is going to
be shit!” and “I’m going to play songs by Metallica – in Polish…” were 2 early
Hingley remarks…) and no little heart (a rousing singalong “This Is How It
Feels” dedicated to those lost in recent times). Thereafter it all started to
get a bit silly, however, Hingley downing a pint in one before a throwaway
version of my favourite Inspirals number “Move”, and I was happy to wander back
to catch the final numbers of Dodgy’s set before my anticipated Highlight Of
The Day!
Rach
and I had run into the impressive monolith that is Mark Burgess on our way to
the Inn On The Green earlier, pausing for a pic with the man and informing how
much I was looking forward to THE CHAMELEONS’ Skyline Arena set later that
afternoon. So, no surprise then that I was on the barriers, front and centre,
for this one, in a buoyant mood which was aided in no small measure by the
Arena DJ playing some obscure indie classics from Easterhouse, Comsat Angels,
The Mighty Lemon Drops and Killing Joke! Totally appropriate mood-setters for
The Chameleons, then, Burgess leading his charges onstage, spot on at 4.35.
From the off they were amazing; opener “A Person Isn’t Safe Here Anymore”
sounded dark, deep, rich, resonant and uncommonly good, with an undercurrent of
bristling menace leading into the hook “man of steel”, which echoed around the
arena. An early “Monkeyland”, all stretched and creepy slow burn early doors,
built the atmosphere to an intense level before popping like a cork with the
strident “just a trick of the light” hook, and an unexpected “Intrigue In
Tangiers” was a windswept and anthemic stomper. “Caution” was icy, languid and
somnambulant, meandering brilliantly along its’ 7 minute length, before the tumbling,
intricate riffery of “Swamp Thing” topped even that, Burgess and the band
deliberately slowing this and other numbers down to give them extra drama and
gravitas. A joyous “Second Skin” rounded off a quite brilliant set, probably
better than their 1 a.m. Reds set which earned them 2018 Band Of The Weekend
honours that year, the Skyline Arena stage lending their material a greater
sense of widescreen power and majesty. The stuff dreams are made of, indeed! A
welcome cherry on the cake was my friend the DJ sorting me out a set-list (most
other Arena lists being hoovered up quickly and apparently chucked in a bin
backstage by some ignorant new roadie – bah!) – nice work!
A
tough act to follow for me, then, but old Jamie Wednesday and Carter USM mate
JIM BOB, along with his band The Hoodrats, gave it the old college try,
impressing with a sturdy selection of poppy recent material and old Carter USM
“beatbox battlehymn” numbers, which actually sounded pretty good given the full
band treatment. Good to hear the jovial sea shanty wordplay of “Prince In A
Pauper’s Grave” (which appeared on my one Jamie Wednesday set-list from gig 78,
waaaay back in 1987!), the tough and dramatic polemic of “Bloodsport For All”,
and rousing set closer “The Only Living Boy In New Cross”, rounding off an
unexpectedly fine set. Bring the band again next time, Jim!
This
led us beyond 7 p.m., into the last couple of laps of Shiiine On for another
year, and to Rachel’s potential highlight. Another slightly surprising “recent”
band addition to the Shiiine On band pool, Scotland’s GLASVEGAS, despite
increasingly patchy follow-ups to their stunning 2007 debut album, had always
impressed mightily “live”, so hopes were high for this one. We weren’t to be
disappointed; despite a fairly sparse turnout around our usual spot (in front
of the tent stanchion, house right, near the stage) Glasvegas were “on it” from
the off, a deliciously mournful and affecting “Flowers And Football Tops”
giving chills down the spine of all and sundry, then an epic “World Is Yours” was
shimmering and shining with its Jesus And Mary Chain meets Cocteau Twins guitar
dynamics. Overall, this was a superb study in rock’n’roll insouciance from the
band, and particularly vocalist James Allen, who, with his heavily accented
vocals and black-clad cool, should by all rights be now be as respected as a
Strummer or McCulloch, I really believe that… A heartfelt cover of “Be My Baby”
(“my favourite song ever – my fiancee’s over there – this one’s for her,”
announced Allen) sounded splendid and entirely in context; “Go Square Go” got
the crowd singing along to the rambunctious “here we fuckin’ go!” hook, but it
was the final double whammy of “Lots/ Sometimes”, starting all deep and
mournful and accelerating into chaotic and dramatic punk rock, and a stunning “Daddy’s
Gone”, sounding both epic and bleakly personal at the same time, which were the
highlights of another sparkling Glasvegas set. Woah. And we’re seeing this lot
at The Thekla next February…!
One
to go for us, and none more fitting to close out things (well, maybe the
strangely absent Wonder Stuff…) than PETER HOOK AND THE LIGHT. On in front of a
packed final day crowd to the sound of Kraftwerk’s “Trans Europe Express” and
sporting a Christmas “Baa Humbug” tee (“as you can see I’m in a festive mood”),
Hooky’s set took a couple of numbers to bed in, an early “She’s Lost Control”
edgy and claustrophobic yet thin, with “Transmission” the first number to
really take dramatic flight. Dispensing with a clutch of Joy Division numbers
early on, Hooky then moved into New Order territory with a ringing, haunting
and resonant “Ceremony”, which was probably my overall set highlight; however a
subsequent “Regret” and particularly “Crystal” were overlong and not
particularly great, “Love Vigilantes” welcome but a little thin sounding as
well, and “Blue Monday” sounded rushed. “Perfect Kiss”, by contrast, was great,
absorbing and full-on effects-wise, and “Temptation” was a brilliant, bubbling
indie dance delight.
“Two
years of weird shit – I’m so fucking glad we’re still here, and you’re still
here!” roared Hooky before a brilliantly fitting communal singalong to “Love
Will Tear Us Apart”, ending his fine if initially patchy sounding set – and the
musical aspects of Shiiine On, for us at least – on a suitably fitting and high
note. That was it for us – back to the apartment for a good night’s sleep,
checking out Monday morning at 9.30 and swiftly driving home. Another splendid
Shiiine On in the books then; this one a little less manic than recent times,
drinkies-wise, but for me featuring a bona fide all-time classic set,
thanks to those punk rock reprobates from Midway Still. And hopefully we won’t
have to wait 2 years to Shiiine On again!
SHERIFF’S
SHIIINE ON SELECTION
Friday
Best
– FEEDER
Saturday
Best
– MIDWAY STILL (you had to ask?)
Sunday
Best
– THE CHAMELEONS
Overall – 1. MIDWAY
STILL, 2. THE CHAMELEONS, 3. GLASVEGAS
Best
New Band
(if you can call a near-40 year old band “New”, that is…) – CANDY OPERA
We
Can Be Heroes
– MY CREW (as ever), THE GENTLEMEN OF THE STILL, MARK BURGESS, PETER HOOK,
JAMES ALLEN, THE SUNDAY ARENA DJ, THE GUY IN THE PIG OUTFIT (who apparently
smuggled a condom costume into the Arena on a later day…!), THE HAIRY DOG
CHEFS!
