For the 7th time in a row, it’s November, so it must be time to “Shiiine”! Once again we prepare to immerse ourselves in the annual weekend celebrating the 80’s/ 90’s/2000’s UK indie scene in its various guises, but this time there was a slight element of trepidation and even reluctance on my part, due to 3 factors. Firstly, the bill; a couple of intriguing late 90’s reunions aside, it was solid enough but a little unspectacular for me, lacking the real “wow” factor of, say, a Bunnymen, Chameleons or Midway Still level of band who could really be potential highlights – well, The Wonder Stuff aside, but then they or singer Miles Hunt play every year anyway, right? Secondly, the weather; heavy rain and storms had already damaged much of the site, resulting in accommodation being cancelled for about 300 or so punters following an anxious wait, and further heavy storms were also forecast over the weekend… yuck! And finally, one of my 3 all-time favourite bands, Gigolo Aunts, announced a trio of reunion dates in New York and Boston supporting Letters To Cleo on their annual US East Coast Thanksgiving jaunt, completely clashing with “Shiiine On” which itself was a weekend later this year! Bollocks! So, I was prepared for a soggy weekend – in Minehead in body, but with a part of my soul in “The Hub”…
Nonetheless, I put aside concerns and we picked up Rachel’s friend Sarah, a first time “Shiiiner” who’d booked separate accommodation, and we hit the road for a decent run down, bumping into Martin and his friend (and fellow first timer) Jon at an impromptu pitstop at Minehead’s Tesco. No breakfast shop today as we’d all bought fixings down, for reasons which will quickly become apparent, however the fish and chip seafront meal tradition was observed as usual, Matt arriving as we ordered. After Rachel’s friends Duncan and Rick arrived (the boys staying with Sarah after their own chalets fell victim to the storms), our convoy parked up after picking up our welcome packs from the gates, then we grabbed our wristbands and were ready to go! No time to unpack, though, as ABSTRACTION ENGINE awaited us at Inn On The Green at 1.45… hence no Tesco run! Swindon’s finest are regular punters here, and this time had inveigled themselves onto the bill, albeit at an indecently early time. Thankfully, we weren’t the only ones up for some early rock, and a respectable crowd greeted vocalist David and the boys as they, bedecked in fluffy jackets, eased into the plaintive slow build of opener “Placeholder”. By the upbeat Summery britpop vibe of “What Would You Say”, however, they were into their stride, and the harder-edged 70’s rocker “Dreamer” and best-of-set “Walk Through Walls”, a haunting yet propulsive rocker, formed an impressive-sounding mid-set triple. The pastoral Wheat-like “Shine” fittingly rounded off an early yet worthy and well-received inclusion for the boys on the “Shiiine” bill – a bit further up next year, maybe?
Greeted the boys as they unpacked, then the crew departed to check out other stuff and I stayed for THE MALAKITES, a painfully young looking bunch whose opening psych-pop salvo was intriguing, but as they veered into more bluesy trad-Britpop sounding stuff, a little too close to the likes of Ocean Colour Snore for my liking, I lost interest and headed back to the apartment (as far back this year as it’s possible to be without caravanning!) to unpack. The crew had done the same, so we chilled awhile, before our first jaunt into the Skyline Arena. A respectable crowd awaited JESUS JONES, on slightly late at 4.35, and straight into the upbeat techno-indie of “Zeroes And Ones”, the svelte Mike Edwards putting in an energetic shift as ever (though not as energetic as his crazed keyboardist!) yet initially sounding a little lost in the mix. We need more Mike on the mike! Thankfully, by the clattering rhythms of “Bring It On Down”, the sound was more balanced, and the hectic dynamism of “Never Enough” was my set highlight. “The Devil You Know” – “from the band’s but not the public’s favourite album,” remarked a rather bitter Edwards – was a bit dull really (the public are always right!!), yet the understated lugubrious sway of “Right Here Right Now” got a good singalong, so fair play. The barking jagged rhythm of closer “Info Freako”, accompanied by lurid colourful film backdrops, rounded off a solid and rabble-rousing yet a little one-dimensional set.
JIM
BOB was up next in short order, the former Carter USM man thankfully backed by
his Hoodrats, and playing a popular and bright set largely based on recent
album “Thanks For Reaching Out”, yet delving regularly into his former band’s
canon. I’d seen him recently at Bristol’s Rough Trade (gig 1,287), so enjoyed
the likes of the melodic, inclusive title track and sarky, snarky punk rock
hurtle “Sebastian’s On A Ridealong”. I could have done without the unannounced
cover of “Geno” (a song I never liked anyway) but the punkish “Stuff The
Jubilee”, with suitable punnish stream of consciousness lyrics, was a
subsequent highlight. The sinister sea shanty paean “Prince In A Pauper’s
Grave” (which, I say every time, I saw JB’s old band Jamie Wednesday do in 1987
– gig 78, folks!) was stark and eerie as ever, yet the subsequent “Angel Strike!”,
dour, dark and stunningly melancholic, was easily my set highlight. Ye Gods, that’s
a song! The rambunctious “Bloodsport For All” (preceded by an affable, deadpan
Jim introducing the band, including impressive bassist Lindsay Scott, then
himself as “Dirk Diggler”!) capped an overall fine set from my old Jamie
Wednesday correspondent. Great to see him in fine fettle again!
My knee was barking by now, so I took a break in Hotshots, sharing a table and a chat with Joanne and Nick from Oxford, before Rach joined us as we sheltered from the inevitable onstage car-crash that is Shaun Ryder, this time with Black Grape. However, we were of course all in for the headliners; Miles Hunt bounded onstage at the appointed hour in his cheesy game show compere alter-ego, declaiming this evening’s entertainment (“some songs from The Groove Machine! (cheers) Some songs from Hup! (more cheers)” etc.) before announcing, “to do that, I’m gonna need me a band!” THE WONDER STUFF then joined Miles onstage, kicking off with the coruscating circular riff of the brilliant “Feet To The Flames”. Great start, but Milo then deadpanned to guitarist and loyal wingman Malc Treece, “d’you want to play them something they like, Malc?”, before the fiddle-driven build of “Mission Drive” ignited the crowd.
A breather and quick bite was then called for, before I split from my Clone Roses-bound crew, I was up for seeing MIKI BERENYI TRIO in Reds. The Queen of Shoegaze joined us at 11.15 with a deadpan, “oh good, you’re all still awake then, that’s fucking great!”, easing into plaintive opener “Light From A Dead Star”, her high register vocals a feature. “I haven’t had a drink yet! I’ll be allowed when the Boo Radleys are on,” she intoned brightly as the initial set drifted hazily by. Ironically, “Suzanne”, a Moose number presumably in deference to her partner and guitarist “Moose” McKillop, was a mid-set highlight with a galloping, almost Western movie soundtrack feel, and the plangent atmospheric march of “Love At First Sight” was also rather splendid. However, a full hour seemed a little wearing, particularly given Miki’s taciturn nature and the band’s stripped-back set-up, and the dramatic, discordant closer “Baby Talk” was not only the best of set, but quite welcome after a variable performance, albeit one with many highlights.
I took a wander outside and spotted Miles Hunt outside Reds, once again holding court and generously giving his time to anyone who asked. I bought the man a drink and we had a brief chat about those pesky Gigolo Aunts before I wandered back in for THE BOO RADLEYS at 12.45. Sans former songwriter Martin Carr (who’d impressed last year with a Sunday afternoon solo set), I was still looking forward to them as they’d totally smashed it with a “Giant Steps”-centric showing in Reading earlier this year (gig 1,283), and the alarm strafe and descending riff of said album’s opener “I Hang Suspended” kicked off the set in some style, buoyant vocalist Sice once again in fantasy band camp, sporting a grin as wide as the Mersey throughout, and greeting us with a cheerful “good evening everyone! It’s way past my bedtime!” The breezy C86 strumalong of “Wish I Was Skinny” was an early highlight, and the descending poppy hook of the 60’s-esque “Find The Answer Within” provided a moment of redemption for the singer; “[when I played here solo] I totally fucked this one up!”
Boo Radleys were great again, giving the lie to their oft-variable “live” reputation, picking pure upbeat indiepop classics from the breadth of their canon. “Barney And Me” was an irresistibly groovy layered singalong, the off-kilter “Lazy Day” (“from our shoegaze album!”) a fuzzed-up delight, and newie “How Was I To Know” (“we’re chucking in [this] new one cos it’s a fucking banger!” boasted Sice) an upbeat, robust rocker with a big hook. “Lazarus”, inevitably, was the widescreen, sky-scraping set highlight, and the inevitable jaunty “Wake Up Boo”, Sice conducting the crowd singalong, was actually a fine way to send us all off to bed, to end a happy, bouncy set and the best day of the weekend, musically at least!
Shiiine Saturday started as Shiiine Saturday’s often do; a lazy lie-in, a “Big Man” big fried breakfast, then a late trip to the pool party for some lazy river action and an impromptu crazy game of keepie-up with a beach ball! A quick turn-around at the apartment as I was up for IAN PROWSE AND AMSTERDAM, on at 10 to 2 in Centre Stage (not Reds, as I quickly found out when I erroneously went there first!). Never mind, in in time to grab a bit of barrier as the man emerged, kick-starting his set with “Taking On The World”, an empowering piece of chunky, Frank Turner-esque folky pop with a punk attitude and sensibility, setting the tone for an inclusive, rabble-rousing, politically motivated yet never hectoring set of fine rebel music, which doubtless would have had The Men They Couldn’t Hang’s late agent provocateur Stefan Cush staring down in approval. An upbeat “Megalomania” had tinges of mid-period XTC; an affecting “Dessie Warren” was an inspirational folk number preceded by a preamble about the man and the cry of, “Fuck The Tories!”; and “Name And Number” featured a lengthy – and funny! – interlude about Prowse meeting Freddy Mercury in a vision, who bequeathed him the band for “Shiiine On”! A rollicking good set ended with a quite beautiful “Does This Train Stop On Merseyside” and the usual anti-“Sun” newspaper rant from a bullish Prowse. Cracking stuff again from the man!
My
crew then stayed in for Mark Chadwick; I’m not a Levellers fan, so I left on
the first note and headed to a quiet Inn On The Green for the mid-afternoon
CANDY OPERA set. A shorter than planned performance, this, due to bassist Frank
Mahon not feeling well. Mahon nonetheless struggled on gamely, as “See It
Through Your Eyes” was a shimmering slow burn into a big hooky 80’s-tinged
chorus, an unplanned “Left Right Centre” had a distinctive Motown blue eyed
soul feel, and “#Text Delete” galloped along with a rootsy rockabilly vibe,
powered by some resonant guitar licks. After the upbeat 70‘s NYC Lou Reed vibe
of “Crash”, affable badger-haired vocalist Paul Malone introduced the band,
including 16 year old (!) drummer Sonny (“we’ve had to lie about his age!”
quipped Malone). The excellent, widescreen and crafted “These Days Are Ours”
and darker “Enemy”, which featured Malone going all McCulloch/ Burgess on us by
throwing in lyrical vignettes from The Beatles, Bowie and Joy Division, rounded
off another fine set from these “Shiiine On” staples. As with the Stuffies, for
my money they’re welcome every year!
A pic and chat with a friendly Mr. Malone about Liverpool rock then preceded a (thankfully dry, the forecast showers holding off for now) wander back to Sarah’s apartment where Rach was hanging out. Enjoyed some down-time, chat and snacks before wandering back to the Skyline Arena and hooking up with the rest of the crew for “Shiiine” debutants TERRORVISION, a band who largely passed me by in the 90’s, but who were clearly this year’s nomination for the “Grunting Rock Pig” slot ably filled by the likes of Midway Still and Therapy? in previous “Shiiine”s. An early “Pretend Best Friend” was overt and shouty noisy post-grunge rock with a slight hint of Kiss-like 80’s hair metal, setting the tone for a dynamic set. Not just one trick ponies, however, this lot; “Don’t Go” featured a fine descending outro hook reminiscent of Bowie’s “All The Young Dudes”, and “American TV” was a slightly uncomfortable meld of glam stomp and 90’s rap. All eyes however were on bearded Sami Zayn lookalike singer Tony Wright, a man who not only lifted the performance above its occasionally average material with his all action, dynamic performance, but also who, in his bright pink suit (borrowing my son’s prom suit style!) with tight tight trousers, clearly dresses to the left… or right… or… (it was all rather hypnotic really…!) 90’s Level 3 floor-filler “Oblivion” was the highlight of an overall pretty decent – and definitely eye-catching! – set.
A
wander out of the arena to grab a pasty and a sit-down on a bench in the
walkway; despite this year’s festival being slightly under capacity due to the
cancellations (which, due to the number of chalets and apartments being
cordoned off, might have been more than the mooted 300…), there was still a
paucity of seats, the rear-arena deckchairs having mysteriously gone missing as
well. Note for next time, “Shiiine” – we’re not getting any younger, we all
need to sit down once in a while! Anyway, thus (slightly) revived, I decided to
subject myself again to NEDS ATOMIC DUSTBIN’s tender mercies. A band I’ve never
gotten on with, and once again they did nothing to change my view. This just
felt like a relentless throbbing and thudding bass-driven and monotone trial of
endurance, one song merging into the next like so much mulch, and little in the
way of vocals to distinguish the songs (vocalist and charisma-free zone Jon
Penney’s dull vocals being submerged in the mix for me as well). “Happy”s
change of pace and “Grey Cells Green”s slashing backbeat verse build-up to a
racey hooky chorus were far and away their best numbers, also followed by the
popular “Kill Your Television”. If they’d have just played those 3, I’d have
been a happy boy (!), but then my crew mostly thought they were ace, so what
the fuck do I know, eh?
We took an early wander to Centre Stage before the Inspirals finished, and I grabbed a bit of barrier for the first of those intriguing late 90’s reunions I’d mentioned earlier. RIALTO, who’d impressed as Sleeper’s support at the Oasis in 1998 (gig. 368) took the stage at 10.15, the 5-piece smartly dressed in slightly baggy (but not David Byrne-level) suits and led by the floppy fringed, impossibly handsome Louis Eliot, who remarked, “It’s been a minute! This is the first gig we’ve played in 21 years!” If that was so, then this was an utterly remarkable return, as from the off their sweeping, 60’s kitchen sink drama Scott Walker meets Suede material sounded taut, tight and mighty fine, even shorn of the swelling orchestral arrangements which underpinned their studio output. “Hard Candy”s 60’s inflected plaintive riff ceded to the slow burn build to the sky-scraping choral hook of “Untouchable”, followed in short order by the seedy, Pulp-like moody rocker “Broken Barbie Doll” and Ziggy-era Bowie-esque backstreet ballad “London Crawling”. Eliot, clearly loving it up there, threw a Rialto tshirt into the crowd (their only piece of merchandise!) before the stately Walker Brotherisms of “The Underdogs”, then closer “Monday Morning 5.19” was the set highlight, wallowing, melancholy and yet soaring at the same time. Overall, a triumphant return!
I
took a wander back to the crew’s table on the balcony, and kept a watching
brief for SLEEPER, next up. Attracting likely the biggest crowd of the weekend
into Centre Stage, and led onstage by vocalist Louise Wener, clearly observing
Sequin Saturday, they kicked things off with the bright ringing Britpop of
“Pyrotechnician”, Lou’s breathy Eartha Kitt vocals to the fore. Unfortunately,
for me the set took a little while to get going, a bit too much anonymous Indie
fayre for my liking, despite the best efforts of an energetic Lou and hired
hand guitarist, Desperate Journalist’s Charley Stone. However, “What Do I Do Now”
was a bouncy singalong, and an unexpected cover of Pixies’ “Wave Of
Mutilation”, Louise stretching the verse into a slow burn crowd singalong, was
a surprise, to say the least! The more anticipated cover of Blondie’s bubbling
disco classic “Atomic”, interspersed again with a mid-song singalong to “Love
Will Tear Us Apart” was easily the best of set for me, the strutting
“Inbetweener” and knockabout “Sale Of The Century” closing out a crowd-pleasing
set which had some fine moments, but again from songs belonging to other
people! The place then emptied and less than half the Sleeper crowd were left
to greet THE SUPERNATURALS, on late at 1.15 a.m. after a fiddly soundcheck. I
gave them a few numbers – they’d largely passed me by back in the day, and
tonight initially sounded Summery and melodic in a sub-Teenage Fanclub way, but
again the vocalist was too grating and monotone for so late in the day, so
after they diverted into more OCS-landfill indie territory, I bailed, leaving
my crew to suffer through them in order to get to Steve Lamacq’s Indie Disco at
2.30. Fair play – they all did!
I was however in place on the barrier for the second of the intriguing reunions I’d alluded to earlier, next to a chap I’d spoken to last year about my World Of Twist tshirt! Anyway, back to the music… I’d briefly caught LINOLEUM’S last number at Reading Festival 2000 (gig 456) and dismissed them as dated doom merchants. However I’d done my due diligence after seeing their name on this bill, picking up cheapo CD copies of their 2 albums, and realised my mistake, thoroughly enjoying their introspective goth/ post-punk tinged bedsit mood music, overlaid with the Mary Lorson-esque little girl lost vocals of Caroline Finch, who with trowelled-on mascara and a black beehive so high it needed scaffolding, was quite a looker in the old days… 23 years on, the mascara is still in place, along with a perma-grin rivalling Sice’s, as she led on her recently reformed (4th gig in 21 years, apparently, this one…) 4-piece and eased into opener “She’s Sick”, all pseudo-goth drama and harsh slashing riffery from guitarist Paul Jones. The droney, Velvet Underground meets “Christine”-House Of Love “Your Back Again” followed, the band immediately hitting their stride, and the excellent “Dissent”, with the downbeat descending hook, was next up and an early highlight. “Marquis”’s discordant post-punk pin-prick rhythm recalled early Wire, and “Restriction” was a galloping dismissive moody piece which could have even been lifted from the first Pretenders album. However, their reading of early 80’s post-punkers’ The Passions’ classic “I’m In Love With A German Film Star” (“Our most recent single; it came out 23 years ago!” quipped a bubbly yet hitherto taciturn Finch) was the set highlight, eerie and building, with the band hitting that fine balance of remaining faithful to the original yet moving around enough furniture to make it their own. Overall, another impressive return!
Grabbed a pic with a besieged Finch afterwards and chatted to the Abstraction Engine boys outside the Inn, before a light drizzle saw me head for the Skyline Arena, meeting the crew and catching the last number of ALEX LIPINSKI on the Skyline stage. His punchy Britpop/ powerpop sounded half decent actually, so I was sorry I missed most (if not all) of his set. Then, having little interest in The Farm and none at all in Fun Lovin’ Criminals, next up in the Arena, I headed back to the apartment for a late-afternoon lie down!
Back
in however for the last knockings of “Shiiine On”, for me at least; met Rach,
had a pasty and phoned home, then back in our usual Skyline spot for the
“Shiiine On” debuts of a couple of late 2000’s bands. First up at 20 past 7 was
THE VIEW (who we arrived late for, following our pasty break!). I wasn’t much
sold on this lot when I saw them on the 2007 NME “Brats Bus” new bands tour
(gig 723), particularly their own crowd chant “The View are on fire”, and the
first number we heard tonight, sung by bassist Kieren Webster and sounding like
a mess of 2 numbers welded together, did nothing to change that view (sic).
However, things improved when usual vocalist (and clearly part flamingo,
judging by his propensity to stand on one leg) Kyle Falconer resumed lead
duties, with “Allergic To Mornings” a knockabout Kinks-like singalong, and “Double
Yellow Lines” a decent driving indie rocker. “Face For The Radio” was a quirky
strumalong veering into Coral territory, and “Sunday” was my favourite, a
galloping rocker with a helium chorus, “ramping up the tempo to cray cray,” as the
affable Falconer put it. “Same Jeans”, their big hit and millstone number, was
inserted late-set, but for me is still a total rip-off of Cornershop’s “Brimful
Of Asha”, and I sang “BFA”’s lyrics along to it, whilst fending off some bloke
who came up to me and announced, a propos of nothing, “that’s Kell Faulkner,
he’s a wee fanny fae Dundee!” OK then! A couple of bouncy upbeat indie pop
numbers and a rabble rousing closer “Shock Horror” rounded off a quite
enjoyable set actually, better than I expected… Are The View on fire? Not sure,
but smouldering nicely…
The
Enemy were clearly a band on a mission and in a hurry tonight, with an
aggressive “Had Enough” preceded by a “here we, here we, here we fucking go!”
chant from Clarke, and initially the frantic pace seemed a bit unfocussed and
relentless, particularly coupled with Clarke’s constant rabble rousing (one cry
of, “I know some of you are getting old, and it’s past your bedtimes, but I
don’t give a fuck!” being a bit jarring, with Jon at this point dipping out of
the set because he was tired of being shouted at by the vocalist – fair enough
really…). However, they hit their stride for me with the heartfelt “That’s
Entertainment”-esque strumalong “We’ll Live And Die In These Towns”, the
message of urban deprivation being more articulately conveyed by this number,
followed up by an almost Bauhaus “Dark Entries”-like descending riff opening to
the frantic, almost ska-rhythm of “You’re Not Alone”. Talking of ska, “40 Days
And 40 Nights” saw Clarke reference fellow Coventrians The Specials, throwing a
couplet from “Ghost Town” in the mid-section hook; then “This Song” was an
anthemic manifesto for The Enemy massive, the hook ringing around the arena,
then reprised a couple of numbers later to finish the set on an inclusive note.
I liked them fine, loved the energy, and their hearts are definitely in the
right place, but the intensity and earnestness seemed a little wearing at
times. However, they fully justified their position as Sunday headliners, a
point underlined by Rach who’d been in the mosh throughout; on the previous
occasions we’d seen The Enemy she’d been pregnant both times (!) so happily
made up for lost time tonight!
SHERIFF’S
SHIIINE ON SELECTION
Saturday
Best
– RIALTO
Sunday
Best
– LINOLEUM
2. BOO RADLEYS
3. RIALTO
