Shiiine On Weekender
Butlins, Warren Rd, Minehead TA24 5SH
Friday 15th – Monday 18th November 2019
Imagine spending a weekend where your favourite 90s Indie bands perform their hits one after another, in the company of like minded people, plus pool parties, themed exhibitions, films and various fun activities.
You’ve just imagined Shiiine On!
I had a great time at the 1 day event in Birmingham last year, but this year was a 3 day event at Butlins Minehead resort which takes it to a whole new level!
Butlins facilities are second to none, with brilliant sound and lighting, and your comfy bed is only a short walk away, you can even nip back to your chalet for a quick cuppa between bands if you want!
This year Verity Bambury and Dulcie Alexis went down to check it out and take some photos!
The journey from Stoke-On-Trent was fairly straight fwd with a direct train from Stoke to Taunton, cross the road and board the bus direct to Butlin’s front gate! It took around 5hrs in total.
Once through the gate it’s a case of booking in and locating your chalet.
The chalet was clean, nicely decorated with a seaside theme, with comfy beds.
Ivory Wave
Unfortunately there was some confusion over whether their passes gave them access to the photo pit or not, and by the time it was resolved it was too late to get any photos of Ivory Wave – which is a shame as they were one of my top picks from last year, and they seem to be going from strength to strength – playing a sold out “big room” show in Birmingham’s O2 Academy the following night.
They did manage to watch the band though and thought they were great!
Reverend and The Makers
Reverend and the Makers could almost be made for Shiiine On! The bass line had the whole tent bouncing throughout their crowd-pleasing set.
The Lightning Seeds
Liverpool’s own Ian Broudie asked the crowd if they were happy tonight, because he is. Fair to say the crowd were very happy and enjoyed their hit-packed set culminating with “3 lions” very much the anthem of the weekend causing the crowd to go even more wild!
Sice (Boo Radleys)
Sice came out and said he was going to do some Boo Radleys songs once he found his setlist! He seemed really humble and happy to be there. He performed acoustically and though the room is massive, it felt like a very intimate gig.
Wake up Boo sounded very different to the record, but very good and went down well with the crowd.
Callow Youth
Verity and Dulcie headed to the Inn on the Green pub where they caught a young Mancunian band called Callow Youth. They had quite a 90s sound with hints of Kasabian and Wedding Present. Singer looked like a young Alex Turner.
Beachcomber Inn Indie Quiz
One of the great things about this festival is that in between the bands you want to see there are other things to do. They had a fab time at the Indie Quiz.
Babybird
It’s always a good sign when a band play their big hit early in the set – and Babybird played “You’re Gorgeous” as the 2nd song, so as you can imagine, his set was something special.
Swervedriver
Swervedriver are very much a shoegazing band, with an impressive number of pedals!
Steve Mason
With boiler suits and floppy hats, they brought along a very indie vibe and played to a packed room.
Embrace
Embrace were a band that took me by surprise last year. I didn’t know much about them, but was blown away by how good they were, and how well they went down with the audience. I’m happy to report that Verity and Dulcie had a similar experience!
The band really got the crowd going with lots of audience participation and sounded really good.
Jim Bob
Jim Bob played the Carter album “30 Something” in it’s entirety and in the original running order and then on to fan favourites including a cover of the Inspiral Carpets “This is how it feels”.
Bob Mould
The Husker Du front man was last at Minehead 10 years ago for ATP. He’s a man of few words but doesn’t half crank out superb loud American college guitar rock indie!
Sultans of Ping
This set is all about leg kicking, lunging, in tight pink leopard print jeans, thrusting and bum/leg shaking They finished by saying “We thank you very much you people of butlins, you have a special place at the butlins, May it last forever!”
But came back for an encore to do a little song called “Where’s me Jumper” and you can imagine how the audience reacted.
Thousand Yard Stare
Their 3rd time at Shiiine went down well with a sea of people in fisherman hats giving it a proper 90s vibe.
Jesus Jones
When Jesus Jones come out on to the stage you could almost believe we are still in the 90s as he doesn’t seem to have aged in the slightest! “International Bright Young Thing” is the 3rd song and he pulled off a set with great energy and sounding great.
PWEI
PWEI put on a crowd pleasing set that got everybody jumping.
Neds Atomic Dustbin
Neds Atomic Dustbin picked up from where PWEI left off and kept the crowd bouncing throughout.
The Wonder Stuff
Miles started by reassuring the audience that although they have a new album out, they won’t be playing anything from it tonight, you will need to catch them on tour to hear it. It makes sense because you go to festivals to hear the hits, and if you’re a fan you go to the concerts to hear more.
He said that it had taken 33 years to get PWEI, Neds and The Wonderstuff on the same line-up!
Time for Action
As it was nearing the end of the last night, the band called the audience the “72 hour party people” and they weren’t wrong, the crowd weren’t going to let the party end just yet!
The band had a proper Manchester Indie feel and look.
Dodgy
Nigel Clark came out and called the audience the “Soldiers of Shine” which drew a massive applause whilst they launched into “Staying out for the Summer”.
The Farm
The weekender closed in good hands with Liverpool legends The Farm running through their impressive back catalogue of hits.
In “Groovy Train” he told the audience to go back to their “Groovy Chalets”.
It was all over for another year, but I suspect much of the audience, including Verity and Dulcie are counting the days until next year!
Words: John W. King / Verity Bambury / Dulcie Alexis
Photos: Verity Bambury / Dulcie Alexis
More photos on the Urbanista Facebook Page.
