By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum

WHEN?: 17 to 20 November 2023

Our seventh Shiiine (we only missed the first one) and it appears, musically, to have been the best! We review Wonder Stuff, Sleeper, Terrorvision, Inspiral Carpets, John Power, Jesus Jones, A Certain Ratio and Steve Lamacq’s Going Deaf for a Living talk plus DJ set.

• Read on for reasons including Wonder Stuff, Sleeper, Terrorvision and Steve Lamacq

Having booked up for next year before the first band was due on stage, we arrived buoyed up for Jesus Jones. Having seen them a few years ago, they rocked the late afternoon slot. I can’t believe Mike Edwards (singer) is 57 – his energy belies him! International Bright Young Thing, Real Real Real and Right Here Right Now took the crowd to where they’d remain for the duration of the weekend. 

Friday’s Skyline headliner, The Wonder Stuff, we’ve seen go through the ranks. What a well deserved position they held that day, also winning the most popular act chosen on the Shiiine Facebook page.  Circle Square was a huge moment for me, but not as much as Red Berry Joy Town, Give Give Give Me More More More, Ruby Horse and A Wish Away all from the awesome Eight Legged Groove Machine album (technically the 80s but I’m not arguing), and also obviously Size of a Cow, Don’t Let Me Down Gently, and the most amazing Dizzy, which they said they’ll probably never play again in their lives. We feel honoured to have heard it. Spectacular, Miles Hunt is just the coolest. 

Saturday saw us having a chat with Steve Lamacq pre-show, then watching Going Deaf for a Living. It’s the journey of a music fan’s relationship with – well music. We missed this tour a few years ago and were delighted to catch it. From Mud’s Tiger Feet though to Idles via his own dodgy reviews on the NME, Lammo’s delivery is witty and meaningful. The perfect talk for this weekend. 

Bentley Rhythm Ace were a late-ish announcement, which made our weekend! Having seen them before, we knew what to expect. They didn’t disappoint. They never disappoint. What actually made my weekend was catching James Atkin’s rave flag and wearing it for the remainder of the day tied around me, then having a lovely chat with James on Facebook about it. Unbelievable. 

Terrorvision surprised and shocked us last year at Victorious Festival so we knew what we were letting ourselves into. Never mind Edwards’ energy in Jesus Jones, Tony Wright’s stage presence is almost as huge as – well I can’t say what else. Photos and discussions of the “what else” were taken down from the Shiiine Facebook group, but I’m sure he himself would have been delighted with it. In his pink suit, he vaulted from one side of the stage to the other, to hits including Oblivion, Alice What’s the Matter, Perseverance and our favourite of the day (nothing to do with the bottle of the rose version consumed beforehand) Tequila. I still have SALT, LEMON and LIME as an earworm and yes it’s in capitals in my head. I cannot recommend this band enough to see live.

Inspiral Carpets were the Skyline Saturday headliner and we were excited to see a longer show than the one at Victorious Festival earlier in the year. We’ve seen them before a few times and they never disappoint. I think Dragging Me Down was missing from their festival set, but hearing it at Shiiine was a highlight for me. Reading in the chat that seeing a grown man cry at Inspiral Carpets just about summed up the whole weekend and Shiiiners’ relationship with music. I feel Clint Boon is truly humbled every time he plays at the reception they get. 

All on my lonesome, I saw Sleeper in Centre Stage. I’ve seen them a few times but not in this venue. The acoustics were the best I’ve ever heard. Louise Wener strutted around in her sequined outfit (not realising the day was in fact Shiiine Sequin Saturday) paired with trainers. Obviously. She’s a very generous performer, coming to each side of the stage to see her fans. Along with hits such as Sale of the Century and Inbetweener, Louise not only sang her version of Blondie’s Atomic (which is always on the set list these days), but also Pixies’ Wave of Mutilation, going down very well with all of us indie kids in the audience. The crowd love her. We all do. 

Our usual highlight is Steve Lamacq’s disco at 2am and we always manage to keep dancing until 4am. This year it finished at 3.30 and we felt short-changed! Maybe it was all a bit much after his talk earlier in the day. I think I could write out his playlist as it’s been very similar for the last seven years; the only additions being Fontaines DC, Idles and Wet Leg! He always chats at the end of his set, but this year, we didn’t see him hang around. One year, he told us he couldn’t find his jumper. I’ll let you imagine what we all shouted to him at the tops of our voices at that point (said jumper was behind him). You guessed it, he plays the Sultans of Ping every year too.

Sunday was a quiet day for us, with John Power’s acoustic set in Centre Stage the first of only two performances that day. All of Cast’s hits he played of course, with a few from his new album. He really knows how to captivate a huge room of hungover weekenders, with just his guitar (his words), his surname the explanation. Power of his voice, the back catalogue and his stage presence. He ended saying that we are all just passers-by and we should just be kind and considerate to each other. What a top bloke. 

Our weekend closer was A Certain Ratio. We love Shack Up but weren’t really aware of much else. From post-punk jazz to acid jazz and all sorts of genres in between, there was something there for everyone. With the guitarist and drummer swapping mid-song and everyone on small percussive instrument jamming along to the drummer, it’s hard to describe all of what they did. Jangly guitars, flutes, cow bells, funky slap bass, boss keyboard chords, sweet soulful vocals … what’s not to like. We definitely want to see this band live again. 

So all in all, musically, this was our best Shiiine weekender yet. We missed quite a few popular bands this year, to be honest, but what we did see, and review, was pure quality. 

Maybe it’s the music that pulls us all together (now, in the words of The Farm, Saturday afternoon slot), maybe we’ve all been drunk a thousand times (the tequila certainly helped), nothing was going to drag us down this weekend. Bentley knew he was going to sort us out. Maybe it’s us singing along to our indie karaoke in the inbetweener bits. Maybe it’s the in-house quiz we do (including a star recorder round) because we never make it to Alan ex-Shed’s quiz on time. Maybe it was my new friends I made on the beach for our daily 10am dip. Maybe it was who we were shacked up with: uni mates from 95-98, bang on Brit Pop era. Butlins and Shiiine really do make this the highlight of our year and I know that majority of the other 6,500 odd attendees think the same. I think, along with Lammo, we’re all going deaf after this.

• Pictures courtesy Carron Stacey.
• Read more from Carron at her blog A Humdrum Mum
• Have you seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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