Shiiine On Weekender 2025: Jesus and Mary Chain, Ash & Cast

I can’t believe this festival happens. GenX doesn’t join things, or even accumulate en masse often. We’re an entire generation of loners. And compared to the multitudes on either side of our birth years, we are fairly resistant to the disease of nostalgia. So standing in a crowd at a music festival where every person around me was born in the 1970s… it felt like a Black Mirror episode. I barely know anyone the same age as me, and at most shows I’m the only old punk in the back washing down an ibuprofen with a can of white wine while texting the babysitter.

So how have the Shiiine On organisers managed to put this event together for 11 years on the trot? I don’t know. I don’t want to know… what I don’t have to know. (To quote a song by The Soup Dragons that was so good they played it twice.)

Shiiine On is a three-day celebration of UK 80s/90s music, hosted twice a year at Butlins Minehead (November) and Skegness (March), with a focus on indie acts. This came onto my radar when I saw The Jesus and Mary Chain announce it and noticed Inspiral Carpets would also play. I looked through the rest of the lineup and thought, “who the hell ARE these people?” Let me explain why I didn’t perk up when seeing names like Bluetones or Cast: I’m American.

I’ve lived in the UK for 11 years. As a lifelong live music fanatic, I attend gigs regularly. As someone from a musical family who worked in “the industry”, I am infinitely fascinated by artists who topped charts here but never made a splash in my home country, for better or worse. This festival was FULL of all that. So what I got, in addition to catching one of my absolute favorites JAMC, was three days of “new music” discovery. Acts my yankee ears never got to hear, but have been around for 3+ decades honing their craft into accomplished musicianship. I loved it. At one moment, I could actually smell the 20th century. Butlins have old carpets, I guess.

OK, so the bands I booked for, JAMC, Inspiral Carpets, and my husband’s Glastonbury highlight of Ash, were all fantastic. I was half worried that performing at a holiday park, none of these acts would bring their A Game, but they truly did. Jim poured his soul out on that stage. And Inspiral Carpets, who I were expecting to simply be fun old pop stars, turned in a really special, rollicking set I won’t soon forget. The Ash headline slot on Friday was longer than their set times at Glastonbury and Bearded Theory earlier this year, so many new tunes were embedded. This was not a weekend of nostalgia; it was lots of good music from acts that came about together.

Now, for the highlights of bands I’d never heard:

Reef - Yeah ok, I knew the put your hands up bit, but didn’t even realise that was them. While the sound of this baggy trousered ensemble may be steeped in the grungy reverb of the mid-90s, their fierce approach and energetic instrumentation create an experience that feels timeless. I was ready to burn shit down 2025 style afterwards. I’m surprised I don’t see them on more lineups. This is the kind of release you crave when camping in a field to listen to tunes for 3 days. I’ll catch them anywhere.

Bluetones - I spotted lots of t-shirts in the crowd for this act before their Sunday appearance, so I figured it’s a band I should catch. I expected and recognised nothing, but the set delivered over an hour of excellent groovy tunes. Frontman Mark is as funny as he is vocally talented, effortlessly delivering brilliant banter. After I got home, I looked them up and played some recordings. Hmmm. Their old records feel fairly “mid” compared to their live shows. Don’t know if I’d have been all that excited if I’d listened ahead of time. I then fell down a rabbit hole of old reviews, where one writer in the year 2000 called Bluetones the Lib Dems of Brit Pop. Ok, I hear that. But it seems they’ve matured into something more nuanced than Oasis also-rans. It’s definitely dad-rock, but done really well and more diverse than much of what their contemporaries offer. I didn’t buy a t-shirt, but I understand the cult following.

Sleeper - Holy shit do I have a new girl-crush. How have I not seen this lady?!? I’ve spent over 40 years being obsessed with women rock stars (read the book Pretend We’re Dead if you’re like me), and Louise is just stunning. Sonorous vocals, great tunes, and an empowering rock sound. I hope I get to see them lots more. There’s nothing else to say about it, Sleeper is just fucking awesome, and anyone who likes rock music would like them I can’t see how you wouldn’t.

Who else did I love? Jesus Jones. Now that was an act I knew but had never seen, and they were excellent. Gen the drummer is the tits, I got sweaty just watching him pound that kit. The aforementioned Soup Dragons were interesting… an afternoon slot on the smaller Centre Stage, they admitted they rarely gig but were inspired to reform by the festival organiser. They started a bit out of synch, but a few songs in they hit a groove and it was splendid 80s teen garage rock that I felt like blasting out of a cassette tape as soon as it ended.

Late nights at Shiiine On feature tribute acts and lots of DJs. The vocalist of the Clone Roses does an excellent Ian Brown, but it still left me feeling sad I wasn’t seeing the real thing, and I did not want to cap off a night of fantastic original sets with a cover band. Kills the buzz. However, many people stayed up late partying despite their advancing years; the atmosphere is invigorating.

We’re already planning a voyage across the country to experience Skegness next Spring, that’s how fun this was. Old and young, long time fans or new explorers of the era, come along for the party.