History of The Shine

OK, so what do you do when you wake up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning? Well, from my point of view I had a coffee and started thinking back through a kind of "timeline" of The Shine... On this basis, I reckoned it may be quite interesting (if only to us Shinies) to atually log this down before memories fade completely... Here goes....

4th January 2004 - Andy and I met for the first time in Nicky Tam's in Stirling following my finding his wee "want ad" in a Falkirk music store. I had left Must Hang Sally in September 2003 following the band's break up and was bursting with new but definite ideas. Through meeting with Andy, and a few pints, we discovered we wanted the same thing - a working band with no material limits, playing what we wanted to play and with no conflicting egos. We agreed to give this a bash with Andy on lead guitar and vocals, me on lead vocals and guitar.

January 2004 - I gave Iain a call, Iain being a mate of mine and long time conspirator with Unfinished Business. Iain was up for giving it a bash at being our drummer from the outset. With Iain on board, we set up a deal with the Railway Tavern in Dollar as a practice venue and started working up material, auditioning bass guitarists etc. First bass player we tried was Stuart Grant who was to feature strongly throughout the band's history (although he didn't take up our offer to join, going on to form Soul Inferno around this time).

March 2004 - Andy, Iain and I had our first live outing at a jam session at the Weir Pumps Social Club in Alloa with a dep bass player from the bunch of people there.

April 2004 - Colin Nelson joined the band as our bass player. A solid, thoughtful guy, Colin also had the coolest "want ad" I'd ever seen in Sound Control and a WAL bass - the first time I'd ever seen or played a WAL close up. Around this time, the Railway closed, never to reopen. I struck a deal with the Twa Macs in Alva and we had a new free practice venue (whenever it wasn't full of assorted crap, timings & agreements fucked up etc.)

November 2004 - First couple of official gigs as The Shine as a four piece. First was a freebie at the Twa Macs, the second the Dunfermline Christmas light switch on.

January 2005 - Colin decided to leave. We were unaware of any musical differences but Colin had a lot going on aside from the band. We wished him well, he was (and probably still is) a great player.

March 2005 - First properly touted / sourced gig at Forresters in Cambusbarron - WITH NO BASS PLAYER! First re-entry of Mr Stuart Grant!

June 2005 - We are introduced to Mark (TSD) Palmer by Lynz Hepburn of Soul Inferno (Stuart Grant link No. 3). Mark immediately gelled with where we were going AND HAD A VAN! This started one of the most inventive period in the band's history where (1) we gained a circuit of prestige gigs (2) developed our sound - turning Mark from a talented bass player to an unadulterated rock monster (or was it the other way round) (3) recording our first "proper" demo CD in Andy's home studio (4) conquering the internet with a diverse web presence (5) following Mark's lead and adopting silly pseudonyms! Andy is deemed the sexiest member of the band by female audience members.

August 2005 - Our first Gig In The Glen in Dunfermline as headliners (with Soul Inferno as second on the bill). This was followed by the conquering of Edinburgh, a city we still love playing.

June 2006 - Just before a gig in Edinburgh, Iain feels a TWANG and amuses us all by showing us that his thumb's got no movement and closely resembles a piece of lifeless rubber! He goes on to play a 3 hour gig only to discover the following day that his tendon had snapped and started it's ascent back up his arm! Thus followed 6 months of surgery, complete rest and then physiotherapy. At this time, Iain was told that he may never play drums, knit or masturbate again (OK, I made up the last two...)

August 2006 - Mark decides to leave the band and concentrate on his other band The Screaming Meemies. Bass recruitment begins again....

August 2006 - Mr Stuart Grant, believing Soul Inferno were about to fold, joins The Shine officially as bass player. As a result, we pretty much drop the silly pseudonyms and discover that we can be just as powerful (or in fact even more) with a funky drive from the rhythm section.

February 2007 - Reports of Soul Inferno's demise appear to be grossly exagerated and there is a conflict of gig dates. After huge heart searching, we suggest to Stuart that he'd be better concentrating on rebuilding Soul Inferno - his baby.

March 2007 - Before leaving, Andy, Iain, Stuart and I head off to Craigmont Studios in Glasgow to record a new professional album. If this was to be seen as Stuart's swansong, it's a fucking cracker! Back to the recruitment process... Andy and I placed various want ads and came up with a few options.

April 2007 - On one night in Rosyth, we auditioned a couple of guys, the second being Mike Gudgeon. Now, here's an interesting one... Mike had previously contacted me about the bass position just after we'd appointed Stuart, Mike's married to Lesley of David Beattie's Lucky Tile who we were vaguely associated with (and who knows my mate Martin) and, in fact, Mike was one of the local cops who put an untimely end to Gig In The Glen 2006 (although he was the innocent party of the couple of cops).

Anyway, back to the audition... There was no comparison! Mike was offered the job right there and then. We were ready to "Set a Pidge on ya!". Mike is also, without any offense to those who went before, the most talented bass player we've ever heard - bringing power, funk, rhythm and a musical knowledge WAY in excess of any of us. Andy has also lost his crown, in audience terms, as sexiest member of the band - this having been claimed by Mike!

May 2007 - Mike's first gig with us (after only a couple of practices) at Alloa Town Hall for the CAMRA Real Ale Festival.

February 2008 - Back off to Craigmont Studios, Glasgow to record our third album (with third consecutive bass guitarist).

August 2008 - Mike is not only the longest standing bass guitarist in the history of The Shine, he's also the most prolific as we pick up regulalrly prestigious gigs. Mike is also the most in tune with the rest of us as he shares the ethos of fun without ego and is a normal decent family guy.

The Orgasmic Scribbler's Picnic - 24.8.08

Well, I guess you could class this as "yetanotherdoubleheader"!! Esteemed God of Thunder Iain and King of the Six String brought a great sense of hooliganism to Soul Inferno on Friday 22nd August where they depped at the brilliant O'Neill's in Merchant City, Glasgow. I had the "pleasure" of bein there to witness the spectacle of 2 outstanding rock musicians bringing their own form of lunacy to a perfectly respectable soul band... Why the "pleasure" in inverted comments? Well, the sound was absolutley rank! This particular muso was dying to get his hands on their soulie knobs!!

So, a quick sleep, rub down with a couple of freshly squeezed virgins and the boys were made Shiny again! This time it was a Sunday afternoon gig at the Scribbler's Picnic festival in Stirling - a gig we've been trying to land for 4 years!

So, why orgasmic? Well, these festival type gigs are fantastic for us - really our forte - but we tend to run on 30 minutes of extreme pleasure and then a climax!!! Get the point?

Anyway, we launched into high energy version of Kids In America... then straight into Highway To Hell. A quick welcome and we were into Andy's brilliant Inspiration. Not to be outdone, I had to bash out my own one Saturday Night. Strangely, and very welcome, the originals went down a treat! We then launched into the guaranteed crowd pleaser Chelsea Dagger before rounding off with American Idiot.

Thanks to Anita and Carrie for taking some photos (all featured in the various galleries) and videoing the whole Shinyshow! I just wonder whether my comment of "You're coming home with me!" to the bird in the Moulin Rouge type outfit came out on video...? I couldn't hear it, but there again I didn't hear ANY monitor!

Big thanks to Ted Christopher for having us... Hopefully we'll be back next year??!!

So, all in all, within an hour of unloading the cars we had played, sweated a couple of pints, loaded the cars back up again and were on our way out!

A good time had by all!!!

Killin - 15.8.08 - View From The Front!

Well well well... Beaten to the Blog by the God Of Thunder himself!

What more can I say... As always, particularly big thanks to Jan and David for just being such geat people! These are the kind of clients we REALLY appreciate playing for!

Notable phases for me from this gig? :-

Delivering the goods after two consecutive 20 hour days (as pointed out below)

Forgetting the opening line to Monster... Damn!!

Ledderhosen and Alpine hats - VERY scary!

Seeing Maria / Waitress again for the first time this year!

Wishing Jan & David a Happy Christmas....

Being scared driving home 'cos I was physically, emotionally and mentally so knackered.

Having to be up again at 8am to roll down a Perthshire hill in a Zorb Ball....

Ah, the joys of being a rock and roll legend!

Coachhouse Hotel, Killin, 15/08/08

Our last visit this summer season to the land of the bat-sized midges saw us again looking forward to an unpredictable night, audience wise. Killin is one of those gigs where you really have no idea who will be in and what set will go down well.

As usual, we hedged our bets. The bar was pretty busy with the post teatime crowd when we kicked off with our now traditional acoustic set. The crowd were warm and responsive and very appreciative, which is always nice. We had a bit of a rash of guitarists starting songs too fast in the middle of the set, but hey ho, if you don't want to wait for the drummer, then hell mend you! Stand out tune was our best to date version of Andy's new self penned "Different Day" which is seriously classy.

First set over and a quick break and we launched into our electric set with Highway to Hell, expecting to cause a mass exodus within the first few power chords, but no, the crowd stayed and wanted more. Never being ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, we graciously obliged and got "tore in". Neil had a bit of a unique moment, forgetting the first line to Monster, but considering he had been up since 4am and opened a multi-million pound shopping centre development already that day, the fact that this was the only aberration in the night was laudable. We also managed to play "Learn to Fly" in the agreed structure for the first time all the way through- like I say, Killin is never predictable!

Towards the end of the set we were joined by a group of well lubricated Bavarians who livened up the place no end. Neil struggled manfully and finally managed to get through the rest of the set without mentioning the war and we ended the night with one of the best receptions we have ever had at a gig and people offering us money to play on... We obliged with an encore for no money and ended the night with great big knackered smiles and the thought of a drive back down the road in the rain, fog and post gig glow...

Roll on next week and our debut, finally, at the almost legendary Scribblers Picnic, 2.30, Sunday 24th Aug in the Thommo Tent, in the grounds of Stirling Rugby Club. See you there?

Finnegan's Wake, Edinburgh - 9.8.08

Finnegan's Wake... What can we say...!!?? Finnegan's Wake during the festival... Into orbit!

Edinburgh during the festival / Fringe is always great. What an atmosphere! So many great people out to have a great time.

We knew this was going to be a tough one logistically as (1) the bar would be jumping by the time we arrived and (2) would STILL be jumping by the time we left due to the 3am closing time. Not to worry, we were expecting it. We weren't expecting the parking ban in Victoria Street but thanks to my schmoozing a traffic warden and Willie the Security Guard's constant lookout we were fine.

Oh, and it rained... Fucking hell it rained!!! It was torrential when we arrived for the load in, let up during the night and was torrential again when we loaded back out.

As for the gig, yet again - stunning! We'd decided on a high energy, rocky and fairly modern set thanks to our illustrious Mr Keates and, I think, totally hit the mark. From the outset we were supported by Suzanne's friendly hen party (featuring a VERY hot Welsh girl). These girls parties their cute little asses off for the entire first set and totally spurred us on.

By the break, the hen party had moved on (reluctantly) so, quick 10 minute break, and we were off again into Chelsea Dagger. We thought the party could boogie? This was NOTHING compared to the full dancefloor in the second set!!! They were even dancing in the main body of the pub, in back areas, down the sides... AWESOME GIG!!!

Danny asked us if we could play for a bit longer than the 1am finish rather than lose punters - suggesting a 1.15am finish. We were more than happy to oblige, playing until 1.30. Danny seemed happy, the crowd seemed happy and we were more than happy!

Every silver lining has a cloud....
(1) Two weeks previously I'd said to Andy "What happens if the power amp fails". Last night was the night it chose to fail! Thankfully we managed to rescue it with flicking the switch.
(2) First trial of my new Sennheiser headset mic. Possibly not the best idea at a prestige gig. The feedback was horrible from the front monitor. Mind you, a £20 mic into a Sennheiser wireless system? Maybe that was the problem... The in ear monitors were stunning though.
(3) Andy's "Bug" wireless system decided to be downright tempremental at times, leading our stunning lead guitarist to have to resort to {gulp} a WIRE!
(4) Various drunk punters who decided to both use our gear as things to fall into and to stick full pints on. As a result, thanks to some dickhead from obviously the clan McMohammed (what the fuck was that all about), a bass bin, my effects board and half of Andy's floor gear soaking up about 2 pints of finely brewed beverage!

The classic line of the night, however, came from one of the hen party girls. After we did Proud Mary she said "Ah, that's the Tina Turner one!" I said "I'm hardly Tina Turner - I don't even have a vagina!". The response came right back "You will have by the end of the night!" SCHWING!!!

Woodside Inn, Glenrothes - 2.8.08

Round 2 of our latest "Double Header".... No, I don't mean that certain "bucket of inanimate cogitating hippocampi" (edited by Iain- work it out!) that Iain favours....

So, off we go to the Woodside in Glenrothes. Strange how I get all gramatically correct sometimes. When I arrived a drunk punter who was out for a fag growled at me "Ur you ra band?". Well, if it was just me I'd be the artist, the musician. A band, in terms of basic vocabulary, is a collection of musicians. I just responded "Well I'm 1/4 of a band". This seemed to confuse him so he just grumbled and leaned at an acute angle against the wall... C'est la vie...

Anyway, Iain and I arrived early to claim the stage as there had been a slight double booking confusion. No worries there though.

Strange place The Woodside - it doesn't really come alive until about 10.30. We launched into a much higher energy set than the previous night at about 9pm and immediately had the handful of punters in the palms of our hands. No mentions of dogging (like the previous night) as I'd decided to behave tonight. We tore through the first set at a rate of knots, so much so, we were running ahead of time and had to stick in some extra material. Sometimes it's great to have shitloads of material!!

By the time we took a break at about 10.15, the venue was starting to fill up.

Quick break, fill the glasses, and we were back on about 10.30 with a rousing Chelsea Dagger. By this time, despite some overheard comments that some punters were there to see the "other band", we had them dancing in the ailes.Again, we must have been playing at breakneck speed as - checking my watch - we had played for 45 minutes with 45 to go and three songs left. Out came the extensive setlist again.

All in all an interesting night... Solos where solos had never been before (both Andy and I guilty), solos missing where solos were meant to be, songs done which hadn't been off the shelf in 6 months ("what key's Ziggy in?")...

All in all though, another great performance as usual. When we're running at 60% we're great... When we're at 100% we're unstopable!

The night concluded with the audience screaming for more but, as it was past the witching hour, we did the fastest stripdown of our 5 year career and loaded up.

Thank God for Sunday and the chance to chill with coffee (and web blogs!)

Waverley Hotel, Callendar - 1.8.08

We had a great time back at the Waverley Hotel in Callendar on Friday night - 1st August. It's strange but, despite all the high profile city centre gigs (Behind The Wall, Finnegan's Wake etc), it's great to do the "semi rural" gigs like Killin and Callendar.

I arived at steak pie o clock to find Iain still tucking into his chilli stir fry... around half past fish supper, we decided to do one of the worst load ins on the circuit - people tend not to appreciate a bass drum in the back of the napper as they're tucking into their tea... Still, no injuries...

We were joined by 3/4 of the "Shine WAG Club" for this gig - the only one missing being Gwen - and the first gig attended by my wife Fiona. We were also honoured to have Kim Shepherd of Cut The Cake along with Mike's wife Lesley (who sings with David Beatie's Lucky Tile).

Being Callendar, we decided to try the half acoustic / half electric set that we developed for Killin. Good choice! All in all, a really great gig and a great audience!! Obviously not the same kind of people as the young venues we do where they swing from the rafters... However, big up to the couple from Warrington who were staying in Callendar and opted to disregard the lockout from their hotel to stay and watch the band!!

I have to say, however, that the highlight for me was when Les & Kim joined us on stage to do backing vocals on Mustang Sally!! It's always been an ambition of mine to work with female vocalists - this was a dream come true! The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up! What stunning singers!!!

All in all a cracking night, although I'm not sure Kim thought so in the morning as I believe she was "driving the porcelain truck" when she got home! One thing, however, Fiona's now an official "Shinette" - the club for gig attending Shine WAG members!