It’s been five years since I first stumbled across Shining, playing the second stage of Hammerfest II to about twenty people and plagued with a multitude of technical difficulties, but there was something about the band that captivated me all the same – which clearly the sign of a good band.
Put simply, Shining is not your average band. Playing music in their very own genre of blackjazz, which is perhaps best described as an avant-garde blend of jazz and metal (although there is other genres too!) this is not a band that plays by the rules – with Shining, the rule book is out the window and anything goes!
Opening their set with The Madness And The Damage Done, it seemed like a fair chunk of the crowd didn’t quite know what to make of the music at first, as a good chunk of it is walls of noise and repeating squealing keyboard riffs, coupled with some magnificent saxophone playing, but the more the band played, the more people got involved – the beauty of Shining is that you just can’t help but enjoy them! Fisheye was a particular highlight of the set, and despite there being a dodgy connection in the microphone, frontman Jørgen powered on regardless and it didn’t put a damper on the show in the slightest.
As the show was the last of the tour with Periphery and Devin Townsend, there was inevitably going to be some onstage pranks and as Shining launched into HEALTER SKELTER, there was a stage invasion courtesy of Devin Townsend and Periphery, who came onstage with an alto sax, trumpet, trombone, tuba and even a very enthusiastic triangle player, and it was absolutely hilarious to witness the madness unfolding around Shining as the musicians pranced about attempting to play their new instruments.
Winding up their set with I Won’t Forget, it was a fitting end to a stunning show – I certainly won’t be forgetting it in a hurry, and I can bet a great deal of other people in the crowd won’t either!
9/10
