What A Wonderful Weekend!

Phil Hayward
6 minutes ago
3 min read

What a fantastic weekend the Shine Steel Band has just had! During an historically hot summer heat wave, we played at two amazing venues over the weekend of the 15th & 16th August 2026, first up was the River Shack in Stoke Gabriel on Saturday 15th and the second was at Blackpool Sands on Sunday 16th August. Two epic Caribbean parties filled with fun, music, dancing, food, cocktails and lasting memories made. We were delighted to be invited back to perform at both venues, this being our second year for both the River Shack and Blackpool Sands.

The lovely Will, Faye and Sophia of the River Shack welcomed us all back as we arrived to set up at the River Shack, thank you for being so accommodating and helpful. Thank you too for the drinks and the yummy pizzas at the end, they were absolutely delicious.

Our River Shack audience were up for all things Reggae so we didn't disappoint as we launched into our first number, Monkey Man by Toots and The Maytales, a firm favourite which is so recognisable by all generations. People had come from far and wide to see us, which is fantastic and very encouraging that we are commanding this level of interest, it means we have fans, amazing! It was a relatively late start and finish and was even dark by the time we'd played our last number. Although we did perform a a last minute encore of Donna Summer's Hot Stuff especially for Liz D's (our Alto player) two lovely twin daughters Kaite and Becky, well done you two, great dancing! We had so much fun and are already looking forward to next year, when we're aiming for an earlier start at 6pm, so watch this space for timing updates next year.

On Sunday, it was on to Blackpool Sands and an incredibly vibrant party on the beach. Thank you to Charlie, Suzanna, Andrea, Geoffrey and Mary and everyone at Blackpool Sands for inviting us back to perform for you for the second year running.

Compared to last year, this party was positively buzzing and we couldn't believe just how many people had come along to enjoy the event. Thank you to you all for joining us and we hope you are able to make next year's party which is already promising to be just as crazy and even better than this one!

It was great to see so many friends, families and local people enjoying themselves and embracing our 'bouncy' repertoire of favourite Reggae and Ska numbers, loved by so many, and with a couple of surprise non-Reggae Ska numbers thrown in for good measure. The food queue which was directly next door to us and was therefore the place to fully embrace our performance. We understand it was quite a long wait for food, but so worth it for the music and the reward of some delicious Caribbean flavours on your plates and in your glasses at the end.

A firm favourite for the evening was Donna Summer's Hot Stuff which encouraged some fun dancing by the amazing Tatty and Rachel and newly formed dance team lead by the lovely Tracy Fox and friends, well done all, you were fantastic. So, we need you again next year!

It was also lovely to see so many children enjoying themselves, dancing the evening away in front of us. Although their interesting array of names were a challenge for me as I interacted with them in between the peices. Children's names are changing, or am I just getting old?!

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful weekend.