It wasn't planned but Cross Rhythms were there, in Holland, to document the final moments of Milton Keynes teen pop musicianaries SHINE. Mike Rimmer chronicles the (not very) sad event.

Shine

The Winter Wonder Rock Festival happens in Holland each December in Zwolle, about 90 minutes from Amsterdam. Tony Cummings and I were kindly invited to the festival by EMI and spent what can only be described as a rock'n'roll weekend of high octane music, artist interviews and confusion in trains, planes and automobiles.

It began with a three hour wait as we missed our plane due to the late arrival of two British trains. Plenty of missed connections continued in the marathon journey. But there was one advantage of missing our plane in that in the departure lounge I heard girlie voices shouting "Mike!" The boisterous Shine girls were waving frantically. Unbeknown to us Shine were the unexpected, unadvertised attraction in a late night "dance" venue. As it turned out it was Shine's last ever gig before ShineMK became Shine RIP.

There has always been something a little eccentric about Shine and having hung with them on a number of occasions during their short career, I knew that Tony and I would be in for an entertaining time as we travelled together. It's always been my assertion that Nicola is a "weird magnet". In all of our conversations, it seems like strange things are always happening to her. The short plane journey was punctuated by much hilarity as Nic described how that morning she received a phone call and thought that the weirdo on the other end was actually her grandfather! Adopting Yorkshire accent and unveiling a terribly complicated set of circumstances and one serious case of mistaken identity later, we were all laughing. Since it was their last gig and they had nothing to lose, Nic even admitted to the time she peed on Rebecca St James, recounting the unusual events with a little assistance from the other members of the band. But we'll draw a discreet veil over that, shall we?

Arriving in Amsterdam airport, Hanne spotted my luggage and showed me the handbag that she was carrying. It was her only luggage. Incredibly it also contained her stage clothes. I commended her on travelling light but expressed doubts about whether a Christian music artist should actually perform nearly naked. Having seen the gig and a fully clothed Hanne, I can only presume that her handbag has tardis-like qualities. With no bags to collect and while the others waited by the carousel, I made a prolonged effort to arrange a blind date between Hanne and my fellow radio presenter Steve Best, but to no avail.

Greybeard Cummings and I hitched a ride with Shine to the festival with the girls choosing to pass us off as "dancers" with the festival driver. He took this seriously and when we arrived at the festival, there were backstage passes waiting for us. For the two hour journey, the four Shine girls sat on the backseat, sang, chatted, giggled and made up a completely surreal version of "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" which ended with the line "and an aardvark in a Christmas tree." Later in the day I observed that one of the fun things about Shine is the fact that the members of the band obviously have a great deal of affection for each other. Hanne deadpanned a response, "I wouldn't go so far, Mike!! We just put a show on for you!" Everybody laughed and she continued, "I know people want to make a big thing of us splitting up but through all this, we have all been brilliant friends. It's just God simply moving people on. Obviously, that's been really painful but we've got friendships here that are probably going to be lifelong. The stuff that we've gone through together, you just don't forget it like that and just leave it."

Musically though. Shine left it behind at Winter Wonder Rock. The mainstage of the festival was a succession of American and European rock acts but on the Friday night, the throng of young people attending the festival crashed out at a local sports centre. Boys in one sports hall, girls in another.

Before bedtime, Shine performed their final gig. Backstage, Nicola reported, "We were just about to go on and were all standing there saying, last show! Last show!' and I was saying, 'Can you remember the first show?' It was at Spring Harvest and it was awful! We were stood behind this stage in MASSIVE puffer jackets. Mine was bigger than my whole body! I was just like a big snowball! We were shaking, terrified about going on. None of us were smiling, we were just terrified."

For the final gig, there was no terror as the girls sang their songs for the last time. They were clearly having fun. I was commandeered to take some photos to commemorate the final performance. Standing by the mixing desk I watched the Dutch support act carefully observing their moves. I pondered the fact that when it came to performing Christian dance pop, there isn't a single band in the USA who could touch Shine. And then with the final dramatic chord of "Higher Love", they were gone...forever.

It was only afterwards that I heaved a sigh of relief. In the dressing room editor Cummings and I discovered that the girls came within a hair's breadth of getting us onto the stage to dance! Phew! That realisation made me joke that I could pitch the backing tracks and with Tony find two other old fat blokes to form a Shine tribute band. It would be terrible...but fun!

Considering the band's ministry Natasha reflected, "I think the lasting fruit is definitely the schools work. The thing we're really pleased about is that the Trust we set up for the schools work is carrying on in Milton Keynes. Another Trust is actually adopting it as a scheme and they're using all of the assets that we've managed to gain and still put that into work for young people. We still get stories and have been invited to baptisms of kids who've got saved through a Shine School Week. That is just amazing, that's what's made it worth it, they're the stories that we won't forget."

It's now nearly 3am and the girls are tired at the end of the road. Loretta looks back on their time together and shares, "It's funny because Shine has been made up of so many different things and I feel it's been so much more than a job. There's been so many different sections to it, I've been thinking about it so much today on and off. Like not only have I gained friendships, I've gained in my journey with God as well and in my experiences. Every day, for the last four years, I've had my dream thing where I never knew what was happening from one day to the next. I love that. Each day, even if we were doing a lesson in school, each one was going to be different."

And so her final day as a Shine member comes to an end. The band deserve affirmation for their huge impact in Milton Keynes and further afield as their music and faith has impacted teenagers across the globe. Shine may have called it a day but the future beckons for further solo projects from each of them. And for me I'll never have to face the chaotic anarchy that only the collective surreal sense of humour of Loretta, Natasha, Nicola and Hanne can create.

Future Plans
The four Shine girls tell of their plans for the future

Loretta Andrews
Loretta is getting married in May and then she wiII be working with United Colours Of Sound, the group formed by David and Carrie Grant. The vision is for the Christian vocal group to impact the mainstream. Currently the band are not signed. Loretta says, 'It's very much about praying and waiting on God for the next step but I definitely want to keep on representing him in music industry."

Nicola Rodgers
Nicola says, "I'm working on some solo stuff so it's quite exciting really." She has signed to Alliance Music for her debut solo album which is scheduled for release

Hanne Pettersen
Hanne is keeping her musical plans secret. She says, "I've got some projects going at the moment but I don't really want to talk about it too much because I don't know if it's going to happen yet." Immediately she plans to build snowmen! "I'm working at the Snow Zone in Milton Keynes!"

Natasha Andrews
Natasha says, "I'm working in the same band as Loretta, United Colours Of Sound, at the moment. There's not an awful lot happening with that but watch this space!" To pay the bills she's doing some session singing and with Loretta attending a few castings for commercials. She jokes, "You may see Loretta or I holding up a toilet roll saying, 'It's just so soft!!!' on the TV!"