Shit & Shine and Container – Heavy machine music for the heads, ravers and noise freaks.

Shit & Shine. Hailing from Austin, Texas. Craig Clouse, the hardest working man in the business, has released everything from pounding and shiny techno to acid house, electro, funk, krautrock, hip hop, found sound, spoken word, live percussions… He is uninterested in the self imposed restrictions of genre. He has carved out a unique spot in machine music. 2018’s You Were Very High EP, established something of a watershed moment for the majority of his current sound. After weeks of sitting at a sampler loaded with anything and everything – Black Sabbath, Rihanna, Prince, Steely Dan and a host of audio lifted from YouTube clips, the record’s two sprawling sides come together like a hallucinogenic sonic miracle.

Recent live highlights include appearances at Convenanza Festival in France (the brainchild of a certain Andrew Weatherall) and in Feb 2025 a sold out two day residency at Cafe Oto, London. Since his last visit to Hastings in Feb 2025 he has released another three albums.

Container has always danced between heavy, relentless, joyful, silly, and sloppy. Think Lollapalooza 1996 held at Berghain 2006 and you are somewhere on the way to trying to get your head around the raw live electronic insanity unleashed by one of the contemporary electronic music scene’s more playful pioneers.

Get Ready for Mardi Gras on the South Coast: Hastings Fat Tuesday 2026

The UK’s largest Mardi Gras celebration is back and bigger than ever! From February 13th to 17th, 2026, Hastings and St Leonards will transform into a riot of color, music, and carnival spirit.

With five days of music, parades, and parties, this year’s lineup is absolutely stacked. whether you are looking for high-energy brass bands, intimate acoustic sets, or late-night DJ sessions, there is something for everyone.

Here is your essential guide to the key events and the incredible artists performing each day.

Le Grand Mardi Gras Ball

Kick off the festivities in style with a headline set from Britpop legends Republica!

The Lineup:
Republica, Saidi Kanda and Mvula Mandondo, Brass Funkeys, Heavenly Jukebox, Lemur Beats

GRAB A TICKET NOW TO SUPPORT THE FESTIVAL – and then the rest of the long weekend is FREE

Fat Tuesday Tour

Tuesday night sees the festival go out with a bang as bands tour venues across the town.

The Lineup:
The Albion Skiffle Co, Be Kind, Cadaver Bones, Ate Arfa, The Dreaming Spires, Frank From Blue Velvet, Freya McKenna, The Haystingers, HUK, Joanna and The Dropouts, Jorj Sabio, Kay Iris, Leto Grand, Lily Ramona Trio, Our Royal Displeasure, Playing Alice, Poppy Rockett, The Redcatz, Rob Picazo, The Sazeracs, Snakemilk, Trans-Siberian Express, Wave Machine, Woodpig, Wytch Pycknyck

Unplugged Saturday

A massive afternoon of acoustic music taking over bars, pubs, and cafes throughout Hastings.

The Lineup:
23 Fields, The Albion Skiffle Co, Anna & The Mariners, Atomic Twitten, Ben Maier, Bold Reilly Big Band, Bozard, Charlie Thompson & Glenn Doran, Chengyao Zhou, Chimer, Claire Nicolson, Column258, Earl Grey, Ed Boxall, Erika Olson, Fat Tuesday Club, Fighting Bill, Tracey & The Hoprobbers, First Form, The Frinks, Greenness, Gripper Lee, Harry Moon & The Cardboard Rocket, The Hastings Academy, Hastings Punk Choir, I Am Her, J.J. Collins, James Brute, The Joe Bulley Band, King Size Slim, Korda Korder, Laura Fell, Laura Gillham and Andrew Sleightholme, Lea Valley Ramblers, Lincoln Shaw and The Brixton Hicks, Maia Frankie, Maii Melo, Milton Hide, Montague Armstrong Rippengal, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, Otti, Paul Mcclure, Pearl Fish, Phil Maguire and The Balladeers, Pien, Ragati String Band, The Rebel Gentlemen, Regrettables, The Roebucks, Romeo Stodart & Ren Harvieu, Rotten Boroughs, Sam Brace & The Merciless Bronze, The Shady Pines, She Brings, The Stef Charles and Louise Payne Duet, Tasska, Tellums, Tom Cole, The United Stoats of America, Yasmien Huband

Umbrella Parade and Preservation Sunday

A family-friendly explosion of color and New Orleans vibes.

The Lineup:
Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, The Sazeracs, Sambalanco, HFT Youth Second Liners, The Yeah Yeah Party Party Freedom Drummers

More Not-To-Be-Missed Events

• Under The Radar: Featuring Miss Melody guests.

• Slim Monday: Hosted by King Size Slim (Toby Barelli) with special guests.

• Reggae Room Party: Hosted by the Dub Generals special guests.

• Unconvention: A one-day grassroots music conference.

• Quantick’s Quiz: Hosted by David Quantick.

• Saturday Sunday Sonics: Live electronic musicians and DJs.

• After Party: Closing out the festival with DJs Ed F and Andy G.

Don’t miss out on 5 Days of Mardi Gras on the South Coast!
For tickets and more details, visit hastingsfattuesday.co.uk.

A one-day grassroots music conference for the makers, champions and fans of independent music!

Programme TBC

White Rock Theatre Studio
13 Feb 2026
10am-5pm

Mélanie Pain, the acclaimed French singer and longtime voice of Nouvelle Vague, steps into the spotlight for a special solo performance. Since joining the iconic collective in 2004, her distinctive vocals have featured on their most memorable tracks including Dance With Me, Ever Fallen in Love, and This Is Not a Love Song, captivating audiences around the world for two decades.

Beyond her work with Nouvelle Vague, Mélanie has built a rich solo career that blends pop, folk, and chanson across three albums: My Name (2009), Bye Bye Manchester (2013), and Parachute (2016). Collaborating with celebrated artists such as Albin de La Simone, Ed Harcourt, Julien Doré, and Florent Marchet, she has carved a unique path as one of France’s most distinctive contemporary voices.

With new music in the works and a career spanning inspiring collaborations and international tours, Mélanie Pain brings her captivating artistry to the stage.

ATOMIC ROOSTER to play The Piper on Wednesday 25th February!

Mailing list presale: 10.30 am Thursday
General onsale: 10am Friday
Sign up to our mailing list via The Piper site.

Since reforming in 2016, with the blessing of band founder Vincent Crane’s widow, ATOMIC ROOSTER, with their early 70’s heyday guitar player STEVE ‘BOLTZ’ BOLTON at the helm the band have gone from strength to strength.

Aside from their two 70’s UK and USA chart hits, DEVIL’S ANSWER and TOMORROW NIGHT, ‘Rooster are also much acclaimed for at least two classic proto-metal-gothic-prog albums in the shape of the legendary ‘DEATH WALKS BEHIND YOU’ album from 1970 and ‘IN THE HEARING OF…’ released the following year.

Both these albums plus the following ‘MADE IN ENGLAND’ with Chris Farlowe on vocals and Steve Bolton on guitar (not to mention SPINAL TAP’s legendary drummer RICK PARNELL on drums!) have firmly established ATOMIC ROOSTER at the vanguard of British Progressive music.

The current line-up draw heavily on these early classics as well as new material from their newly released album ‘CIRCLE THE SUN’.

When you turn on a King of Foxes tune, it’s a safe bet that the skies will open, alien aircraft will appear, the ark of the covenant will descend before ye, and all of your childhood pets will arise from the dead.

Also, you’ll hear an indie alternative artist whose undeniably catchy tunes earned her a Rock Artist of the Year nomination at the Western Canadian Music Awards, and a spot among the Edmonton Music Prize Top 3 in 2023.

Her last album found its way onto some prestigious “best of” lists, including as #11 on CKUA’s Top 100 Albums of 2022, and among NPR radio’s George Graham’s Best of the Year list. Her latest album, Hall of Shame (September 2025) has been hailed by the Edmonton Journal as “chock full of mature songcraft, invigorated by youthful blasts of indie-rock, one of King of Foxes’ best releases so far.”

You don’t want to miss this artist critics are hailing as “the real deal.”

The Piper x Sonics presents

‘A startlingly funny, brash mix of folk, house and psych-pop which – for all its eccentricity – has real purpose and heart’ – NME

Signed to DFA Records, playful performance art and Mermaid Chunky are an audio visual duo made up of artists Freya Tate and Moina Moin.

Bathing in milkmaid serenity and improvised chaos, the duo boast of pumping trance rhythms, sad Easter time chicks and seriously arousing sax solos.

Catching their live performances may play havoc with your retinas as they are often accompanied by euphoric sculptural visuals and an entourage of sweating puppies in frills.

Every month Adventures in Pop presents…and this time it’s the turn of…

The Pink Lizards: Neon-Drenched Nocturnal Blues

If there is a soundtrack to the late-night humidity of a seaside town, Pink Lizards are playing it. This power trio doesn’t just perform; they inhabit a space where “Junkyard Dog” riffs collide with the smoky, neon-lit atmosphere of a 1970s bar-room.

Their sound is a heavy-duty blend of garage rock grit and nocturnal blues, moving with a moody swagger that feels both dangerous and deeply rhythmic. Having carved out a reputation as one of the most reliable forces on the South East live circuit, the Lizards offer a sonic experience that is stripped-back, high-voltage, and unapologetically raw. For those who prefer their rock with a layer of grit and a dark, atmospheric pulse, this is essential viewing.

Oli Spleens Fad Maggots: The Poet Laureate of the Peripheral

Brighton’s most compelling provocateur, Oli Spleens, returns to the stage with the Fad Maggots, delivering a performance that sits uncomfortably—and brilliantly—somewhere between a post-punk riot and a surrealist fever dream.

Spleens is a master of the “confrontational art-rock” genre, trading in sharp, satirical spoken word that skewers modern banality with the precision of a surgeon. Backed by the jagged, high-energy instrumentation of the Maggots, the set is a theatrical whirlwind of jagged rhythms and uncompromising lyricism. It is a masterclass in the DIY aesthetic: challenging, wildly creative, and designed to shake the audience out of their festival-induced stupor. Expect a performance that is as much a piece of performance art as it is a gig.

Inspired by the happenings, the sounds, the vibes and, yes, the smells, of the 60s and 70s, UMMAGUMMA is our all-day festival, coming to you for the fifth time.

Spike is the founder and front man of the Quireboys – one of the UK’s most enduring rock ‘n’ roll bands. A band that’s been through different chapters and had different line-ups, but Spike is the constant throughout.Song writer, singer and leader of a band with which he has now become synonymous.With lifelong friend Guy Bailey, Spike penned the benchmark Quireboys songs – such as Hey You, I Don’t Love You Any More and 7 O’Clock – tracks which have defined the band musically for decades and, to this day, remain the hallmark songs of any Quireboys show.With the Quireboys inactive as a live act due to the pandemic, Spike booked some low-key acoustic shows to tour his Late Night Song Book album. He was one of the first acts, if not the first act back with live music as lockdown eased in the summer of 2021. It was the perfect setting to encourage people back to grassroots venues – low key, socially-distanced shows, evenings of music and storytelling.These intimate shows have continued to prove very popular and remain one of Spike’s favourite performance showpieces. Even though the newly re-formed Quireboys continue to sell out larger venues he is very much at home with his acoustic guitar, accompanied by Chris Heilmann.2026 will be another busy year year for Spike that will see him playing across Europe and the USA but you know that he will be back in the UK performing his unique ‘solo’ shows to the fans old and new.

An emotionally transatlantic talent drawing on British andAmerican folk traditions. Elanor Moss turns life’s nuances into song,inspired by the folk canon and icons like Judee Sill, Joni Mitchell,Sibylle Baier and Vashti Bunyan.

Man are a progressive rock band from South Wales, formed in the late 1960s. Known for their extended guitar solos, improvisational jams, and West Coast–influenced sound, they became a fixture of the UK live scene through the 1970s. Blending psychedelia, blues, and intricate progressive rock, Man built a loyal following with albums like Be Good to Yourself at Least Once a Day and Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics. Despite many lineup changes, they’ve remained active over the decades, earning a reputation as one of Wales’s most enduring and adventurous rock bands.

The current line up is Martin Ace, Josh Ace, James Beck, Shane Dixon and Diogo Gomes