Feature article: Summer Sundae festival 2010
Kevin Gaughan visited the festival on the Saturday and here is his report.
Summer Sundae Festival took place over 13th - 15th August at the Demontfort Hall and Gardens in Leicester and featured some of Leicester's top bands.
I was a Summer Sundae virgin and not being too familiar with the larger bands, I was looking forward to seeing some of the smaller acts in the tents and the indoor stage as well as seeing what the bigger bands were all about.
The weather forecast wasn’t great but I remembered Glastonbudget a couple of months ago. It rained a bit there, but no-one noticed, as we spent most of our time in the tents drinking beer and watching bands.
On entering the site, we walked past some slightly more unusual parts of the festival like the sand sculpture,
which could, apparently, withstand a short downpour – which was the first thing I thought of when I saw it, and the large gong with mystical healing powers.
There were maps showing where everything was on the site and within minutes we’d found the real ale tent which was very well stocked with a good selection of real ales and plenty of very pleasant staff serving, so there was no hanging around.
The first band we wanted to see were the Stiggz in the Musician tent at 1.30, although we got there at 12.00, time soon ran away with us and before we knew it, they were on.
And on they were. The Stiggz blasted onto the stage with their iconic song ‘Charlie Brown’ and I just couldn’t help singing along to this one. They played it with total enthusiasm and ‘in your face’ attitude. Most people who were walking past the tent outside came in to see who was making the music they just couldn’t resist. I have seen this band a few times, but, as at Glastonbudget, I’ve not seen many bands that can conquer the less than perfect acoustics of a tent and sound this damned good.
After just a few songs in, everybody in the marquee, and that was quite a lot of people, were getting into the music as a modest mosh-pit started to develop at the front and the youngsters really started to enjoy themselves.
The Stiggz played an array of their own beautifully crafted songs, with guitar riffs and lyrics that go round in your head days later, I can never quite believe how such a young band can write such a diverse set of wonderful songs, everyone’s a winner.
Having recovered after the Stiggz, we got a beer, had a look round and chatted to a few people, we noticed a common thread of conversation was how well organised the event was, no-one had to queue for anything, the food was very diverse and catered for all – there were plenty of vegetarian food stalls that were reasonably priced.
It was very nice to be in the grounds of the wonderful De Montfort hall as it was nice to be able to go inside the hall, use it’s facilities, sit somewhere nice and comfortable and see bands on the indoor stage.
It didn’t seem to be very widely advertised but the Wooden Tops were reforming at Summer Sundae. They were playing on the indoor stage, inside the wonderful De Montfort Hall, which was a really nice change as it was starting to get wet outside. It was really nice to see a band on the big stage with full lighting and proper effects and videos being projected on the back of the stage
The upstairs circle was also open so you could get a birds eye view and sit in the seats if you wanted to.
I hadn’t seen the Wooden Tops before but they put on a good show with their mix of likeable catchy indie tunes and were quite entertaining and enjoyable to watch.
After the Wooden Tops, we got a beer from the indoor bar and ventured outside to see who was on the main stage. It was quite wet and muddy by this point, but that seemed to add to the atmosphere as we moved through the crowd to get a decent view of Diana Vickers.
The X Factor finalist had attracted a huge crowd and was doing a really good job of getting the soggy crowd to dance and generally move around in a rhythmic fashion. The atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was enjoying Diana, she was very entertaining on the big stage and was obviously having a great time. Although it was a big crowd, it was still easy to move through it to get close enough to the stage to feel as though you’re part of the show. Also, because we were all standing quite close together, when it did rain, only our heads got wet and with short hair like mine, that just wasn’t a problem.
Diana finished to a massive round of applause, everyone really liked her and we did too, she put on such an energetic performance and worked the crowd really well, everybody had had a great time and were buzzing afterwards.
Time for (another) beer and a walk around to see what else was going on. There was a game of human-draughts taking place, where people were the pieces on the board.
There was a tent with more obscure acts, too. Some people we spoke to were telling us about a female singer who sang some songs with adult humour that made them laugh, although they found it surprising to have such an act on so early in the day where children were present.
As always with these things, everyone was so friendly and just there to have a good time. They were there to see a couple of specific bands but also to get a taste of new acts they hadn’t seen before.
A common point that everybody talked about was how well organised the event was. Although there were plenty of people there, no one had to queue for anything and the outside toilets were well looked after and cleaned regularly.
Next up, one of our favourite bands, Tiffany Page, who’s getting a lot of TV and radio coverage at the moment, her debut album is due for release in September. She was in the Musician marquee at 7.15. As with the Stiggz who we saw earlier in the same marquee, the place was heaving, but this time there were some photographers making up the first row of the crowd.
Tiffany blasted on to the stage with her range of energy-packed wonderfully bouncy and very, very likable rock songs. Tiffany and her band ooze showmanship, all of the band, including the drummer, providing plenty to watch and Tiffany herself, with so much energy, and what a voice – slightly rough around the edges providing that perfect gravelly sound when pushed. A thoroughly enjoyable performance, and what a range of songs, every one with unforgettable rock guitar riffs and a firey tempo that I just can’t help getting excited about. The whole marquee was completely packed, but everyone was totally absorbed by what was happening in front of them.
What a show – I can’t wait for the forthcoming debut album, it remains to be seen if it captures the essence of Tiffany that you get when you see her live.
Next up, time for (yet another!) real ale, or two, from the real ale marquee followed by another indoor gig courtesy of The Fall. While waiting for the band to come on, we chatted with some of the fans, and they were hard core Fall fans, who insisted on reminding me about what a significant part the Fall played in music history – they were John Peel’s favourite band, and decades on, they’re still packing venues all over the country.
Although I know of the Fall, I hadn’t really heard much of their music until now. The De Montfort hall was absolutely packed, both upstairs and down.
When the Fall came on the big stage they were given the welcome they deserve, the whole place erupted into applause. Visually they were quite unusual as Mark E Smith, although he’s in his fifties, looked older and his wife, on keyboards, very attractive, looked very young. I guess that’s his style, but Mark E Smith looked like he had just got out of bed and put on the first set of clothes he could find. The rest of the band, on the other hand did look the part and had reasonable stage presence.
The music, on the other hand, steady, pumping guitars, had a good rocky, indie feel, while the vocals, I found, worked well and added to the slightly mysterious feel of the band. Although Mark E Smith was more talking than singing, it still worked well. A couple of tracks in and a good bouncing mosh pit developed which was just full of fans having a great time.
I loved the music and would definitely see them again if they come back to Leicester or the surrounding area. After the performance, I’m definitely a Fall convert. Just hope they keep going a bit longer, as I got the impression Mark E Smith might not have that many more gigs left in him.
Finally, after the Fall, we went outside, back to the main stage to see what the multiple chart topping Tinchy Stryder was all about – being the main act on Saturday, he had attracted a massive crowd, still very good humoured, which is just as well considering we were all standing in mud by this time. Tinchy put on a great performance that the cowd loved, and we were enjoying his show, too, we found him visually very entertaining, quite charismatic and had no problem getting the crowd going.
Even though we were quite a long way back from the stage, there were no problems seeing what was going as the big stage was at the bottom of a hill with a steep enough gradient allowing you to get a good view no matter where you stood.
What a fantastic day it was – the atmosphere was incredible, the people so friendly and the music so damned good. We had a really great time that wasn’t affected by the rain in a negative way at all. We only wished we were going back on Sunday for, but we only had tickets for Saturday. Still, it left us wanting more, and we’ll definitely be going next year, without a doubt.
What a day!
All photos © Kevin Gaughan
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Strawberry Fields festival report
Summer Sundae 2008 | Summer Sundae 2009
