Summer Sundae Weekender 2009
Friday 14th to Sunday 16th August 2009De Montfort Hall, Granville Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE1 7RU, England MAP
£102 w/e, camping £7 per tent extra
We get a visit from friends staying in a nearby hotel and it's easy to forget that we're in the middle of a city, there's no city hubbub around the well cared for grounds, although the occasional skyscraper of Leicesters University gives the game away.
The first band I see is You Fellows Of All Souls back on the Rising Stage, and their breezy sixties music is a nice way to get into the day's music. I even end up singing along to their cover of Tracy Ullman's 'They Dont Know' and enjoy their sunny set. The good vibes continue with Maybeshewill on the Main Stage. An enjoyable local rock band, who delivered festival friendly soundscapes with the help of a backing track, and then added some punchy rock.
The Main Stage is playing host to Devon Sproule, all the way from Virginia, she sings songs that appear to be mainly about either marital bliss or women taking revenge on the men who wronged them. I'm slightly alarmed at some of the fervent clapping going on by the women in the crowd after a song written by a friend of hers, about how much she's looking forward to killing her husband. The music is gentle country and her voice, which reminds me of Loretta Lynn, is most pleasant to listen to, she fills in the background of each of the songs between her sweet singing which adds to the performance.
I head for Tommy Womack And The Dissenters to lap up some seedy Nashville country, and some great banter from Tommy himself. He's a live wire constantly chewing, and jerking about the stage. The slim musician sure can play guitar to, and songs about working in those shitty jobs a musician often has to do. 'Fluorescent Light Blues' being the best of a great bunch of songs. I miss the chaos that is the speedo wearing Monotonix and their beer throwing, balcony jumping exploits which I later hear about, wish I'd seen it, it's the talking point of the day.
Limbered up it was back to the main stage for the highlight of the weekend. Easy Star All Stars brought their reggae versions of the classic Beatles' album 'Sergeant Pepper' to a sun basking audience. At last tracks the audience knew, even if they were different takes and throw in Pink Floyd's 'Money' and a few dubbed up Radiohead numbers and it's the perfect mix for a sunny Sunday.
I'd seen Bon Iver inside a tent at another festival and raved about his performance. However, here, beside De Montfort Hall, the set sagged. Their last UK gig for a while just didnt deliver the same charged emotion that I'd previously witnessed, and despite showcasing some new material, the crowd weren't that interested, and even 'Skinny Love' failed to ignite the performance.
The band contains only a few of the members of the original band including the distinct vocal of Alison Wheeler, with Dave Hemingway doing a great impression of Paul Heaton even down to similar attire. The set slowly builds to a most enjoyable climax as they delivered their back catalogue of classic singalong hits, and there's a cheer for a local legend on horns (Gaz Birtles).
Sunday has had the most diverse music offerings on the main stage, and I thoroughly enjoyed the music on all the stages. The festival has been going nine years now, and grown year on year, this has been my first visit, clearly I'd waited until it was damn near perfect.
A great festival to see a lot of up and coming bands and enjoy some festival favourites alongside talented Leicester bands, sample dishes from a terrific range of quality food, and sup on 20 real ales, all at reasonable prices, in a well organised and pretty location. I'm sure the musical offerings will continue to be varied, and I'd highly recommend a visit.
review by: Scott Williams
photos by: Karen Williams / Phil Bull
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