Summer Sundae Weekender 2011
Friday 12th to Sunday 14th August 2011De Montfort Hall, Granville Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE1 7RU, England MAP
£115 weekend, £30 Friday, £50 Saturday/Sunday
Beth Jeans Houghton has a fantastic voice. That cannot be argued. She looked great on the stage and enchanted her audience on the Main Stage easily. Houghton has also recently been Greg James on Radio 1's Song of The Week which shows that she is being taken seriously as an artist. My issue is, one of her songs (like later with the Cuban Brothers) has possibly the most disgusting swear word included in the title (think See You Next ) and as she was on stage at a prime time of 3.25pm you would have thought she would have dropped the song or muted the title of the name but no. While I agree with artistic license and freedom of speech, there is no way that the use of this while there were young children listening at the front can be justified. Families looked shocked beyond belief and for them I guess the set felt tarnished, even to go as far as leaving the set. It was a bad choice to have included the word even though the song was so good I downloaded it. Beth Jeans Houghton was a highlight of the Saturday, minus the few hiccups which occurred and she delighted at Summer Sundae.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich took to the Indoor Stage on Saturday to a surprisingly large audience. Acoustic gloriousness I shall describe it as. If ever you could be in love with a voice, Benjamin Francis Leftwich has that voice. Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, this singer-songwriter, he was a serious contender for my best discovery of the entire weekend. Everything he says and plays is elegant and graceful. His music conjures up images and pictures which take you to places, situations and stirs emotions. Everything about Leftwich's music is stunning and his contribution to Summer Sundae took the whole weekend up to another level.
Faulkner interacted with his audience with such ease and charm that he could sing about a "..Professional dog food taster, but no-one would believe him. He worked for all the major companies.." and the cheers and screams were relentless. Faulkner played a sublime set including 'Dream Catch Me' and 'I Need Something' and a crazy cover of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which set the Summer Sundae audience crazy. To sum up the effect that Faulkner has on the Summer Sundae audience would be by overhearing a lad walking away from the set, "I am going to go and buy EVERYTHING he has ever done" - sheer brilliance!
review by: Hayley Edwards
photos by: Hayley Edwards / Phil Bull
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Summer Sundae will not be returning in 2014
last year was the final year
last year was the final year
last updated: Thu 5th Sep 2013
Summer Sundae Weekender takes a break in 2013
outdoor Hall centenary celebrations planned instead
outdoor Hall centenary celebrations planned instead
last updated: Wed 19th Dec 2012
Summer Sundae Weekender maintains a friendly, chilled out atmosphere
Summer Sundae Weekender 2012 review
Summer Sundae Weekender 2012 review
last updated: Wed 22nd Aug 2012
there's a fun, summer vibe on Saturday at Summer Sundae Weekender
Summer Sundae Weekender 2012 review
Summer Sundae Weekender 2012 review
last updated: Wed 22nd Aug 2012