Feature article: Sunday at Summer Sundae Festival 2011

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Festival report: final edition.

On this page: | McFly closing the festival | The Choir | John Cooper Clarke |

Sunday at Summer Sundae

Once again, the Musician stage opened up before the other stages and gave music lovers an early chance to grab a coffee and hear some really great performances.

Calder McLaughlin photo © Harjinder Ohbi

Singer Calder McClaughlan, assisted by Benn Hartman, gave us an invigorating start to the musical feast of Sunday. Calder's strong, slightly rough edged voice always makes me think 'Leicester's answer to Bruce Springstien', but don't tell Calder I said so as he might not be happy about that! For a lot of us Calder is much better than the old time American crooner. Since he came to Leicester a few years ago now from his native Yorkshire home, the busy Calder has been entertaining audiences with his engaging songs and vibrant performances. Always a very great pleasure to listen to and one of Leicester's most likeable musical characters. "A brilliant artist", Adam told us.

Martha Bean's lovely music and fine singing delighted the crowd at the Musician Stage. Sweet music and sumptuous vocals backed by expert musicianship, they deserved the appreciation they received in the enthusiastic response from the audience. Lots of heavenly atmosphere and chilled songs got people into the groove for the day. Not the first at this festival, they clearly attracted a swathe of fans and a lot of favourable comments from those in the know.

The phrase 'and now for something completely different', comes to mind when comedy rap group The Austin Francis Connection put on an amazing show of their talents. Coming to Leicester from Nottingham and Gloucester, the three members of the group quoted their influences as "The Beastie Boys and Morecambe and Wise." None of them, they explained, were called Austin or Francis.

Their music did however remind me of our local band The Great Imitation. Their cocktail of hip-hop and comedy included several sessions of beat-boxing from the rapper known as Jack 'Hobbit' Hobbs. Beat boxing is making vocal sounds into the mic and The Hobbit's performance of this was without the doubt the most accomplished I have ever heard. The comedic bits certainly got the audience laughing and their act was definitely very unusual. As a hip-hop rap act they certainly knew how to spit some beats. A good set that went down a treat with the large audience that had turned out to see them.

Rising stars The Jack Kenworthy Trio, winners of the Original Bands Showcase this year, gave the enthralled audience a superb performance of their considerable musical talents. One of Leicester's most acclaimed young bands, Jack Kenworthy, Dom Potts and Lee Masters always get favourable comments from other musicians for their musical expertise and the vitality of their songs.

The trio's exhilarating set of songs demonstrated what a talented group this is. Jack stands out as a superbly good singer and very able pianist. What captivated the audience was his total commitment to making music and the intense expression on his face as he sang and played.

In a county and city that spawns so many young artists, this group tops the charts of musical talent. It was interesting to see many other musicians and singers in the audience, watching intently as the young artists played through their set of jazz and blues fired songs. They play songs they have written themselves and drop in the odd cover for good measure but it is their ability to compose music of considerable maturity that fuels the admiration of the local music scene.

Jack's brilliant display of keyboard virtuosity drew hoots of delight from the audience. A very satisfying experience.

Leicester band Silent Devices were on stage in the main hall of the building. The band's set of atmospheric pieces benefited from the superb sound engineering and excellent acoustics of the De Montfort Hall main stage. Josh, Scott, Alex and Charlie delivered a finely crafted set of ambient sounds, some of which you can hear on the band's Myspace page. The guys have been plying their musical talents for some years now and all the indications are that they are establishing themselves as popular part of Leicester's musical furniture.

Outside, the Main Stage was opened by four piece Northants folk, indie band My First Tooth. Their set of foot-tapping tunes went down well with the audience. You can hear them again when they play at the SoundHouse in Leicester on 8th September.

Also on the main stage this afternoon, popular music band Leisure Society from London, Burton and Brighton. They describe their genre as ' Pop music made with lots of instruments.'

Back on the Indoor Stage our local group Dark Dark Horse attracted a substantial gathering for their set of magnificent songs. A throng of people had gathered in front of the stage including a contingent of the local rockerati. Following on from Silent Devices, DDH filled the room with their evocative and mood laden tunes and engaging vocals from lead singer James Stafford (previously in Kids in Cars), accompanied by the ever popular Jamie Ward, who played with Kyte and now also plays with Maybeshewill. With Joe Norledge and Robin Southby, their work is widely admired and it was fitting they should be seen on the DMH stage which has seen so many top local bands including the prestigious Kyte who played there at a previous festival.

The afternoon saw Joel Owen and the Antoine Band attract people to the Musician Stage for their thumpingly good set of jazzy tunes. A set of swing, blues and boogie that was delivered with considerable aplomb by their trumpeter, trombonist, guitarist, drummer and bassist with the lead vocals of Joel himself. The band has attracted a substantial following of fans who like their big-band sound and intoxicating rhythms.

In the comedy tent, The Summer Sundae Festival Choir gave a performance, having got together on Friday to learn a set of popular songs. This flash choir had come together at the start of the festival, learnt and rehearsed a set of well known songs and put on a creditable performance on Sunday, which the audience clearly enjoyed.

One member of the Choir was Loughborough singer and songwriter Sam Hutchinson, whose masterly performances have delighted many people in Leicester, not least me. Sam performed an absolutely delightful set of songs at the recent Syston festival.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch trio Young Knives drew a big turnout on the Main Stage as one would expect because they are a big name band, well known to a lot of rock music fans and have played in Leicester more than once. Since their formation in 1999 they have toured extensively, supporting the likes of Kasier Chiefs, The Dirty Pretty Things and the Rakes and in 2007 were nominated for the Mercury Music prize. They have an extensive catalogue of acclaimed albums behind them; their so their appearance at today's festival was one of the band highlights of the event. Lead singer Henry Dartnall told the crowd "Our recent album has made us millionaires".

In the Comedy Tent stand up Michael Fabbri had the audience in fits of chortling for his witty set. A very funny act, he came out with some startlingly original material and his brand of blue humour proved popular with the younger members of the large crowd that has squeezed in to see him. He has appeared at previous Leicester Comedy festivals, the Edinburgh Fringe and has has a busy tour schedule.

Back in the Indoor Stage, it was packed out for US all-girl quartet Warpaint. All seats were taken and the standing area was rammed, so I couldn't get anywhere near the stage. Several people told me afterwards how much they had enjoyed the girl's set and from what I could hear, it was indeed pretty good stuff. The band is from Los Angeles and signed to Rough Trade Records. As its says on their promo blurb ' Onstage, Warpaint's disarmingly authentic package can shake a room into a dance frenzy, while simultaneously holding it in a trance-like dream world. Playing to many enthusiastic audiences, Warpaint has opened for Yeasayer, Black Heart Procession, and The Slits to name a few.' Yes, that's pretty much what it was and an exhilarating half hour of top music it was too.

The closing headliners

Example Photo © Bee Tovey

A dense throngs of kids gathered at the crush barriers of the Main Stage for the appearance of rap singer Example. Well known to Leicester audiences from his appearances at Strawberry Fields last year and at the Auditorium, rapper and songster e.g. (Elliott Gleave) and his band drew a massive crowd of fans down to main area. Having gathered there from half past six onwards you can imagine the size of the cheer that went up when the artists emerged on to the stage at 7.30 p.m.

The sun was on the way down so the production lighting beams were coming into full effect. The main stage really comes alive with lighting and the production did a really job both on the main stage and on the other stages.

BBC's DJ Dean Jackson warmed up the crowd and introduced the star. Thousands of girls screamed like mad as he walked onto the stage. As he got into his first song, a forest of arms went up and you got that festival feeling. the rhythm intensified and a large proportion of the crowd started bouncing to the beats. In front of the stage, in 'the pit' area, a large posse of photographers are pointing seriously large cameras, anxious to get a great shot of the singing star.

On the stage Example is accompanied by a drummer with a full kit, bass player, guitarist and two units of eletro-producing DJs. There are also bands of lights that blaze out a variety of visual effects that patch into the flow of the music. One good thing about the main stage outdoor area is that it banks up away from the stage so that those standing at the back can get a good view of what's happening.

Example puts on a good show, pulling the crowd into the action, getting to clap, wave and bounce in the right places. The crowd and the star are all part of the show. Even though the closing headliners are highly popular with teenagers, the audience is an all-ages group. From 14 to 64, the music fans of Leicester all want part of the action. From pre-pubescents to pensioners, music speaks to people. Even toddlers were being hoisted up on to shoulders to get their young live's first taste of what live music is all about.

Good though Example was (and his great hit Kickstarts is a great favourite of mine), I had to leave for another assignment.

From rappers to comics

We squeezed into the overflowing Comedy Tent for a performance by the legendary beat poet John Cooper Clarke whose hour of sidesplittingly funny routines is reported on in our Weekend Supplement. See also our exclusive interview with the legendary influence on the rise of punk, an artist whose work spans nearly four decades of English popular culture.

See our article on John Cooper Clarke and his performance at Summer Sundae in our Weekend Supplement.

The festival comes to a close with McFly

The festival closed with a magnificent show by the young rockers McFly and not a square inch of room was left in the main stage area. Other music stages were still going as the big open air arena began to fill with people, anxious not to miss the final act of the festival.

The English pop rockers shot to fame in 2004. Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd got signed to Island Records and became one of the widely known young bands of the UK music scene. They broke into the big time after being befriended by the established boy band Busted. Millions of record sales and a Brit Award later, they themselves have become established as one of the most popular teen bands in the land.

The four lads walked on to stage to ecstatic cheering and screaming from the massed ranks of kids who are pressed into the front of stage area. Blue search light beams swooped out from the production lighting and from 9.15 to the close of the festival, the four young men put on an amazingly good musical extravaganza.

Their first song breaks into the night with a wave of infectious dance rhythms. Thousands of sneaker-clad feet pound the grass and a few girls are carried off the field, overcome by the excitement of it all, pretty much what we have become accustomed to since the rise of Beatlemania.

Over half a century after the first rock bands began playing to huge audiences of young people, it is, in a way, gratifying that the current generation of adolescents can still celebrate the compelling excitements of live music. Girls still let out screams of sexual energy at seeing handsome young men with guitars and lads go crazy for the beats that galvanise their testosterone fuelled blood streams.

At the back of the packed arena you saw members of the baby boomer generation with wistful looks on their faces, perhaps secretly re-living the experiences of their youth, when they too stood in front of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones or may be even Cliff Richards and gave themselves soar throats or wet knickers.

Tom does a huge jump in the air with his guitar at one particularly dramatic moment in a song. The three front men all work like a finely tuned gymnastic squad. It's a pity there won't be an event in 2012 for band athletics. If there was, these four lads would probably come back with a clutch of medals. McFly have won a cabinet full of awards in the music industry, as it is.

Dougie walks up to the front of the stage to sing to a group of fans in front of him. They were loved by the fans and they knew how to love them back. Some of the kids were holding up placards with messages about the band and Tom took the trouble to read them and comment back. That's what I liked about these guys. They are not remote inaccessible demi-gods; they come across as modern artists, Tweeting about their experiences, communicating with those who are ardent about them, giving the impression that fame has not gone to their heads all that much, connecting with those that buy their music and turn up at their live shows.

McFly put on a really great show, a fitting end to a great festival. The songs were highly enjoyable to people of all ages. As I stood there listening to them singing some of their hit melodies and listening to the crowd joining in, I imaged these kids in 40 to 50 years time, sat in high backed chairs in their retirements homes, singing McFly songs, just as old people today are singing songs by Vera Lynn.

I imaged that quite a few of those kids would grow up to have cherished memories of tonight's experience, telling their mates in later years, 'I was at the McFly gig at Summer Sundae in 2011.' The best memorabilia that you could take away from tonight was not the t-shirts fired like projectiles from the stage into the crowd, but the memory of a live music experience that will stay fixed in the minds of people for years to come.

One song in particular stood out for me. It's all about you, a great sing along melody which had feeling and an iconic quality to it and a wide ranging appeal to lovers of popular music. Are they the Showaddywaddy of the 21st century? Will we still love them when they're 64? The four guys know how to rock and roll. They play exciting music which captures what the live music experience is all about. Several of the local rockerati talked to me about the festival and when I brought up McFly I got the predictable bitching from rock 'connoisseurs.' Ok, so its not their bag. I see the bigger picture.

Young though the musicians were on tonight's stage, there was a timeless quality to their performance that spoke to everyone there, whether they were ardent fans or just people who had turned up to see the end of festival show. It was a truly professional piece of showbiz. Few young bands can weave the kind of magic that they did and cast a spell over a crowd, binding young and old, fans and sight-seers, to the stage in the way that they did. It was a fitting finale to a wonderful three days of entertainment and, for me at least, McFly did it seriously well.

Seen

Karl Brown is from Leicester band The Paradimes; he has also played with Yellow Belly and ska band El Pussycat.

Joe Morrell, lead singer from Leicester band, Humble He, watching one of the performances in the Musician Stage marquee.

Other pages you might like

Get the information from the Summer Sundae web site

Check out the lineup for Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Our exclusive interview and feature with Raghu Dixit

Coming soon: our feature article on legendary beat poet and comedian John Cooper Clarke