Weekend in Leicester Sunday 19th June 2011

Previous page: Saturday 18th June

Sunday 19th June

On this page: Indian Summer | Music at the SoundHouse - The Great Imitation, Humble He and Gideon Conn | The Clarendon Park Summer Fair

Indian Summer at the Phoenix

Two days of Indian film and culture concluded today, giving those who attended a 'Journey to the Heart of India.'

Held at the Phoenix Digital Media Centre in Morledge Street, the building played host to a celebration of culture, images and arts from the Indian sub-continent.

Leicester is a city full of surprises and one of them is that people are keen to taste other cultures, to sample the music, arts, colours and crafts of those who make up the city's diverse communities.

We have the Mela which one of the key events on the city's annual ca lender of festivals, along with the Caribbean Carnival and Gay Pride.

This two day event was on a smaller scale than the Mela or the Diwali celebrations but people from all walks of Leicester life joined with the Indian community to enjoy this culturally rich event with its celebration of films, food and music held at he Phoenix.

Organisers Tour Rainbow Productions and Inspirate could have put on just an Indian Film Festival and left it at that. They went a lot further, filling the whole of the ground floor of the building with live events, food and a lot of colourful visual images

'India is one of the world's most fascinating countries', proclaims the introduction to the festival brochure. Indian Summer set out to give people a taste of culture, perhaps even their first experience of so many aspects of this rich and tantalising country.

Visitors could watch indian dancing and live music, taste the variety of dishes on offer at the food stalls, watch a film or engage with a variety of other cultural events.

A variety of films were screened, including Lagaan, an insightful commentary on the Victorian years of the British Raj. Two films by the renowned director Deepa Mehta, Water and Earth , part of her Elements Trilogy, were on show. Water portrays the lives of a group of widows at an ashram and Earth explores the partitioning of Indian and Pakistan.

Dancers revealed two sides of Indian culture, the classical and the modern. Even if you don't know the symbolism with which classical dances are laden, you can still enjoy the evocative movements and the colourful costumes.

Bipen Anand, one of the organisers of the event, is interviewed by Radio Leicester. The whole event was put together in a short space of time and all the people behind it were quite young - in their 20s. Its is a credit to the Indian community that they are passionate enough about their cultural heritage to want to share with the rest of the city. This was an imaginative event and more of this will add richness to what Leicester has to offer.

Leicester excels at Indian cuisine. I chose a dish of Pani Puri, which is a street snack in India. The hollow, fried shells are filled with a variety of flavourful ingredients and liquid. The name derives from the way it can be popped into the mouth in one piece, drink and a delicious bite combined into one morsel.

If I had more time, I could have enjoyed a two course buffet lunch prepared by Chutney Ivy, a restaurant in the Cultural Quarter.

In the foyer you could also see Mehendi, the art of applying elaborate decorations, especially to the hands, using the plant extract henna. Demonstrations of massage and yoga were also available to the crowd of people bustling around the ground floor of the Phoenix building.

The event was opened yesterday morning by Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby.

See the Indian Summer website or read about it on Facebook.

Music and fun in Clarendon Park

Photo © Harjinder Ohbi

The Clarendon Park Summer Fair saw live music thoroughout the day with a variety of acts including this one, The N'ukes Ukelele band. Sponsored by the Donkey Bar and Soft Touch arts, the fair took place between Howard Road and Clarendon Park Road, with that part of Queens Road being closed off to traffic.

Throughout the day there were 50 arts and crafts stalls and two stages featuring live music.

More photos of this event on Facebook.

A night of unique music at the SoundHouse

After the urban styles an sounds yesterday, Leicester's live music venue topped off its weekend with a line up of quality musical acts.

Leicester leading folk band Humble He delighted the audience with their set of beautifully played songs accompanied by the deliciously pleasing vocals of Joe Morrell and the other members of the band.

The members of this remarkable band include a Cellist (Jessica Bound), violinist (Eugene Hooper), guitarist Mark Elliott and the superb vocals and acoustic guitar work of Joe Morrell. All of them sing, Jessica and Mark put in some sumptuous vocal parts and at one point they all contributed to a tantalising four part harmony.

Joe Morrell, Jessica Bound and Eugene Hooper

It was spell-binding. Joe Morrell has had a distinguished career in music, first as member of the much-loved band Sam Smiles (r.i.p.), then as a celebrated singer-songwriter and now as lead singer of Humble He, Joe continues to enthrall audiences with his characteristic singing style and intricate string playing.

Humble He's set was absolutely delightful. Captivating, ear-pleasing music and delightful musical artistry.

Find out more about Humble He on Facebook.

'and now for something completely different ...'

James Scott-Howes and Ryan Albutt of the Great Imitation.

The night veered off in a completely different direction when hip-hop band The Great Imitation came on stage. Front man James Scott-Howes is a phenomenal performer. He comes on stage dressed as a dapper country squire, takes off his smartly cut jacket and rips off his shirt, spending the rest of the evening half naked except for his skinny jeans. The image reflects the lyrics of his raps, often satirising and lampooning middle class niceties. James is an in your face performer. He spends much of his set pirouetting around on chairs backs and table tops and climbing up the light stands at the side of the stage.

His set of raps are raw, rude and raucous. Some members of the audience fell into two camps: those that absolutely loved what he does and the more timid music lovers who had turned up to enjoy the refined delights of Humble He. Of course many who were there enjoyed both styles of musical entertainment, me included, but going from having your ears caressed by fine folk music to having a half-naked rap artist screaming into them was more than one or two could take.

James takes no hostages; his lyrics are full of hard-edged experiences, raw reflections on life and he gets up close to his audience.

Having followed James for about four years now, I can remember several notable performances: his early days at the Pavilion and the Sun Bar where his wild-man musical theatre began to take shape. Then last year I saw him in action at the O2 Academy in Birmingham where he won the regional finals of Surface Unsigned with a ripping act that convinced the judges that he should go to London for the national finals, which he and his band won. His act combines the raw-edged humour of Russell Brand with the flamboyant irreverence of Eddie Izzard, doused with a generous dose of Mick Jagger swagger. As far as Leicester's music scene is concerned, he is unique.

Throughout his career he has been accompanied on the guitar by his alter-ego Ryan Albutt, who plays guitar and puts in the backing vocal lines. The two artists are chalk and cheese but it's the counterpoising of characters that makes The Great Imitation such a mesmerising act. Now with added band members Mark Connor and Joe Lambden they have established themselves as one of Leicester/shire's unique and iconic acts.

The band has already produced a music video Bitter Sweet Heart Attacks, which you can see on our Urban Music Tracks page. Another is in production.

Find out more about The Great Imitation | Great Imitation wins Surface Unsigned |

Amusing, unique, compelling ... Gideon Conn in Leicester

The dust had settled from the Great Imitation set when solo artist Gideon Conn took to the mic. The Manchester singer-songwriter brought a totally fresh experience to the stage of the SoundHouse. Delivering a spell-binding set of songs to the captivated audience, his quirky, distinctive style of performance had the room hushed and enthralled right to the end of the night.

I have never seen anything like this before. A singer who gave us a set of bouncy songs full of charm and humour, he got the audience following hand movements like a primary school class and laughing at his amiable and funny quips and jibes.

A gentle sense of fun and firm grasp of poetic imagery held the audience in thrall and despite his soft almost spoken vocals, the room was held in a hushed and totally engaged state for his 45 minute slot.

Photo © Kim-Leng Hills

It's a great credit to the SoundHouse that they frequently put on acts of national importance and have a knack of finding talented artists who you would be unlikely to see anywhere else in the city. As a venue they are prepared to do something fresh rather than safe and tonight's line-up was a resounding success, musically and artistically. Not what you would expect. A night at the SoundHouse often delivers surprises; in some respects many people see this new venue as having taken over where the old Charlotte left off.

My busy weekend at an end, I staggered home to bash the hell out of my keyboard for a few hours but glad that I had been able to sample some of the many delights that Leicester has to offer.

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