Summer Sundae, De Montfort Hall and Gardens, Leicester
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
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The sun and a well-selected menu of neglected but potent stars, underground greats and rising talent made this small festival more enjoyable than many more established events.
Spread across the acoustically superb De Montfort Hall and parkland, the three-day bill's new stars included Liverpool belter Candie Payne, fronting a psychedelic Northern soul band, and Jeremy Warmsley, a cross between Rufus Wainwright and XTC, whose obscurely resentful songs threaten to coalesce into classic piano ballads.
Wild Beasts' screaming falsetto, Maps' electronic rock freak-out, Cherry Ghost's Lancashire -socialist take on Chuck Berry, and the very popular !!!, a geek Funkadelic, also impressed. Later, Richmond Fontaine's dark world of motel-dwelling losers fought a losing battle with the sun, at first. But by "White Line Fever", their thrilling country-rock assault made their tales somehow redemptive. The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon reminded us how flush he is with elegant pop hits. The uncomfortable satire of "Generation Sex" being matched by more recent songs.
"It's nice here, isn't it?" Martha Wainwright murmured in the hall, mid-afternoon on Saturday. "It's like night-time." Dark nights of the soul followed, sung in a strong, supple voice, her whole body bearing down on the words. Oregon veterans Low then deepened the mood further, playing beautiful, defiantly serious, 21st-century psychedelic folk. Meanwhile, out in the sun, Sophie Ellis-Bextor was spinning on her high heels, singing breezy pop. The Magic Numbers closed Saturday, their warm love for playing shining through in a triumphant set.
Spoon were Sunday's first hit. A liking for post-punk's jerky tightness has left previous shows stiff, but this was a ragged glory. Recently in the US Top 10 after years of struggle, there's new swagger to their musical ambition. Echo & the Bunnymen, though, were the festival's most moving surprise. Eighties survivors, they have been a nostalgia act recently. But Ian McCulloch won't go quietly, joining new songs to radically rearranged old ones.
Gruff Rhys performed inside a giant TV test card, shortly before Spiritualized officially closed things with a gospel-soul song suite. Unofficially, Seasick Steve played the last, raw-blues note: a final, joyous surprise.
