Supergrass are the cherry on top of Friday's Summer Sundae

Summer Sundae Weekender 2008 review

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Summer Sundae Weekender 2008

Friday 8th to Sunday 10th August 2008
De Montfort Hall, Granville Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, England MAP
adult £95 w/e, camping £5 per tent extra

The M5 is not the best place to start the weekend after a hard week in the office, but the elongated journey that the Friday afternoon traffic gifted us made us more determined than ever to enjoy the varied bill offered at Summer Sundae this year. Our relatively late arrival meant that we were greeted with a sound that is becoming familiar over the summer months coming from the Rising Stage, that of Bristol-based duo Fuck Buttons. Bringing their mission to blow the eardrums of the nation to Leicester was just another stop on their never-ending tour of European festivals, and another storming show of piercing, yet often beautifully melodic, laptop horrseplay [sic] won't damage their reputation, and already I'm looking forward to seeing how they are received at The Green Man festival this coming weekend.



The Coral, not for the first time this summer, were billed as performing an acoustic set on the Main Stage, however to most of the crowds surprise played a full electric set mixing up new songs with a collection of cosmic pop songs heavily biased towards the bands greatest hits, obviously looking towards their first 'Best Of' due in September. The crowd seemed to be enjoying the experience more than the band themselves, and without wanting to sound too harsh, the complete lack of interaction with the crowd seemed to suggest that the band were happy fulfilling their obligations, picking up their cheque and shooting off to their next festival. They did, however, provide one of the real sing-along moments of the weekend when playing 'Dreaming Of You'.

Friday night Main Stage headliners were the now quintet Supergrass. Inflated by the introduction of another member of the Coombes clan, youngest brother Charly on guitar and cowbell, the Britpop heroes put together an enjoyable set, although disappointingly lacking of the puppetry of their gigs of the past. No longer a band that sells singles by the truck-load (but who does nowadays?), Supergrass still manage to produce a good stomping tune as proven by the excellent recent singles 'Diamond Hoo Ha Man' and 'Rebel In You', but it's the earlier hits like 'Moving' and 'Pumping On Your Stereo' that get the masses jumping. However for me it is the encore of 'Caught By The Fuzz' and a crunching 'Lenny', with the band reduced back to their original three-piece, which really wins the day. Gaz Coombes, newly decorated with a handlebar moustache, is a great front-man but is well backed up by the rest of the band, and, as Summer Sundae director Richard Haswell put it, "Supergrass are one of those bands that are perfect for this festival".

review by: Richard Stevens

photos by: Phil Bull / Sarah Stevens