Saturday 15/08/09 Summer Sundae Weekender, Day Two @ De Montfort Hall, Leicester

Gigwise’s day began with a well-rewarded visit to the Musician Stage, where the highly-lauded Martin Harley Band were performing their bluesy, acoustic set with great gusto and oozing so much talent that you could be ill with envy. Following on their heels, the over-hyped The Heroes impressed no-one but the over-excitable teenagers at the front who were too young to realise that their heroes sounded like a half-baked Oasis tribute band with no sense whatsoever of originality.

Next up on the main stage, mediocre and derivative, The Joy Formidable warmed us up for the more inspiring bands as the first beers of the day were consumed, with jumpy, guitar-laden anthems and slow, deliberate vocals.

On the indoor stage, Sonic Boom Six made life that little bit more exciting as the mesmerising front-woman Laila bounded around the stage against a heady backdrop of ska, jungle and hip-hop, although the beat and the squeaky-mouse-on-speed vocals began to get a bit samey towards the end of the set.  Right at the other end of the musical spectrum, Emmy the Great blew the audience away on a cloud of dreamy vocals and clever lyrics, no doubt casting a lifelong spell on many.

The Bombay Bicycle Club strode out confidently on to the main stage, soon turning out to be one of the highlights of the weekend, with their music displaying a sound and a wisdom way beyond their apparent years. Led by the darkly haunting voice of lead singer and guitarist Jack Steadman, the four lads defied the expectation of being just another bland jeans-clad band and showed themselves to be more than worthy of recent critical acclaim. Although they have something of Arcade Fire and other epic bands about them, Bombay Bicycle Club have a simplicity and lack of pretension about them that somehow makes their bass-heavy sound all the more appealing.

Gigwise wandered off the beaten field to the Musician Stage, where the Jim Jones Revue stirring up the audience with some good old rock and roll, and Golden Animals tickling Gigwise’s folk sensibilities. Strategically positioned next to the real ale and cocktail tent, the Musician Stage attracted a steady crowd throughout the weekend and along with the Phrased and Confused literary tent, often outdid Summer Sundae’s more obvious venues in terms of atmosphere and crowd reaction.

Two very different golden oldies, Saint Etienne and The Charlatans, played into a dusky Saturday night back on the main stage, taking a certain demographic back to the good old days and changing another demographic’s experience of music forever. St Etienne defined the dawn of indie dance and have much to teach their younger counterparts, from their engaging stage presence to the pure pop of their sound. From the catchy, synthed-up ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ to the sweet, softly pounding  ‘Nothing can stop us now’, Saint Etienne got the crowd’s feet stomping and demonstrated that as a whole they have retained every inch of their appeal, and lead singer Sarah Cracknell every fraction of her understated beauty.

Every bit as cocksure and hairy-headed as he was in his better days, Tim Burgess swaggered onstage backed by his faithful fellow Charlatans and treated us to a fine selection of epic tunes,  old and new. Whisking us back to our first nights out on the tiles with ‘The Only One I Know’ and ‘How High’, they gracefully swung us back into the present with equally well received more recent numbers, not dissimilar in sound and tempo to the more overplayed classics, but pleasing nonetheless.

As the lights dimmed everyone staggered back to the campsite, the Silent Disco or various nearby city centre bars, crossing fingers and toes in the hope that Sunday’s weather and line-up would match the day just ended.