See you down the front

The proliferation of festivals has meant, unfortunately, that some have bitten the dust over the years, and I was particularly saddened when Leicester’s Summer Sundae succumbed to financial pressures.

It was a 6,000-capacity boutique festival held in the gardens of De Montfort Hall pretty much in the centre of the city.

And, for a couple of years, Gill and I found it to be amongst the most enjoyable festival experiences out there.

The headlining names were decent, the undercards were solid, the walking around was kept to a minimum and you could stick your car about 50 yards from the entrance and pay a couple of quid for on-street parking.

Even better, before entering the site there was always time to call in at Bombay Bites – possibly the finest Indian takeaway in the world.

in 2010 we decided to get two-day tickets rather than go for the full weekend and with Mumford & Sons headling on the Sunday that now seems a remarkably good decision in hindsight.

Instead we managed to watch a tremendous variety of bands including a marvellous headling duo of Seasick Steve and Teenage Fanclub on the Friday and then an afternoon of Turin Brakes, Stornoway and The Go! Team on the main stage on the Saturday followed by a typically obtuse set from The Fall indoors in the hall itself.

While his band barrelled through some sturdy tunes, Mark E Smith seemed to spend most of the show stood behind the speaker stack or with his back to the audience. He probably sacked the band later that night.

But they, like the festival, were good while they lasted.