Sunday 13/08/06 Day 3 @ Summer Sundae, De Montfort Hall, Leicester

Martin Craft formed the influential Australian band Sidewinder with his brother Nick when he was a young teenager, pioneering the lo-fi indie sound in the southern hemisphere with an impressive collection of albums. Now he operates under the moniker M.Craft, truly embracing the Hoxton-esque art-rock world for all it’s worth.

Craft and his posse command the Indoor Stage on Sunday afternoon, floating through tracks from his folk-pop debut ‘Silver and Fire’, with standouts coming in the form of the cutesy ‘You Are The Music’ and ‘The Soldier’. The singer is sandwiched between two women onstage, which ends up being somewhat distracting, particularly when one of the girls’ only job during ‘Dragonfly’ is to ruffle a paper fan for no more than two seconds at a time.

In yet another foolish booking decision, there are people clambering to catch a glimpse of Glasgow’s Camera Obscura in the Rising tent. The group has had about two hours sleep and has borrowed equipment from a local record store, as their gear is stuck in Copenhagen airport. However, they are absolutely shimmering in the dreary afternoon drizzle.

Tracyanne Campbell’s voice is full of syrupy sorrow for ‘Tears For Affairs’, whilst Carey Lander’s keys bolster ‘Come Back Margaret’ with its succession of handclaps. ‘Dory Previn’ is soaked in country-esque melancholy before ‘Teenager’ is a reminder of the band’s less weighty 60s inspired gems. ‘The False Contender’ waltzes through more heartbreak before the fabulous ‘Razzle Dazzle Rose’ shows off Nigel Baillie’s gleaming trumpet trills and fabulous percussion skills. 

Jose Gonzalez has been scheduled for the Main Stage, managing to draw in quite a sizeable crowd. The Swedish born 27-year-old of Argentinean descent is pleasant enough as he strums and coos his way through a collection of tracks. However, ‘Heartbeats’ – the song that made his name after featuring in the ‘bouncing balls’ Sony Bravia adverts – is a cover, and his interpretation of ‘Hand On Your Heart’, originally sung by Kylie Minogue, is almost as bland as Gonzalez’s own material.

Back on the Rising Stage, London’s Absentee are a welcome reprieve from the acoustic coffee table mediocrity of Gonzalez. Dan Michaelson’s baritone drawl works wonderfully with the group’s chirpy pop on ‘Something To Bang’. Looking suspiciously like Zia from the Dandy Warhol’s, Melinda Bronstein (on keyboards, vox, melodica and glochenspiel no less) complements the frontman brilliantly on ‘My Dead Wife’, with its ‘You’re The One That I Want’ from Greece middle verse.

In a further organisational stuff-up, the Buzzcocks are playing the Indoor Stage, so there’s not a chance of seeing them as people spill out of the heaving, stuffy hall. Leaving the hardcore punks to pogo to their hearts content, indie pop legends Belle and Sebastian are set to close the weekend with their delicious blend of Simon and Garfunkel-esque folk pop and sweet Scots melodies.

From their humble roots to now near God-like status, B&S are the perfect example of everything that’s right with indie pop. Stuart Murdoch, Stevie Jackson and Co. play an absolute belter of a set, with classic hits (‘Boy With The Arab Strap’) and lesser-played gems like ‘Dirty Dream Number Two’ and ‘Electronic Renaissance’ spilling over the enormous crowd.

The band seems to be having a fantastic time – Murdoch and Jackson summon a girl from the audience onstage, with Stuart giving the lucky lassie a one on one demo of his trademark indie shuffle. ‘Jonathan David’ is astounding as the pair share lead vocals, shimmying back and forth like a couple of lovers in a 1950s musical. Tracks like ‘Sukie in the Graveyard’ and ‘Funny Little Frog’ from the group’s latest album, and previous album’s ‘Stay Loose’, slot seamlessly amongst classics like ‘The Wrong Girl’.

Something seemed to go awry with this year’s planning – there was more scrambling for a place to see bands than last year, which really spoilt the stress-free aim of the weekend. However, B&S was a sparkling end to an overall brilliant time. The Summer Sundae Weekender is a fantastic festival experience – let’s hope in the future it can resist mushrooming into a bigger affair that shrinks into a wisp of its former, charming self.